The Gates - CBS - January 2025

Fake news, OP. We all know this is a bio series about Bill & Melinda Gates!

Lol you had me op

Its actually true r2.

Character descriptions:

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OP is Jamey Giddens, trying to get the bacon grease off his tablet screen

R2 here. My jaw has dropped. Then again white people soaps tried to freeze an entire city with a cubic zirconium diamond, had psychiatrists get possessed by the devil and had a leading character with twelve distinct personalities. I might give this soap a try. They better have a baby switch within the first three months though. I just love me a baby switch!

R7, um the Cassadines tried to freeze the whole WORLD! And Viki had SIX alters, not 12! Nice try!

Can we name Viki's six alters? Niki, Jean Randolph, Princess, Tommy, Victor... who did I miss or get wrong?

Tori is the other one r9

I was hoping for a reality show about Bill.

Thanks r10

Princess was always whimpering. I thought she was a dog.

It will probably turn out that the adopted kids of the gay couple were adopted illegally.

The real parents of the adopted children will obviously be somewhere in town. And they will likely come back to claim the children.

Yet don't these stories sound more interesting than Lily, Devon, Nate, et. al. sitting around the old Dark Horse offices talking about business deals and what "Neil would have wanted."

I really want this to work for Michele. Fingers crossed.

I'm hoping the cast is diverse.

I wonder if this will still happen...CBS and Paramount are cutting ever cost corner they can.

Have they cast the trans, the Asian, and the hooker with the heart of gold yet?

R20. TALBOT HUDDLESTON!!!

Okay, I cackled at that R21

Elizabeth, Stacy, Courtney, Jillian and Diane? How relatable.

Do they need a nun with a high Q rating?

Why do they have all these black bitches with white bitches' names?

Throw in a 1980 Tercel to sweeten the deal and I'm there.

Mama?

Oh Lord...Clara?!

It will have gay characters! It's been confirmed.

I hope they find gay actors to play the gay characters. I'm not averse to straight actors playing gay roles, but with soaps there's (hopefully) a longer-term attachment to the characters that develops, so seeing gays playing gay becomes more meaningful. e.g. On Days it was entertaining seeing out actors, Greg Rikkart and Peter Porte, in a relationship as "Leo & Dmitri."

I don’t know. They’ve already changed the show’s name to Beyond The Gates and they will have 8 Executive Producers!!! 8. Sounds like a mess behind the scenes already and with 8 EP’s, there can’t be 1 vision because all 8 ep’s will want to justify their salary. I give the show a year, tops.

First cast members announced.

Last week, CBS announced that "Beyond the Gates" is assembling its debut cast in preparation for its early next year launch on CBS Daytime.

Notably, seasoned daytime stars Tamara Tunie (formerly Jessica Griffin on "As the World Turns"), Karla Mosley (formerly Christina Moore Boudreau on "Guiding Light" and Maya Avant Forrester on "Bold and Beautiful"), and Daphne Duplaix (formerly Valerie Davis on "Passions" and Rachel Gannon on "One Life to Live") have joined the cast as members of the influential Dupree family.

Sigh, I miss Maya and Rick. But, I digress...

I love Tamara Tunie—-would want to be her morgue patient though

She will need time off to play Kamala on the Max movie about the 2024 election…which is surely on the table as we speak.

Tunie already played Kamala in a play.

There you go…

I have been denied a role on this theatrical enterprise.

I am insulted!

I won't be tuning in...

R40 😆 but is anyone planning to tune in?

Aside from Luis, they're bringing another Latino character, Tomas "Tom" Hernandez, described as Latinx, sure of himself, handsome and an attorney in his 20s.

Also Mike, Caucasian male in his 50s. Joseph's best friend, best man at his wedding and a prominent attorney in his own right. Mike will have to deal with a scandal pertaining to sexual impropriety in tbe workplace.

R19 Since the NAACP and P&G are involved this will probably be left alone.

If they are willing to create a new soap, it is not crazy for the canceled soaps to come back. I mean if they brought back "murphy brown" and other shows it is possible to see guiding light, as the world turns, etc. back. I would have told you were crazy last year that a broadcast network would create a daily daytime soap.

I think they realized even though soaps are expensive they get more viewers and they get more consistent viewership too. People will skip an episode of a talk show or game show-- but there is more pressure to watch a daytime soap everyday even if you don't like the current storylines as you never know when things get better. And because there are multiple storylines and characters you will generally have at least one storyline to look forward to. I also think they realize that although many people DVR shows, some people still watch live making lead-ins still important.

A soap about a gated community is boring. I wish they would have created a show centered on crime/mystery like the edge of night or one centered on college. Given the popularity of true crime and cop procedurals-- it is a no brainer that a crime based soap would have more of a mainstream and cross over appeal. And a college based soap would appeal more to younger people. It is like soaps are obsessed with the lives of the rich although it has been done to death.

I'll give it a look when it starts.

But I think this is too much of a throwback to the 80s - rich people being dramatic. A daytime soap might have done something interesting if it were more like Eastenders.

r46

Yeah, I think the reason daytime soaps don't do well is because they tend to be conservative and stuck on stereotypical 80s soap dynamics. They seem to ghettoize themselves too. Desperate housewives was a soap opera about middle class people and was widely popular. I am not interested in a work class soap like Eastenders but can we move away the tycoon and high powered attorney crap.

This is a calculated (and formulaic) attempt to extend the heavily black audience of Y&R by an hour, even though many of them drop off during B&B. Otherwise, there would be no reason for P&G to be involved. Eyeballs on advertisements.

[quote] A soap about a gated community is boring.

Maybe that's why someone spoke up and said, "Maybe it should be called 'BEYOND the Gates.'"

This will fail. A million viewers, at best.

LET ME IN YOU BITCHES!

I luv The Blacks!

They can play my maids!

Let’s have a maid called Mamie!

r53 I never understood why YR was so popular with black people. All of their black characters had racist origins. Drucilla was an illiterate street person. Mamie was called mamie. I mean there are black people like that, but they dipped into all stereotypes.

R50 A million viewers would probably be enough to continue it as a streaming-only series on Paramount+. It's been guesstimated that Days on the 'Cock gets something under a million unique IPs.

R54 Two of the main characters in the Barber-Winters quad - Olivia and Neil - didn't have "racist origins." .. Olivia entered the canvas as a doctor and former sorority sister of Ashley Abbott's. Neil was an MBA from Stanford. And prior to that, neither police chief, Frank Lewis (the wonderful Brock Peters) nor his daughter, Amy Lewis (the memorable Stephanie E. Williams) have such origins. Tyrone and Jazz Jackson were like the precursors of Neil and Malcolm Winters. Admittedly, while the former was well-educated and high-achieving, the other was more urban and streetwise.

It makes me sad that people have forgotten about the short lived soap Generations which was a focused on a black family.

R57. I loved Generations.

"Generations" was mentioned by many mainstream media sources when they reported on the original announcement about "The Gates."

Will there be tap dancing, negro spirituals, and perhaps some jive talking by poor black woken with large asses?

R60 We can only hope!

I'll teach them to read, through rap!

R56 Stephanie E. Williams being replaced by Valarie Pettiford at Y&R, is this possibly a first in daytime, where there were only two actresses who've played the same role, on different soaps? Valarie was replaced by Stephanie as Sheila Price on OLTL in the 90's; Stephanie left Y&R when Valarie debut on OLTL.

R63 Hmm, maybe?

Open the damn gates!

CBS allowing them to hire walking lawsuit Vicky Rowell?

Maybe if she hadn't tried to SUE them.

Where are the mens?

We need some actor announcements.

Timothy J Stickney please!

Could we get Kyler Pettis (ex-Theo Carver on Days) for the gay househusband (Daniel) who's married to the ambitious politician (Marcus)?

R69, I second that idea! He’s sexy as hell.

I will watch on the strength of Tamara alone. She is wonderful.

We need some good BBC!

Looking to cast more than just BBC. .. Of course, there's a "Luis."

[quote] “Tom” is a Latinx male in his late 20s. Tomas “Tom” Hernandez is an extremely handsome and supremely confident attorney. This is a contract role.

[quote] “Mike” is described as a white male in his 50s. He’s a high-powered law partner of “Joseph’s” – and also the best man at his wedding. However, Mike has now been accused of sexual impropriety in the workplace. This is a non-contract role.

[quote] “Luis” is a Hispanic/Latino male in his late 20s to early 40s. Luis is described as sexy, attractive, and drop-dead gorgeous. He’s a personal trainer at the Fairmont Estates Country Club. Luis has an eye on one of the married women in the gated community. He is charming, likable, and (of course!) extremely fit. The character of Luis is non-contract.

Tom, Mike, Patrick, Sam, Elizabeth, Diane, Jillian, Stacy, Courtney, Marcus and Luis.

Sounds more like "Loving."

R74, minus Trucker and Dinah Lee...

Beyond The Gates is gonna FAIL! Soap operas aren’t the “in” thing. Duh.

I mean hopefully they’re planning some gaming tie ins with viewer avatars and augmented reality experiences to be cutting edge of sponsorship opportunities…

Never mind.

Probably better to just watch Saints and Sinners reruns.

If the gay husbands actually have a sex life that we see, and the "drop dead gorgeous" personal trainer is also into wealthy men, then I may watch.

This portion of down low sex in the DC burbs is brought to you today by:

Proctor & Gamble's Secret.

Secret. Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.

R80,

It’s Procter & Gamble.

-Nancy Lee Grahn

Has Mickey Dwyer Dobbin commented yet? Are any wizened old men going to be on this show?

R82 There's supposed to be an old Black man named "Patrick" in his 60-70s described as follows:

[quote] Patrick is gentle, humble, and generous with his experience and knowledge. Patrick was in the thick of things during the 1960s civil rights movement. He marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King. He kept on marching into an illustrious career as a Senator. Now retired, Patrick is living his best life as he enjoys his golden years in his beautiful home with his wife Betty. However, he’s also hiding a dangerous family secret!

I think the show sounds good. I wish it well, and will definitely watch.

Does anyone know if it has been given a least a year? I think that’s how Another World and the Agnes Nixon’s shows were able to make it.

R84 US Weekly reported that the soap had been given "a full-season order." Not sure exactly what that means since it's starting in January instead of September. The "seasons" for the other CBS soaps, Y&R and B&B, basically coincide with the Fall television season and run for a calendar year.

Real Andrews in as well

This will bomb.

Maybe, R87. Maybe it will do well. I wish it success.

Real Andrews will bring in the viewers!!

I wouldn’t sell Real Andrews short like that. He was very popular on General Hospital and most of the show’s fans are still wanting him to come back to that shit show.

With so many soaps canceled in thr last 20 years, there are many former and would be soap actors needing work. Let's hope BTG is a hit and more new soaps follow in its wake, before those poor hunks have to turn to pornto support themselves.

On second thought....

Rounding out the cast.

Is the actor playing "Martin" gay or just play gay? Brandon Glaybon was gay on "Grey's Anatomy." He's handsome.

Who can watch this shit. Modern day soaps are so bad. This will bomb.

(I will say that new Newman Ranch set on Y&R made me really happy- it looks very good considering how cheap Y&R looks now)

Hour or half hour? Any return of a soap that gets rid of The Talk is good. Poor Natalie Morales having to interact with the dipshits like O'Connell and the unfunny Sheryl Underwood. The black guy was hot - maybe he'll end up on The Gates?

I don't think Y&R "looks cheap." After all, they built five very luxe-looking sets just for Ashley's DID arc in Paris earlier this year. The issue is they have most of the show's action taking place in the same three sets far too often (Crimson Lights, Society and the GCAC). That makes the show seem cheaply-made. They should have taken three of those Paris sets, made some changes, and repurposed them as sets back in Genoa City.

I really would like to know more about the economics of this new show. What does it take for this soap to be a financial success? A soap could be a great way for streamers to retain subscribers. Now that the pie isn't growing anymore it's all about retaining the ones that have signed up. A soap might be just the right way to accomplish that. So maybe it'll move to P+ altogether in its second season. How do soaps on Peacock work out?

The thing though is that soaps are more viable if they reach other countries, too. Isn't there one soap that does particularly well in the Middle East? And Neighbors got a new life because it is supposed to draw in viewers all over the world on Prime and Freevee. Beyond the Gates sounds comparatively special interest at this point. I am curious if it can gain a fanbase beyond Afro-Americans.

is this a NYC soap? or LA?

Atlanta, r98

This seems more of a return to soap origins. P&G is an active sponsor, likely in exchange for unlimited advertising during the broadcast hour, reaching their target consumers. It might even be more financially appealing than buying ad blocks with hefty price tags. It lessens the burden on CBS, as well.

R97 The streaming services see content like daily soap operas and telenovelas as "gateway" shows that get viewers to their platform regularly and often.

Soaps produce 20+ episodes per month, so multiply that times the number of minutes in each episode, and one can see how such shows can help boost their numbers in the minutes streamed per month column.

So with soap operas, it's not so much about the number of unique IPs being brought in, but more about the number of minutes being streamed. And because of the number of visits a regular soap opera viewer typically makes per month, the streamers see the potential in these visits, hoping viewers stick around to stream something else while there: the gateway factor.

Also, on platforms that are advertiser-supported, the soaps are no longer tied to that 18-49 female demo. They may not know exactly whose eyeballs are on the other side of the device, but they have analytics that do a pretty good job of determining sex, age, etc. of the viewer, so they can try to direct ads that they deem more relevant. And for the platforms that are subscription-based, all viewers are created equal, because everyone is paying.

[quote]The streaming services see content like daily soap operas and telenovelas as "gateway" shows that get viewers to their platform regularly and often.

When Days went to Peacock, I signed up only for Days alone, but discovered shows like the classic Columbo, Girls5Eva, Pokerface, etc. There is a ton of content that I never would have known about if it wasn't for Days on Peacock.

The Gates is gonna fail! Mark my words. Oh yeah, they already changed the name of the show. Not a good sign.

Great news! Mike Manning has been cast as the gay husband.

[quote] Mike Manning as Bradley “Smitty” Smith, husband to Congressman Martin Richardson and father to teenagers Tyrell and Samantha. A former political reporter turned househusband, Smitty is a fantastic dad who has guided his children with warmth and good humor. Smitty is thinking of resuming his writing career but is hesitant to tell Martin, who likes their home life the way it is. Mike Manning’s credits include as previously mentioned The Bay, Days of our Lives, plus This Is Us.

Final cast announcements included ....

He's hot.

Mike Manning looks weird. Of course he’s whoring his ass out for a job.

r103 = professional trash Sharon Osbourne

Jesus Christ. That FAT fucking SLOB Jamey Giddens posted a pic of him and Michelle Val Jean. He is such an obese fat slob! He’s 4 times her size. Disgusting. Look it up on twitter but beware - you can’t unsee it! I’m not posting it here because you shouldn’t be traumatized. He is a disgusting FAT pig!!! She better not hire him.

[quote] At the center of this community are the Duprees, a powerful and prestigious multi-generational family that is the very definition of Black royalty. But behind these pristine walls and lush, manicured gardens are juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered. And those that live outside these gates are watching closely.

This sounds very stale. I suppose the by-the-book premise can be remedied with fully fleshed out characters and exciting plots. What has Michele Val Jean done before in terms writing or producing?

R108, Michele will hire Jamey just as he hired her for Ambitions. Welcome to show business.

R108, excellent question. Bill Bill co or head wrote AtWT for 9 years and then, DAYS for another 7 before he got Y&R.

I suppose anyone could watch a month's worth of soaps and get a feel for his to do this. If you run out of names, just go to a spice rack for help.

Your heroine can be named Cinnamon; the lovable aunt is called Ginger. The crazy cousin is Nutmeg.

Mix and match. Lather rinse repeat

His = how

Oh God! They’re filming in Atlanta but the show itself is set in Washington, DC. As a native Washingtonian, I’ll have to put up with them passing off backlots and Atlanta streets as DC streets. 🙄

It's funny. I thought soaps were fantastic back in the 80's when everyone thought that they were trash. I have rewatched many and Y&R/OLTL/GL hold up extremely well and were great damn shows. I was pretty little in the 80's when I watched with my grandparents but late 80's OLTL still has me on the edge of my seat when I watch all of these years later. That being said, soaps are ATROCIOUS today. They are just -bad-.... It does sound like Days IS a success on Peacock? So maybe this show will be as well? It sounds as trite as fuck so far-even the character descriptions- its like Lifetime TV shit.. I hated when people said this back in the day- ..but now? How the fuck do people watch this shit? The magic is gone. (I will say the clips of that new Newman Ranch set, got me feeling nostalgic and that set looks top tier- like old Y&R)..

I will be very surprised if this show makes it past 2 years.

[quote] Oh God! They’re filming in Atlanta but the show itself is set in Washington, DC. As a native Washingtonian, I’ll have to put up with them passing off backlots and Atlanta streets as DC streets.

It's not that soaps necessarily aim for an accurate depiction of life. They will highlight the wealth, not the local intricacies. As long as it looks boogie they don't care if it's real.

[quote] I’ll have to put up with them passing off backlots and Atlanta streets as DC streets.

If it's like most soaps you won't see streets at all. Most soaps just show interiors and on the occasions they do show someone outdoors it's usually not walking down a street.

A new soap in 2025 will not be a success. I predict this show will get about the same ratings as The Talk. 1.2 million viewers. Soap fans are not going to invest in a new soap. They would invest in the old ones back (which isn’t gonna happen).

Jamey Giddens couldn't fit through the Gates if he tried.

R117 LOL! That fat slob is an insurance risk. Heart attack waiting to happen.

Jamey Gidden's blood type?

Ragu!

Jamey has to buy all 3 seats when he flies.

Maybe with some strategically applied Crisco. Wave a Twinkie in his face to coax him.

Where’s all this hate for Jamey Giddens coming from?

R122. Experience...

R122- The call is coming from inside the house

I agree with R122, the vitriol is unnecessary.

[quote] Where’s all this hate for Jamey Giddens coming from?

the SPCT

R125. As is your comma...a period or even a semi-colon would be correct.

R125 is Jamey-

Here, have a piece of bread- Maybe you'll feel better

+snickers+

Jamey Giddens went inside my mother in Myrtle Beach!

She was crushed when he left!

R128. You're disgusting, Kim.

R130 Shut up you beast!!!!!

"He doesn’t live in the prestigious Fairmont Estates but rather in a brownstone in Washington D.C. Marcus feels it’s important to live in the district he represents."

Washington, DC, doesn't have any congressmen (or senators). It has one delegate, who can't even vote on bills on the floor.

For me, the Giddens hate comes from his podcast back in the day. He talked SHIT about everyone and boasted that he knew how to do a soap. Fast forward to fatso writing his own show and it FAILED!!!! The fat slob isn’t as good as he thought. He owes everyone that he trashed on his podcast an apology. Fat fucking pig. He has an emmy or two and writers guild awards but it is because he works under Ron Carlivati. Fatso could not survive on his own.

Stay the fuck away from Beyond The Gates you fat pig, Jamey.

Garin Wolf at R133.

Jamey received the same vitriol here when folks made fun of his wanting to write TV.

But he made that dream come true; I'm hoping he gets his health under control. It's a toll on the body.

I've recently lost some weight and am more fit and it feels great. It can be addictive.

[quote] I'm hoping he gets his health under control. It's a toll on the body.

Given how obese he is, he's probably diabetic, so Ozempic would be covered by insurance.

One wonders what he's trying to do? Channel James E. Reilly and Hogan Sheffer?

R137. And their weight struggles ended up so well for both of them.

Now that boring LaGiddens has been discussed ad nauseam can we get back to Beyond the Gates?

They had a ribbon cutting ceremony at the studio in Atlanta. Video put up at Paramount press site.

I am sorry- this premise and entire vibe of this show is HOKEY AF... I will eat my words if it succeeds- even mildly.

According to the Paramount "article," the first table read was 10/30. Soaps don't have table reads...they have rehearsals, if even that. How the hell are they going to have enough filmed final episodes in the can for a January 2025 launch unless they write and film 24/7? This has disaster written all over it.

Agree, Sister cuntface! ^^

R142. I wrote you the Great Port Charles Earthquake of '92 and this is the THANKS I get?!

[quote]I am sorry- this premise and entire vibe of this show is HOKEY AF

It sounds like the premise of just about every soap opera ever produced, a continuing story. You start with the characters, and then the opening episodes will be the tipping point.

Table reads are not uncommon for soaps, especially new soaps. Eventually, they disappear because of time and when the cast has gelled. And since the vast majority are new to the genre, there is a certain rhythm they have to develop that's different in primetime and film. Early table reads, help.

Well, no as a general rule, table reads at soap operas were abandoned a long, long time ago. But I could actually see a new soap opera having one, just so all the actors can meet one another and hear the same message(s) from the producers and writers about the stories and characters all at once, so that everyone "is on the same page" so to speak. That way, TPTB don't have to repeat themselves, and it could actually prove to be a more efficient way to start. For those same reasons, I know that the daily telenovelas produced by Telemundo and Univision generally have table reads when they start.

Time will tell. Daytime audiences, in my opinion, are not looking for a new soap opera.

I am open to a daily soap. But as every working adult I can only watch it after work, and there is only so much time available.

[quote] Daytime audiences ...

Time of day is not as relevant any longer, especially when it comes to soaps. As R147's post points out, they have to prove themselves with the "Anytime audience" who stream (and binge) on their own schedule.

This show isn't intended for a streaming audience. It's to hold the several million linear viewing eyeballs that tune in to Y&R and B&B every day for an additional hour.

My guess is that CBS will flip the timeslots for Y&R and B&B, cancel B&B soon after, give the 12:30 back to affiliates and have a two hour block of stories.

[quote] My guess is that CBS will flip the timeslots ....

There is no standard CBS daytime schedule among affiliates. Do some traveling, and you'll find that the order and time of day for the network shows don't air the same in NYC as they do in L.A., or in Salt Lake City, or in Honolulu, or in Boise, or in Albuquerque etc, etc.

Will any of the characters be named Mamie?

No, and no characters named Drucilla- Ms Rowell! R151

You SURE have burnt all those bridges---

Haven't you!

Table read = publicity event.

That is all.

THE GATES EATS SHIT!

Assuming this will also be streaming on paramount +, I’ll give it a shot.

No antenna tv though.

I contacteded The Gattes ti hire me. Bill Ball toldd them not to hire mee after I made Y&R number won!! Bill Belks stolded my monie! Now he is tolded The Gaytes to not hirre me!!!!

You are in good company, honey-

What are you guys opinion on Michele val Jean and Bob Guza head writing together with Ron Carlivati and Sara Bibel also on their writing staff? Of course MVJ and Guza have a long history of writing together, going back to their time together at Santa Barbara before GH, but I know their style of writing is somewhat different than Ron's; I love Ron btw but I know some don't particularly care for his style

Ron and Sara are pros, and will probably help contemporize the writing of Val Jean (75) and Guza (70), the latter of whom has been out of the game since 2011.

I'd be more concerned about eight(!) Executive Producers with vastly differing experience. Remember Derek J. from Real Housewives of Atlanta? He's one of them.

MVJ is 75?? I had no idea. Jesus. Retire already and collect your social security! Like that ancient Ed Scott at 80 is gonna revive Y &R to the younger crowd. Yes. I see disaster at this show with so many EP’s. They’ll all want to earn their pay by offering their input and there will not be a cohesive vision for this show. DISASTER!

R159 Ron and Sara definitely are pros and are good at contemporary writing, those are excellent points.

The different brew of EP's is definitely concerning. However, Derek J, the wig maker/bestie of Kim Zolciak? 😳 He's one of their executive producers?

R160 Right Ed Scott is back at Y&R isn't he 😁 well hopefully Michele will have success with this show, seeing how she's wanted this for awhile. However, the EP's are above the limit

Actually R161 , I got that wrong about Derek J.

Derrick Johnson is the EP in question. His name was misspelled on the script for Episode 1. Not a good sign in itself.

Gregori Martin is a writer. Interesting. It's a mix of the old and the new guards.

Is the character of "Bessie" today's answer to "Mamie"?

Did they cast Bessie yet? I'll try anything at this point!

They won't answer Rowell's phone call, because she might file a lawsuit that they denied her an audition to play a token Asian character in her 30s.

I’ll donate a wig I have laying around to anyone who wants it.

Ed Scott may be 80, but I was watching Y&R today and I noticed right away that Crimson Lights seemed more...lively. More like a real coffee shop.

Then, I saw his name on the credits; he's going to revive that show's look. If he can convince TPTB to let him bring in a new writer, then there's hope for Y&R.

Meanwhile, how many people at B&B will start phoning it in with Ed gone? Maybe. Maybe not.

Video preview of 13,000.

The DuhVon-Blabby wedding will be showcasing the NuOldRanch even more.

Black tie event. Will they produce a new cast photo?

Slay, Tamara Tunie!

Looks like Feb. 24 is the premiere date. Wise for them not to do it too early in January.

Yeah because Tamara Tunie is gonna bring in an audience!

The Gates looks CHEAP and CHEESY!

The Newman ranch on the other hand looks UBER LUXE-- I do not watch soaps anymore but that set is every bit on the level of classic Y&R production standards- Stunning.

Why are they waitng 6 weeks to debut the show? It was supposed to start in early January.

Where are they shooting this. CBS Television City? CBS Radford?

As long as there is a good restaurant set for their first Sheila and Lauren crossover.

R174 They're shooting this someplace in Atlanta, GA.

btw - Television City and Radford are no longer owned by CBS.

Some call the old CBS Television City "TV City" and others call it "Lachman" (sp?) the name of the company that bought it.

it's kind of sad.

I’m guessing the premiere was pushed back to take advantage of black history month.

[quote]Some call the old CBS Television City "TV City" and others call it "Lachman" (sp?) the name of the company that bought it.

Television City is now owned by Hackman Capital Partners.

Hackman also owns Radford Studios in Studio City and the Culver Studios in Culver City, among others.

[quote] They're shooting this someplace in Atlanta, GA.

Specifically, “Beyond the Gates” is being done at Assembly Studios in Doraville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta about 15 miles northeast of the city's center.

I've read that "The Late Late Show with James Corden" was the last CBS-owned show to tape at TVC. It's replacement show, "After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson," is being done at Paramount Studios over on Gower in Hollywood.

R178, I agree but why not earlier in February? By debuting it at the end of the month, they must be looking to get all the lead time they can get.

It only took about a week's worth of episodes for us to realize Passions was a joke. Bad acting, bad dialogue. The Sheridan and Princess Diana connection was bizarre with no payoff. Honestly, Reilly laughed all the way to the bank on that one.

It was clear early on PC was going to be GH lite.

Great writing is hard to come by; I hope we get great production values with BTG.

Not with 8 Executive Producers! BTG will be a cluster fuck disaster.

R181, remember when Passions was going to have a Saved By the Bell type spinoff to air on Saturday mornings?

Here's the complete writing staff.

(Another source indicates the scriptwriters are all black.)

R172 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 (Tamara Tunie is a good actress but that was too funny)

R181 The Sheridan Crane/Princess Diana connection storyline was bizarre; it was panned by soap critics/viewers, while also considered laughable; they even tried to recreate Lady Diana's accident somewhat with Sheridan, iirc.

R183 I remember that planned Saturday morning spinoff for Passions 😆 😆

R181 They probably delayed the January start date based on production starting on November 1st; with the holidays occurring, they're going to break, so they needed more time. Wonder if that means The Talk will air new episodes until then, since they more than likely weren't scheduled to return after the holidays

R184 Thanks. Pretty solid writing team assembled by MVJ

I have been trashing this show since it was announced, but I am VERY impressed by that writing team--

If the show takes shit seriously and has some suspense, it could make it..

That photo presumably from the set made the show already look CHEAP AF, and the sheer amount of producers is a recipe for disaster.

But people today have no standards and do not watch for sets or anything else from the 80's.

So fuck it! I wish this show well!!

Val Jean is already heading back to live in California. The old bitch won’t even be at the studio. You’re 75. Retire already!

R184. Could they not get Jamey Giddens covered under the show's health insurance?

R191

R191 Back in September 2024, LaGIddens was named head writer of "Sistas" (for Tyler Perry on BET). At that time, he indicated he would be pulling double-duty and doing both Days and Sistas.

Hey / Giddens is dieting. He’s up to 799 lbs!!

R193. Thanks for the info! That news didn't set the world on fire when it was first released, did it?

r172 = Mariska Hargitay

Jamey Giddens is cashing Sony and Tyler Perry checks, and you're posting nonsense on a message board. Jamey may be fat, but you're still a nobody.

R197. I'd rather be a nobody than be Jamey Giddens. Go bake him a pie.

I don’t know Jamey, but I admire him.

The world is burning and someone's pressed over Jamey Giddens.

Jamey can burn and provide enough heat for decades. He’s a FAT slob! I will never say anything good about him.

Jamey had so many haters here over his desire to write for TV.

Now, he's got the haters over his weight.

What will people hate on if he loses the weight?

R202, that’s exactly right. He’s a guy (fat or not) who worked hard and made his dream come true. His story should be aspirational and inspirational.

As a youngster all I wanted to do was wrote for a soap opera. I didn’t put my money where my mouth was the way he did.

I’ve got nothing but admiration for him and his well-deserved, hard-earned success.

What the hell is Sistas? Never heard of it. That’s success, Fat Jamey! Thank GOD he is not part of Beyond The Gates. I’m sure he couldn’t fit through the gates.

R203, it's never too late. Jamey plugged away at this for years.

He happened to interview a woman who connected him with Will Packer (Packard?), who had connections at OWN or BET (both?)

He LIKED Jamey and gave him a shot.

That's. All. it. Takes.

One person to like you. Once you're in the club, you're in the club. the same daytime folks who snubbed Jamey were like him like white on rice (brown on rice?) once he had Ambitions under his belt.

Jamey did a podcast as a soap fan and said things that soap fans say, and some people held that against him, I guess. He got into the business and learned that soaps are a business and that fan desires don't always mesh with network and budget realities and personalities. His show wasn't canceled because no one was watching it; it was canceled because it kept going over budget, and Tyler Perry had a new show in development. The show Sistas is highly rated in black households. Jamey's writing isn't exactly my cup of tea, but as said above, his story inspires many people working hard trying to break into this business. So what if he's fat? A lot of people are fat. If that's all you got, that he's fat - what's wrong with you? Are you 12?

I’ve said it before. Jamey owes ALOT of soap people apologies. IF his fat ass apologizes, I may begin to forgive him. He trashed soap writers and Execs. Fat Jamey found out that perhaps maybe it wasn’t the choice of those he trashed but the higher ups made decisions. Fat fucking Jamey found that out when he broke into the business. Until FAT Jamey apologizes to those in daytime he trashed, he is dead to me.

Fat fuck Jamey doesn’t get a pass. He learned that higher ups make decisions he doesn’t agree with and the writers/EP get blamed for the decision. Apologize Jamey.

I prefer to admire Ryan Quan, who similarly was a a young (gay) soap watcher (same age) who worked his way into daytime, but has never been big and loud along the way.

R207, at the height of Mal Young's ineptness, Jamey posted something about owing Maria Bell an apology.

He meant it.

I remember on the old media domain, a GL fan wrote: we said it couldn't get worse after Laibson and then we got Rauch and then we said this can't get worse and then we got Conboy and this CAN"T get worse and then we got Ellen.

I think that was the order of the final EPs.

Fat slob Jamey needs to apologize to more than Maria Arena Bell.

I had such a crush on Ryan Quan.

I love a good FAT joke but some of this is getting creepy.

I happened to catch about five minutes of The Squawk today. I always thought it was stupid, but it's totally unwatchable now. No wonder CBS cancelled it.

Whatever Beyond the Gates has in store, it has to be better than that mess.

“The Squawk” 😂😂😂

what I'm constantly amazed at is networks and studios continuing to hire people who simply don't know the show they've been hired to helm.

When Ron is bad, he's absolutely horrible -- BUT when he was great, he was great. His first few years on GH were sensational. Having Heather recreate the LSD laced iced tea with Olivia? He and Frank brought back Bobbie, Anna, and so many others.

But Y&R hires Mal who simply doesn't know the show. Bell doesn't even know his own series or he just may not care to connect dots. So many dangling storylines that are never revisited. People falling in and out of love so easily. The Luna lunacy...she's a good girl, no a killer, wait...she's back.

I give up.

R216, you’re so right! Your post is reason enough to have hope for Beyond the Gates.

I hope Beyond the Gayes has been guaranteed at least one year to find its footing and audience.

Who the fuck watches soaps?

This reads like a Tyler Perry show

R219, I do.

Me, too.

The irony is that the Gates can't fuck up its history because it has no history to fuck up yet.

The Gates show will fail. A new soap is not what the audience wants.

r224 why do you say that. I would say it is better than another talk show. Daytime doesn't have a lot of variety. A soap opera is a good break.

r220 I hope it doesn't end like a tyler perry show. I hope they aren't too campy or too focused on affairs and love children. If this show doesn't do well they will unfortunately view it as an indictment on soaps in general. Hopefully some older soaps can be revived if the ratings a decent with beyond the gates.

R218 See R85.

When I read the thread title I thought this was going to be a reboot of The Gates, that featured DL fave Colton Haynes. WEHT James Preston and Travis Caldwell?

That looks like Beyond the Ultra White Gates.

WHET Colton Haynes?

[quote]The Gates show will fail. A new soap is not what the audience wants.

I want it to work, and with Michele, Guza, and Julie involved, it has a solid foundation. I think the audience wants a new soap; I'm just not sure this is the soap they want, and I really want to be wrong about that.

Why don’t the fuck we just wait until the first episode to render judgment for God sakes?

Oh, dear.

#failure

It's filmed in Atlanta and stars a whole bunch of non-names.

This will be like a Tyler Perry knock off.

The people comparing this to a Tyler Perry production are dancing on a fine line towards racism. Michele Val Jean is not Tyler Perry. It's a soap opera. Almost every soap opera ever produced started with new actors and one or two established actors. And it's being shot in Atlanta because it makes sense, financially.

Thank you r236! The racism from the LGBTQ+ community is so stupid.

Beyond The Gates will fail.

My opinion is they could be using the Plain Old Television broadcast of "Beyond the Gates" just to get the show out there and noticed in the media with the hope that the combined broadcast and streaming audience will be enough to eventually move it to streaming-only like Peacock has done with Days.

The streamers see the daily soap audience as dedicated viewers who visit their website regularly and often, and these shows have proven to be great "gateway" programs: people come to watch their soap and stick around to watch a couple hours of something else.

Besides Peacock with "Days," Amazon has done this with "Neighbours," and now Channel 4 (UK) with "Hollyoaks." So this could eventually end up being a Paramount+ move to do something similar with a show they actually own.

R239, I clicked on you link… was surprised to find what Paramount+ is recommending based on my interest in Beyond the Gates.

Paramount+ has really fallen pretty low in my viewership ranking:

Hulu

Max

Amazon

Peacock

Then paramount. (i canceled Apple+)

CBS-Paramount remains the most watched network among African Americans. I believe I've read "The Equalizer" with Queen Latifa is the top (non-sports) show among AA viewers. Paramount also owns BET. This is an audience they pursue.

The Gates has to be careful about not making the Black characters act like rich white people.

Diahann Carroll was beautiful, but her Dynasty character Dominique Deveraux felt so ...forced.

All the mystique while they figured out her past; her dressing to the nines and people thought she was a reporter?

The champagne sure didn't seem burned to Alexis.

Something strange is going on at CBS. First, The Talk has it's highest ratings EVER just a year ago. They've had no cast changes since then and their ratings hover around 1.28 million or more.. Now it's canned? And replaced with a soap opera instead of a cheaper game show?

R244 Wrong! In its heyday, The Squalk was getting over 3 million viewers and even beat The View a few times. The ratings dropped dramatically after Julie Chen-Moonves did the most honorable thing and bowed out.

R244 The Talk was canceled months if not a year ago.

R244 That's not the show's highest rating EVER, that's just what the show's highest rating was at that point in time during Season 14. And when that was written, Season 14 was only about eight weeks in. That's how press releases are written. They say things to make it sound like everything is great and wonderful.

But just read this rundown about The Talk's ratings the first week into the current season. SON published this report back in September 2024:

[quote] Already off to a lackluster start last week, the 15th and final season of “The Talk” (1.177 million; 0.8 HH rating) is turning into a dud for CBS. Not only did the show drop week-to-week among Total Viewers, down -54,000 viewers, but the show also managed to drop among Women 18-49, down -0.02 (0.15 ratings vs. 0.17 rating). Interestingly, “The Talk” did see week-to-week increases among Women 25-54, up +0.02 (0.26 rating vs. 0.24 rating).

[quote] Compared to the second week of Season 14 (week of October 16-20, 2023), “The Talk” is down -112,000 viewers and down -0.03 among Women 18-49 (0.15 rating vs. 0.18 rating). The show was flat with its year ago performance among Women 25-54 (0.26 rating).

[quote] Overall, “The Talk” is attracting some of its lowest ratings ever for first-run episodes despite topping “GMA3: What You Need to Know” (1.300 million; 0.9 HH rating) among Women 18-49 (0.15 rating vs. 0.14 rating), and topping both “GMA3” and “NBC News Daily” (1.123 million; 0.7 HH rating) among Women 25-54 (0.26 rating vs. 0.22 rating).

Stick a fork in it.

Is that cunt Sharon Obsorne coming back for the finale?

[quote]Something strange is going on at CBS. First, The Talk has it's highest ratings EVER just a year ago. They've had no cast changes since then and their ratings hover around 1.28 million or more.. Now it's canned? And replaced with a soap opera instead of a cheaper game show?

For years, daytime has tried to find a way to tap into the large black and Hispanic audiences for these types of shows. Remember when every show suddenly got a new Hispanic family or some Hispanic characters and tried miming the telenovela concept? The same goes for black audiences.

The data shows that black audiences tend to like watching crazy ass white characters do crazy ass white character shit, and only a few black characters have really left any real impression on black audiences, the characters of Drucilla Winters and Malcolm Winters.

Data has also showed that the characters black viewers liked the most was Victor Newman and Katherine Chancellor.

I think CBS is doing this for three reasons: the partnership with the NAACP, the tax benefits, and stopping a significant drop off in black audience after Bold & Beautiful; they've already got the #1 and #2 shows in black households, Price is Right, and Y&R. What I find interesting is that they did not slot BTG between Y&R and B&B.

[quote] What I find interesting is that they did not slot BTG between Y&R and B&B.

After 9AM, the affiliates slot the network daytime shows how they want them. Daytime programming is not uniform across the country. Ref: R150.

It makes perfect sense to me that CBS would seek to satisfy a demographic that has been very good to their Daytime lineup for decades, indeed since its inception. I think some of you are overthinking this.

I totally agree r251.

Even if you don't like this soap, give it a try and wish it luck if you are a soap fan. If Beyond the gates does well it might lead to bringing back some of the canceled soaps or at least the creation of new ones.

I think they are realizing even though soaps are expensive the viewers watch every day unlike talk shows and game shows where people can skip episodes. There is more loyalty in a soap opera. They have all the data and see it is worth having another soap opera.

People would have said you are crazy a couple of years ago that we would see a new soap opera. Very exciting.

This shitshow will BOMB hard. The Gates. LOL!

For the record, I want to say that I am not opposed to this soap. I find it exciting and am happy for Michele. Michele is amazing and a force; she deserves this. The only point that I was trying to make was that CBS already has a soap opera that does extremely well in black households and has done well for many, many years. Y&R is THE black soap, and the data backs it up.

If CBS wants to give BTG a good starting point and a strong black sampling, they should have Eric Braeden, Melody Thomas Scott, Victoria Rowell, and Shemar Moore guest star for the entire first week.

Canceled soaps are NOT coming back. We’ve heard about AMC coming back for years now. Its never happened. Sorry, but this soap will bomb. They will be extremely lucky if they get the same number of viewers as The Talk. A new soap in 2025 is not on old black lady’s bingo cards. Sorry, it just isn’t.

My sister has two black female friends (approx ages 55 and 38) who watch General Hospital, and they're both excitedly looking forward to BTG. They don't sit around watching plain old television during the day in between bingo games. They stream their soaps in the evening. From what I've heard, the only thing they watch live are the prime time reality-competition shows they like.

A black soap? Why????

r256 I am mid 30s -- so a millennial---and I watch daytime soaps. Tyler Perry's soap operas do well so there is a market for soaps, particularly black casted soaps. The show should do well. I am more concerned about non-blacks not tunning in.

Natalie was a great get IMHO but the show kept playing it safe. Safe is boring. Boring is low ratings.

Akbar and Amanda needed to go.

It had a good run.

Bye akbar!

R255, what stories of Michele's on her past soaps excited you the most?

I'm genuinely curious.

Bill Bell worked with Irna for years and then saved DAYS from cancellation so CBS gave Bill his own show -- Y&R.

Doug Marland saved GH from cancellation, drove GL to a top-4 show (opposite GH!) and then, ABC gave him LOVING.

The Dobsons spun their magic on GH, ATWT, and GL -- then, NBC gave them Santa Barbara.

What's Michele's track record?

Michele worked under fatso Jamey Giddens on the failure Ambitions. That’s her legacy.

[quote] What's Michele's track record?

I guess her track record is being an experienced black writer in a genre that's had this pesky little habit of only promoting white folks to EP and HW positions in the past, so of course no one like Val Jean was going to be given anything of their own. And that's still not the case here. Val Jean may be Creator/HW and one of the EP's, but she has no ownership of the production company like the examples given (Bell Dramatic Serial Co. for Y&R, Dramatic Creations for Loving, and Dobson Productions for Santa Barbara).

Other than just hinting that she writes well for people of color, what past storylines on other shows has she had a hand in? Anyone?

The bitch doesn’t even live in Atlanta. She’s EP-ing the show from California. SMH.

Long before skyping and all the other technology now available to manage work remotely, Bill Bell was EP-HW of Y&R and ran the show from Chicago during its first 14 years. He had John Conboy, then Wes Kenny on site.

R264, so...she got the job because she's black?

What are the expectations for the show then?

If her history's being questioned and immediately the race card gets played, I don't have high hopes for this show. But I wish everyone luck.

It will be a failure. Soaps are dead and have been for years.

[quote] so...she got the job because she's black?

No, she didn't get the job because she's black, she got the job because the soap is black.

Why would anyone think that a project developed under the direction of CBS Studio's joint diversity initiative with the NAACP -- and called "a black soap" from the get-go -- would hire a creator who wasn't black? How nonsensical would that be?

Michele is one of the unsung heroes of this genre and has a solid career. The Dobsons adored her and took her under their wing. She is best known for her work on GH, where it was her idea to tell the not-so-nice side of the Luke and Laura story and the Doreen/Maya catfight on Generations. She is equally strong at both breakdowns and scripts. She has an amazing ability to fix a script and punch up a story. She was co-head writer for a brief time on GH, making her the first black head writer of a soap.

She's one of the few black writers to achieve a certain level of prominence in daytime and mentored other black writers. This genre is a hard one for black writers to crack. Before Michele and Susan Dansby, you had people like Wanda Coleman, but they didn't last. So, it is significant that Michele has this chance, and her dedication and loyalty to this genre has paid off for her. The last "black soap" was created by a white woman.

Even if this thing lasts only a year, her retirement is now more than set—Huzzah to Michele and all the good things. No one deserves it more.

R271, 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I worry that it could be a masterpiece of the genre and still be a commercial flop. Or in true soap fashion, eventually be dumbed down to cheap thrills in a misquided attempt to garner ratings.

R271, the Doreen/Maya catfight wasn't a story. It was a scene.

I'm just wondering what her stories have been over the years.

Revisiting the Luke and Laura rape story was challenging and high drama. Why Luke was made out to be a hero back in the 1980s, I'll never know.

Generations really wasn't a black soap; it was about two families; one black, one white. But I'm not sure why only Black writers can write Black characters?

We'll see how the show does. I wish everyone well on it. Yes, it's an odd time start up a new soap.

I thought the white family disintegrated (pun intended) pretty quickly.

Sam and her boyfriends stayed prominent but the family was not cohesive.

I’ll give this one a try. I’m not that busy lol

[quote] But I'm not sure why only Black writers can write Black characters?

That's not really happening here either, with the the team consisting of a mix of writers. Queen Fairman reported that Bob Guza is co-HW, and also relayed:

[quote] In addition, other notable members of the team are very familiar to soap audiences for the work. They include: former Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and One Life to Live head writer, Ron Carlivati, and The Bay’s creator, Gregori J. Martin, as well as longtime writers from The Young and the Restless scribes, Sara A. Bibel and Theresa Zimmerman, plus soap journeyman, Christopher Dunn, Susan Dansby and more. Script writers include: Danielle Paige, Jazmen Darnell Brown, Cheryl L. Davis and Lynn Martin, among others.

The problem with this Gates soap is that there are 6 or 7 Executive Producers and all these failed writers from other soaps. How can they all be cohesive and not fight to get ‘their’ vision onscreen? IF MVJ was the writer and sole EP, I’d have hope. But with 6, 7 or however many EP’s they have, this will not end well. They will all be fighting to justify their title. Too many EP’s will spoil Beyond The Gates.

Some of you are focusing on the number of EPs and I'm not sure why you're hung up on it. Most of those EPs are vanity titles and those EPs will not be involved in the day to day running of the show. The only vision that matters is what was in Michele's bible and what CBS and the NAACP want. As with all new soaps, there will probably be adjustments in the 1st 6 months based on audience reaction. The head writers are Michele and Guza; the others are breakdown writers who support the vision of the head writers; they have nothing to do with the long story. Failed or not, the breakdown writers break the story and nothing more.

No one ever said that only black writers can write for black characters. All of the script writers will be black and I would assume that the thought is that they will be able to get the voices correct in a way that, maybe, write script writers couldn't.

[quote][R271], the Doreen/Maya catfight wasn't a story. It was a scene.

[quote]I'm just wondering what her stories have been over the years.

Michele has mostly been a breakdown and/or scriptwriter, while BB is a hybrid. Most of her work has been supporting the head writer's work.

R277 I think a few of the other six EPs named (besides Val Jean and Guza) have been listed to simply reflect the entities that are producing this: CBS Studios, the NAACP, and P&G. They're getting a screen credit; yet even if they didn't, these owner/producers (TPTB) would have some control over what gets put on screen regardless, just like with most TV shows.

Sheila Duckworth is with CBS Studios; Derrick Johnson is connected to the NAACP. Anna Saalfeld and Kimberly Doebereiner have connections to P&G. Doebereiner and a guy named Leon Russell are said to be doing "pre-production," so maybe they needed some extra hands on deck to get this soap up and running in less than a year. .. And Julie Hanan Carruthers may have been afforded the EP title because of her veteran status. - jmho

Julie is the day to day show runner.

R278, okay, say that Black characters can be written better by Black writers. Does that mean Black writers shouldn't write white characters? Can non-Asian write Asian characters? Gays sure have no problem writing straight characters.

Val Jean as breakdown writer has indeed supported head writers over the years. I saw her posting on social regularly about her GH stories and her time on GEN and SB -- she seldom, if ever, posted about Bold & Beautiful. I don't know what her contributions were there

It seemed odd not to be dancing with the one who brought you to the dance.

Writers who were given shots usually bring something to the table. Marland wrote for Lemay on AW, one of the best soaps ever. He went to the Doctors (I'm not familiar with his work there) but at GH, he created the Q's, Bobbie Spencer, and her brother Luke; at GL, he created Nola Reardon, Nola's obsession with Kelly; he moved on to LOVING where he had Ava obsess over Jack. At ATWT, it was Meg wanting Dusty. I never minded these repetitive themes as there were unique dynamics and casting at each show.

I'm curious to see what Val Jean will do, how she'll pace the show, I don't mind tropes -- but do them WELL.

Sadly, soaps have few "have nots" these days. There's not a Bobbie, Nola, Ava, or Meg that I could point to on any soap.

My guess is that in the first six months of BTG we'll see LOTS of changes. Dead weight will be cut, and I imagine at one point, they'll introduce a white family.

As for GEN, the white family didn't go away; Dorothy Lyman replaced Pat "My Hair Never Moves" Crowley.

So are people now defending Guza? And Hanan Carruthers? They were skewered when they were at GH and AMC respectively. But now they are great because they are at this black soap???? lol They hypocrisy!

[quote]say that Black characters can be written better by Black writers. Does that mean Black writers shouldn't write white characters? Can non-Asian write Asian characters? Gays sure have no problem writing straight characters.

I think you're trying to create a racial controversy where none exists. For almost its entire existence, soap operas have been written and produced exclusively by white people with mainly all-white casts. Now, you're upset that this particular show has a black creator, and the thrust is a black family and mainly black characters. White characters are on the show; it's not some all-black world, almost like every other soap opera ever created, except for Generations and Passions, which both premiered with core black families in the mix.

Michele has only had one head-writing stint, but she has been in the business for decades. She knows soap operas; I'm not sure why you're questioning her background. She's paid her dues. Her contributions at B&B are easy to find. She was a breakdown and script writer. On BB, writers do both. And maybe she didn't comment about her time on B&B because she was actively working on the show, and commenting on story is reserved for the head writer and EP.

Only the scriptwriters are all black. The long story and breakdown team is not all black. I'm not sure why that is a problem for you.

But your posts point out something that I've been saying from the beginning: many white soap viewers are not going to watch this show. From the very beginning, CBS has been clear about what this show was, but that hasn't stopped soap fans from casting every former white soap actor in the world. Then, we had the comparisons to a Tyler Perry production. Now, the posts questioning the credentials of a 40-year veteran in the business. I just find all of this, odd.

So are people now defending Guza? And Hanan Carruthers?

R282 Which posts here are you referring to? I did a find-search on their names in this thread and there's only one post that even comes close to anything like that where Guza is referred to as "solid" because of his long experience in the genre. That post then makes a comment about his advanced age and being out of the game for awhile, so that's hardly a defense. Ref: R231.

Oprah is considering a guest stint as Aunt Tillie.

I find it cool that people here still watch these shows-- I just cannot get into modern soaps. They are just -horrible- which considering the great technological advances in production, ect is weird. 1980's-early 90's Y&R and OLTL were to me - crack for a little boy. Now, it all seems like shit. Whatever mechanism in my brain worked as a 9-12 year old no longer works with soaps. I love watching old episodes on YT and have gotten into old ATWT/GL. And I still love watching old Y&R and OLTL episodes.

R283, great post.

You end with stating that you find all the negativity and naysayers odd.

I’ll say what you didn’t: it’s hatred, bigotry, and racism.

R283, I'm not trying to create controversy, and I don't have, as you say, a "problem" with Michele.

I never said I was upset or that anything was a problem. Those are your words.

I'm just asking what is her specific track record? What are her successes? If asking these q's makes someone filled with hatred, bigotry and racism, then no one should ask any q's. BTG will be a huge success! To make any inquiries, well, you can't. If you do, you're racist.

Michele commented frequently about her time on GH on social about times on the show when she wasn't head writer. I'm curious what are her other stories she's contributed to? yes, she wrote the Maya Doreen cat fight. "Come get me bitch. I just might be your worst nightmare! I will have Daniel Rueben whenever I want, and no piece of STREET TRASH is going to tell me otherwise!"

Great scene. but again, it was a [italic] scene [/italic]. What long term has she written in the past that will give us SOME idea of what the show's about?

These are questions. Not accusations. We all want the soap genre to succeed.

Asking these questions doesn't make me looking to start something racial. I'm just asking questions But it sounds like we can't do that anymore.

It's a given that BTG will succeed because the Dobsons hired Michele. Okay.

Reilly took DAYS from a No. 8 or so ranked show to No. 2.

He started off with Carly being buried alive and brought on Sami and Austin and did her obsessive need to win his love.

Kristen's reign of terror. Marlena's possession. Hope's return. Billie/Bo/Hope triangle. etc. etc.

NBC rewarded him by giving him PASSIONS, a show that refused to climax anything and went so cheap on the talent (mostly newcomers) when it started, there was never any real UMPH to the show.

Michele has been given Beyond the Gates (wouldn't BEHIND the Gates be a better title?)

Time will tell whether the show resonates with soap fans or not.

I think R288 is being willfully obtuse. How often have they been told that Michelle's career has been mainly as a breakdown or scriptwriter? She pitched the Luke/Laura story to the show's head writer, who told her to write it since she pitched it and was a rape victim, but usually, breakdown and scriptwriters don't create a story. They may make suggestions, but ultimately the finished product is the headwriter's vision. If you want a list of stories she contributed to, go to IMDB, crosscheck, and then do the math. It's not that hard.

Did R288 ask what stories Brad Bell contributed to before his father turned Bold & Beautiful over to him?

[quote]What long term has she written in the past that will give us SOME idea of what the show's about?

The show is about the lives and loves of an affluent black family living in a gated community. Read the character descriptions if you want to know what the show is about.

Who has the time for such shit?

I love that this is in As The World Turns's timeslot. I bet it makes certain people VERY unhappy.

Bill Bell once returned a script to Bradley 40 times before he accepted it.

The Sheridan Crane/Princess Diana friendship was sweet to see. It was nice that Di felt she could confide in Sheridan, THEIR LIVES WERE SO SIMILAR.

"Willfully obtuse."

I guess that means people don't like my question. If I asked this about Claire Labine, for example, when she took over GL, folks could trot out their favorite Ryan's Hope or GH storylines.

So, Michelle has never been a head writer except briefly at GH meaning the answer to my question is there really aren't any stories she came up with other than in her roles as breakdown or script writer. Or none that people can cite. And now, she's being given an entire canvas to create. I wish her every success in the world, and I pray that BTG is given time to find its legs as all new shows do. I recall Sunset Beach improving VASTLY after a time; by the show's finale, it was one of my favorites.

Time will tell how the show performs. If Guza is co-head writer, I pray there's no mob influence with an anti-hero/anti-villain. Perhaps BTG will be a huge hit? There's no guarantee that past success will lead to future success. Look at Reilly's efforts with DAYS, which were must-see TV, and Passions, which, sadly, was laughable.

One thing BTG literally can't do is muck up its own history. It doesn't have one yet.

Datalounge wasn't around when Brad became hw of B&B in the mid-90s. But I believe Brad was part of the show's writing team since the show's inception and he was mentored by his father and there was a period of time after Bill turned over the head writing reins to Brad that Bill continued on as executive story consultant.

It was a unique situation. Plus, Brad had the benefit of working alongside for years with Jack Smith, one of his dad's writers at Y&R.

Personally, B&B drives me nuts the way the show ignores its own history. Brooke STUNNED that someone would take over Forrester, really? Brooke? Steffy playing holier than though over Hope giving Finn a drunken smooch after her antics? I just can't.

This is a BIG investment that CBS, P&G and the NAACP are making. If BTG succeeds, perhaps P&G will revisit reviving their axed shows.

R290, and you, sirrah, are being pedantic and didactic!

R294. and yet on the anniversary of Diana's death in 2000, (America was still obsessed with it), Sheridan didn't recall Di at all.

That's when I knew Reilly was just in it for the money.

[quote] and Passions, which, sadly, was laughable.

Passions wasn't really meant to be any kind of classic soap. The show did what it was meant to do . Attract young viewers to NBC Daytime. And this in effect helped the daytime soap opera genre as a whole, because marketing studies have shown that unless viewers get into the habit of watching a daily soap opera by the time they turn 18, then every year after that, there's less of a chance that they ever will. (This is akin to the "I ran home to watch Dark Shadows" phenomenon, and the "I used to watch soaps with mom and grandma when I was a kid" habit, which was quickly going away.) The hope was teens would watch Passions, then as they grew older, this behavior would serve as a feeder soap to Days.

[quote]Datalounge wasn't around when Brad became hw of B&B in the mid-90s. But I believe Brad was part of the show's writing team since the show's inception and he was mentored by his father and there was a period of time after Bill turned over the head writing reins to Brad that Bill continued on as executive story consultant.

[quote]It was a unique situation. Plus, Brad had the benefit of working alongside for years with Jack Smith, one of his dad's writers at Y&R.

Now you're really telling on yourself. Michele has been in the business longer than Brad Bell, worked with some of the finest daytime writers in the business and was on the writing team of some well-regarded shows, but that's not good enough you. You need to know specifics. Go to IMDB look up the years that Michele has been active and then go to one of the show history sites and cross reference the storylines during those years and you will know what stories she worked on. No one is going to do your job for you.

And for the record, I didn't call you a racist. But please continuing playing this who is Michele Val Jean and what stories has she written game. Everyone who knows who Michele Val Jean is already is familiar with her and her work, I guess you shall continue to be the cheese who stands alone, in your clueless bubble.

I think Brad grew up listening to his father's conferences with his writers so that gives him a unique experience.

He's only written B&B. He knows that show. I don't think he could take over any other show -- except MAYBE Y&R and be any kind of success.

I didn't say you called me a racist so I'm not sure why you brought that up. GH head writers Van Etten and O'Connor (boy, the show was good under them, wasn't it?) worked their way up as breakdown writers but they had in depth knowledge of GH.

There have been tons of breakdown and dialogue writers who've worked with greats over the years. Writers worked with Marland for years but when he died no one could step up because that wasn't enough experience to do the job; plus, in fairness to those writers, they were probably noted to death, whereas Doug was not given notes.

Time will tell if Michele is up to this job. I suspect that within six months, there will be a white family introduced to the canvas. We'll see lots of casting changes.

Michele isn't just the hw; she's the exec producer. This show is her baby.

As for PASSIONS, I don't think they knew how bad it was going to be; they went cheap on the talent; Juliet was the only 'name.' I think Kim Ulrich Johnston was known from ATWT but she was just okay. I think if they had gone with some bigger names then, the Grace/Sam/Ivy story might have been better.

The only other person I can think of who was given their own soap even though they didn't have a big track record behind them was Sally Sussman. GENERATIONS was making vast strides when it got the axe. I believe Kristoff said that at the show's holiday party an NBC president all but guaranteed the show's future; said it was his mom's favorite soap. A few weeks later, they were done.

Michelle has very little track record as HW. This show is doomed. They’ll maybe give it a year.

Maybe not, R301.

I have my hopes up. But it does feel like if they wanted to bring on a soap, there were other avenues.

I do think they're going to give it more than a year.

She's not alone. Guza is not just an EP, but a Co-Head Writer. And it's not like people under them don't know their jobs.

I find it incredible that some question whether a 40-year veteran in this business can write a soap opera. I will keep my mouth shut about what I think is really going on here, but whatever.

Trailer

Makes DAYS look like Brideshead Revisited.

Are we sure this isn't a Tyler Perry show?

Oh god. It looks stupid.

[quote]I find it incredible that some question whether a 40-year veteran in this business can write a soap opera. I will keep my mouth shut about what I think is really going on here, but whatever.

Amen! Clearly there is another agenda going on beyond what someone is saying.

Jesus. This won’t last. All dem blacks. No thank you.

R304, the veterans at the other four soaps certainly can't write soap operas...why not question Michele's credentials?

I don't think anyone's questioning CAN Michele write a soap opera.

The question is based on her past storylines will the BTG stories be any good.

[quote] I find it incredible that some question whether a 40-year veteran in this business can write a soap opera. I will keep my mouth shut about what I think is really going on here, but whatever.

Come sit next to me. We can comisserate over when to shake our heads or point and laugh.

You too, r309.

Hey - Michelle wrote with Fatso Jamey Giddens on Ambitions. Such a success!!!!

R300, you don’t think Maryland was given notes? He resigned from GL because of notes.

Marland***

MARY!

[quote]you don’t think Maryland was given notes? He resigned from GL because of notes.

CBS and P&G wanted Marland back bad enough, they gave few notes and offered little resistance to his ideas. How do you think gay Hank Elliot ever got on ATWT in 1988?

The network and P&G had learned from the mistake of giving Marland too many notes and interference with his story plans while he was on GL.

As for why he left, the straw that broke the camel's back was EP Allen Potter firing Jane Elliot without consulting with him first. Marland had big plans for a split personality storyline for Jane Elliot's character of Carrie Marler. He won the Emmy for best writing on June11, 1982 and by early July 198 he was gone;, he quit because of Elliot's firing.

In the same way that 25 years ago, NBC wanted a soap to build and expand their young daytime demographics, CBS wanted a show to meet the needs of their long-standing, large, and loyal black audience base. This is no big secret and there is no bait and switch. They went to a black writer with longevity in the business—someone who knows the mechanics of soap operas and gave her a show. Quite frankly, there aren't many to choose from in daytime or many outside of daytime who would know how to or want to write a soap.

The promo that CBS released today is BORING!!! They think that will bring in viewers????? This show is DOA!

I'm wondering if every time a Black actor or a Black writer or other behind the scenes person is let go from BTG is because "something else is going on" or if it'll be because that person just isn't working out.

I think we need to give BTG a chance. The show that debuts won't be the same show we see in July or August.

B&B had those depressing Logans on during its first year or so. They had sad theme music and even though they were poor they had cashmere sweaters.

Grandma Logan (trivia buffs take note, she was played by Lesley Woods AKA Amanda Lewis Ewing OG version) was sad that her son had run away. Beth was sad she had to cater meals to rich people and Eric didn't remember her, initially. Storm was sad. Donna and Katie were sad. Katie had acne. Brooke was the only bright spot.

By the summer of 1989, Sally Spectra was in full swing at B&B; Darlene Conley's bombastic energy was a breath of fresh air. "Hello, Stephanie!"

So, let's give BTG some time.

Nope! BTG doesn’t have time. Be a hit right out of the gates or fail.

Shit. This looks ghastly-

The show looks cheap (I miss the days when the shows had their own look- they now all look relatively alike minus B&B and Y&R is getting somewhat better)

Campy AF and those short clips look horribly acted--

Soaps are more of an embarrassment now than they ever were back in the day. You realize just how great soaps were--

I guess someone thought a soap version of Empire would work? Yeah, this looks like shit. Lots of harpies, screaming= yuck. What about a gritty inner city story about gun violence, drug dealers that tells the truth about black inner city communities? It wouldn't be Grammy's soap, but it would take out the fantasy realm and attract more viewers.

We've seen 30 seconds.....I'll give it a good solid try for its first few weeks.

I'd suggest they tone the lighting down and add fresh flowers to every set. And do any of these actors sing or play a musical instrument?

Also, they should really get a hot tub on set. And speedos one size too small for the male cast members.

The show looks cheap AF- sorry- it does- I was expecting better.

Very disappointing teaser. Doesn’t make me want to tune in.

Cheap looking wrinkled clothes.

CEO "office"...Cheap looking.

Damn, that Tunie stole my gig and my wig!

Victoria Rowell would be an amazing addition ...I don't like that this show is filming so far in advance. This is going to be the CW of soaps = cheap and low rated. I am curious to see where The Talk viewers go. Not sure GH is going to benefit.

I'm here for Tamara serving black Lucinda Walsh realness.

Tamara looks terrible.

I do not approve.

R334 CBS Legal Counsel probably forwarded a memo saying, "Don't even think about hiring that walking lawsuit!"

Ain't nobody got time for Miss Rowell......she's a five alarm mess.

I wonder if people would tune in to see Victoria Rowell (we know she’s a great performer) in a way that would have serious positive impact on the she’s ratings.

On the SHOW’s ratings***

Muriel, and edit feature for Christmas, pretty please!

AN edit button**

I give up.

They've already pushed the show back from the original January airdate and changed the name from "The Gates" to "Beyond the Gates"...Not a great start.

[quote]They've already pushed the show back from the original January airdate and changed the name from "The Gates" to "Beyond the Gates"...Not a great start.

The Young and the Restless started as "The Restless Years"

As the World Turns started "As the Earth Turns"

One Life to Live started as "Between Heaven and Hell"

The Secret Storm started as "The Storm Within"

Search for Tomorrow started as "Search for Happiness"

It is curious why they didn't start as of early January.

And if they didn't, why not earlier in February? The show will be on for three weeks and then March Madness will preempt it.

R345 = I have a feeling the weeks and weeks of Price is Right rerun episodes are going to get decent numbers and then deflate CBS daytime lineup when BTG airs.

This will not end well. The ratings will suck.

My guess is that some things were tweaked and changed in pre-production, pushing the start date. It happens; there is nothing unusual about it.

In early days it didn't sound like they'd decided on whether it was going to be a half-hour or hour. Once they went with hour that may have required more prep time.

I think they wanted to get it on in Feb. for Black History month.

I had and still have high hopes for Tamara Tunie; such a smarter choice than Robin Givens, Rowell, or others.

But that sliver wrinkled pantsuit and silver hair...yikes.

Plus, we don't know who Mosley is playing beyond her name and why she's taking a golf club to that man's desk.

YIKES.

A failure.

Is Mosley playing a MAN again?

So when Beyond The Gates fails, will MVJ still do her oh poor me, they don’t like black people tour?

MARY!

R350 Mosley is a member of the core family and plays "Dani Dupree" one of Vernon and Anita's daughters. (Tunie is Anita.) Character profile:

[quote] Once a high-flying model, Dani is now a devoted momager, having sacrificed her career for love. Known as the wild child of the Dupree family, Dani is free-spirited, headstrong, and uninhibited. She dropped out of school to pursue her modeling ambitions and has always marched to the beat of her own drum.

R353, I know you’re rooting for it to fail but if it does it’s not gonna be replaced by some cracker soap like All My Children, so get on over it.

It wouldn’t be so many predictions for the failure of this show if it wasn’t so many racist gay men on this site.

Racist and gay. Now that is quite the oxymoron.

R357 - you’re 100% correct.

I never realized how many gay men were racist/bigoted until I started regularly reading DL.

R353.

She might. People are odd. They blame everyone but what and who they should.

Let's not let one unimpressive sizzle reel get ahead of us; the show might be good.

EW reporting:

One comment in the EW story from 4 days ago; poster wasn't impressed with the trailer.

Even if the show were good how many people are watching when they're busying being the stars of their own TikTok and IG storeis?

One LONE Comment.

Granted the trailer is everywhere but there's not enthusiasm for this show.

I'm sad. I hope it works.

The trailer SUCKS! No incentive to watch the show.

I think the 1st trailers should have been character promos to build interest in the characters before showing scenes from the actual show. For example:

My name is Rex, and I live Beyond the Gates. Ten years ago, I sent an innocent man to prison. I married his wife and became a father to his children. Now he's getting out, and I will do whatever it takes to put him back in.

Beyond the Gates

Premiering February 31 only on CBS & Paramount+.

or

My name is Caroline, and I live Beyond the Gates. I have the perfect life, the perfect family, and a perfectly terrible secret... that's about to be revealed.

Beyond the Gates

Premiering February 31 only on CBS & Paramount+.

It's only December. They've got another two months to produce some additional trailers.

Show me one from the Martin-Smitty bareback flip-flop.

R364 — Bold and Beautiful did promos like that for a few weeks before it debuted in 1987.

Santa Barbara had really clever promos (I think after it had been on a while) where the actors referenced/threw shade at their former shows.

R366, I remember those; I think they were with Kristen Meadows, Lenore Kasdorf (Rita, GL), and Robin Mattson.

Mattson's went something like "I used to lead a very GENERAL life that almost put me in the HOSPITAL, but now, I'm on Santa Barbara where I like it a lot more!"

I thought they were dumb. Taking swipes at their old shows. Just write a great character and hire talented actors.

You don't know to slam a past show to make people want to watch a new one.

don't have to...(not don't know to...)

"I'm Alexandra Spaulding. I have daddy issues but NOTHING like the Daddy Issues I had when I lived in another world!"

"Now, I'm in Springfield. I am a part of a rich family. Publish that!"

Lenore Kasdorf's was "The guiding light led me to Santa Barbara and I'm glad it did." See the video below.

Can't find the videos for the others but

Kristen Meadson was something like, "I only have one life to live and I'm going to live it in Santa Barbara."

Robin Mattson's was something along the lines of "Hospitals in general are boring, but life in Santa Barbara is thrilling."

^ yikes, that should say Kristin Meadows above. Sorry.

Kristen Meadows was one of the most BORING actresses ever. Any clip with her from OLTL on Youtube is yawn inducing. Utterly forgettable.

good finds, R371, R370

Back in the 1980s, it seemed like ANYONE could quit their show, call their agent and say, 'get me back on soaps' and Santa Barbara would fling open the doors to the Capwell mansion.

One of SB's big problems was cast turn over; the show ran nine years and had four Kellys, three Masons; two Sophias, five (if you count Lloyd Bochner) CC's.

The reality is Anne Howard Bailey's stories were good. I think she wrote at GH when Luke was presumed dead in an avalanche and he couldnt' walk and he stayed away when Holly and Robert fell in love; at SB, Cruz thought Eden was dead in some of kind of snowy accident; and Elena tried to get her claws into him. Parallel tales.

I do wish the Guiding Light had led Kasdorf back to GL.

Roger was a serial rapist b/c of his attack on Rita; he shouldn't have walked on that. Plus, his kidnapping of Rita led to her losing the baby.

Eden stayed away because she couldn't walk either -- just like Luke.

Supposedly GL's Joe Wilmore was looking to bring back Rita when he became EP in 1986. He managed to get Peter Simon back as Ed (replacing a gloriously miscast Richard Van Vleet from AMC), got Chris Bernau back as Alan and got Grant Aleksander back as Phillip.

Reportedly, about the time Wilmore contacted Lenore Kasdorf about returning to GL is when the Dobsons contacted her about joining Santa Barbara. She opted to go with Santa Barbara.

In reality, I imagine her agent probably contacted Santa Barbara to create a bidding war and SB made the higher bid. NBC was putting a lot of money into the show and was bringing in a lot of established actors in the soap world.

[quote]One of SB's big problems was cast turn over; the show ran nine years and had four Kellys, three Masons; two Sophias, five (if you count Lloyd Bochner) CC's.

Also had three Teds, three Warren Lockridges (although the second one was very forgettable, on for less than three months in 1987), four Santanas and two Ginas. Even two Minx Lockridges.

Longrunning characters that only had one actor in the role include Cruz, Eden, Julia, Lionel and Augusta. Also Keith Timmons and Robert Barr.

Can we recast Tamara Tunie? She looks awful with that long gray hair. Very unflattering.

Despite being smartly written (most of the time) and beautifully acted, the show couldn't get anyone to sample it. So, they turned to the old soap trick of trying to bring actors from other shows to that show, hoping their fans would follow. What execs don't seem to get is that with the exception of Susan Lucci and maybe Deidre Hall, in most cases, soap fans are fans of characters, not necessarily the actors who play those characters. No one was going to sample Santa Barbara because Lenore Kasdorf was on. Now, if she were playing Rita on Santa Barbara, they may check it out. But P&G doesn't sell characters or soaps.

R374, didn’t Roger also rape Peggy? (Or maybe it was Hillary?)

B&B promo teasing its premiere.

This one features Bill Spencer rocking his cane — which, I believe, eventually disappeared along with his mystery limp.

They’re bold AND THEY’RE beautiful…

This one is like learning your multiplication tables…

Funny I thought the Caroline actress’ lesbianism was less detectable than that. I guess I was just young. Thanks for sharing those.

Passions cribbed from Great Expectations (Goop edition). Great promo though — maybe better than the show.

This one exaggerates Reilly’s career.

Mason Capwell would NEVER confuse care less for couldn’t care less.

Santana doesn’t seem to sell it.

Joe Perkins — a Ken doll with a mission.

Lover flying a kite… and a fun for the family look at gender roles.

Capwell princess and future bride.

From a month or so into SB’s run, but very clever marketing.

Named after the last thing his mother heard in the hospital before she gave birth.

r324 and r325 I agree. It looks like Tyler Perry garbage. I don't want to see a bunch of yelling, slapping, and throwing things. That is only good in small dosages. Still hoping for it to do well if not for a test case for other soaps and revivals of old ones.

Some of the later SB promos referenced above.

I never saw Rituals, so I don’t know if this promo aired before the show debuted, but the approach is similar.

This one doesn’t quite fit the bill, but it fits DL.

How far will you go to get more?

Who are the snatch eaters at Beyond The Gates?

This Port Charles promo amps up the connection to GH.

Once upon a time they wanted us to follow him to Texas.

Getting back to Beyond the Gates ...

I saw a longer promo for BTG today that was broadcast during CBS Daytime. It had some of the same footage, but there was also a bitchy white woman in one scene and another scene of a young couple rolling around naked in bed.

R377, there were actually two Keiths.

R403, I imagine there are going to be some white people on the show and there will be a whole white family within six months; loaded with former NY soap actors.

Colleen Zenk, Scott Bryce, Hillary B. Smith...ironically, we could see a bunch of ATWT actors on that show.

R405, what’s the irony?

NY actors relocating to GA for this?

R407- It looks cheap and trashy. And I do not think I will be wrong on this one.

They could have really made this something special, as it is kind of historic-

It looks like they went the lowest denominator route.

[quote] NY actors relocating to GA for this?

Look no further than any unemployed, veteran soap actor who agreed to work for minimum on something like "The Bay" just to add a screen credit to their IMDb profile and get some press at soap opera websites so that people know they're not dead to me.

Filming a dozen episodes over a long weekend in private residences is different than filming 5 episodes a week in Atlanta, GA.

[quote]NY actors relocating to GA for this?

I don't like the idea of doing this at all.

R406, ATWT was replaced by The Talk; The Talk was canned to make way for BTG.

R412, thank you!

This show will BOMB! A new soap opera in 2025????? Seriously. And a black one at that. Oye vey!