Is anyone else super duper excited about the upcoming CBS black soap 🧼 “Beyond the Gates”?

No.

If they have hot guys and bitchy divas, then yeah.

I am. Sincerely.

Not one bit

No I am not excited. Grown men who watch soaps are somehow deficient in my judgemental eyes.

You can be sure that the cast will be regularly featured on " The View."

It looks utterly awful. Like the way soaps were made fun of in the 80's undeservedly-

Is THIS what soaps looked like to the haters back in the day?

If so, I now understand. It looks like shit.

No.

The era of the daytime soap, sadly, is over.

What fuckery is this?

Is that show the same as the subject of the below thread?

It's a solid idea (black affluent central family) but it looks super cheap and cheesy.

I don't think they can top the drama and vicious slapping of telenovas. I'd enjoy seeing them try.

The series is based on true events, set your VCRs.

It looks horrible and at this point no one can tell me differently. Just horrid.

I will see what everyone says later and maybe check it out after a month or so and make my opinions known.

And guess who’s writing it - Days of Our Lives’s ReRon, Ron Carlivati.

R15- The last soap I watched was OLTL (And Y&R) and I stopped both in 2012.

I hate to say, I really liked Ron's writing all the way through his tenure.. (It could have been less meta all the time, and there was almost too much reference to history) I hated the online version. And stopped watching after a week.

But this shit looks ghastly. Who are the script writers? Is Ron one? His campy tendencies would be better served in breakdowns or Head Writer roles-- Based on clips alone, the horrific script writing is not helping the horrendous acting that I am seeing. And I cannot get over how cheap it looks. How does a show with beautiful and large sets, look this shitty.

I am embarrassed for them.

FFS R15 Ron is a breakdown writer. Calm your tits and save your vitriol for Val Jean and Guza, the head writers.

R17- Thats good news then..

Who is doing scripts? Wasn't Susan Dansby a name that I read? (She was highly regarded at ATWT I believe)

R18 The writing team assignments were announced last November:

-- Michele Val Jean is the creator, headwriter, executive producer, and showrunner of Beyond The Gates. Her previous credits include writing for Generations, Santa Barbara, General Hospital, and The Bold & The Beautiful.

-- The co-headwriter and executive producer is Bob Guza Jr., who previously wrote for Santa Barbara, created Sunset Beach, and was co-headwriter for Loving and headwriter of GH.

-- Susan Dansby is the script editor, bringing her talent honed working on Y&R, As the World Turns, Port Charles, and GH.

-- Former Y&R script writer, story coordinator, and breakdown writer Michael Montgomery will serve as Beyond the Gates’ Continuity Producer.

-- The breakdown writers are Ron Carlivati (OLTL, GH, DAYS), Sara A. Bibel (Y&R), Christopher Dunn (Santa Barbara, GH, Sunset Beach, GL, All My Children, DAYS, Y&R), Gregori J. Martin (The Bay), and Teresa Zimmerman (Y&R, B&B).

-- Script writers for the soap include Judy Tate (Another World, ATWT, Days of Our Lives), Danielle Paige (Guiding Light, DAYS), Jazmen Darnell Brown (BMF, Ambitions, Saints and Sinners), Cheryl L. Davis (ATWT, DAYS), and Lynn Martin (The City, Port Charles, AW, ATWT, Y&R).

A SOAP? What the fuck is this, 1987?

Light up your Benson & Hedges, bitches!

Where is Fatso Jamey Giddens in all of this? Still slumming it at DOOL?

Based on previews, it looks more like a Tyler Perry production than a legit CBS soap opera.

Passions looked more "soap-y"

Based on previews, it looks more like a Tyler Perry production than a legit CBS soap opera.

Passions looked more "soap-y"

LMAO R1!

I'm excited.

I haven't watched a soap since "Passions" started. I did watch "days of Our Lives" for many years (starting when my grandmother would babysit me in the summer and it was her 'laundry' show" and then stopped after I graduated from college. A bunch of us (straight, gay, male, female) would watch together on the big screen in our dorm common area. This was around the time Stefano kidnapped Marlena and kept her in a cell in the underground of Paris and Eileen Davidson was Kristen and three other people. It was fun. Also, someone or other was being driven crazy by a poison put in the paint of her office.

Good times.

Looking forward to starting something from the beginning again. Also glad that it is only a half-hour show (I think) and not a full hour commitment,

I can just breeze through it before I go to bed or watch it all on Sunday mornings.

Can’t wait. I have plenty of time. As long as there are no fags on it!

Sorry Joy, there are some homosexuals on that show.

Black soap? Is it good for your skin?

They were pimping it hard this morning on CBS Morning News (surprise) - produced in Georgia.

Sorry R25 its an hour long.....and has several gays.....in it......

The concept is fine. But a new soap opera? Who is asking for a new soap opera in 2025???? Come back after the first ratings are released next week. Failure!

Thats right- this garbage starts today. Report back all. I was going to check it out so I could give reviews but honestly, It looks like hot garbage and I am not bothering-

Trending on X-formerly-known-as-twitter.

R31 is Tamara Tooney Burkett

I will say, the critic reviews are solid to great. I have been trashing the clips but said I would admit if I was wrong.

No desire to watch though.

But the reviews are good- Critics saw first week of episodes-

Those promo commercials looked cheap and trashy. Definitely a turn off.

But the Behind the Scenes previews that aired last week made it look much better.

I'll watch a few episodes to see how it all goes. But my schedule is full. Don't have time for five more hours of soaps every week. So, it's going to have to be super compelling to get me to add The Gates to my regular viewing schedule.

Tamara Tunie Bouguett of flowers.

Of course the reviews are positive and you know why. We’ll hear that it’s groundbreaking… because it’s black. Let’s just ignore the fact that there were other black soaps years ago.

Generations failed. This will fail.

Are there any white folk in the cast?

Yes, there are some white characters.

R38 I found the white real estate agent, Vanessa, pretty entertaining.

Beyond the toilet

The show looks cheap. Bad lighting, bad directing. 1 star out of 5.

Posted this on the other thread:

Not a bad start, not bad at all. I'm interested.

I thought most of it zipped along and I was interested in Karla Mosley's Dani and her ex husband, etc.

The patriarch's mention of "the movement" was a bit boring and the timeline is confusing me - maybe because Tamara Tunie and Clifton Davis are 20 years apart.

The white nurse seems a bit meh and her husband smelled an entire bakery of cookies.

Beyond that, it was interesting. The last scene was a bit over the top but fun all the same. Watch the person next to Karla Mosley's reactions to her reading the other woman, and wait to hear what she says after it all goes down - LOL.

I don't necessarily agree with all of R42's comment but Tamara Tunie didn't look great in that country club scene. That pantsuit needed an iron, stat.

I guess the woman at the bar I mentioned at R43 is a Real Housewife.

It looks very 70s 80s. Is there anything new about this soap?

Yup, as long as the guys are hot, I'm in!

I didn't think the woman who stole Karla Mosely's husband looked young enough or pretty enough to have done so.

So Mosley's character commits assault in front of her family

Huh

They should have spent more money on better scriptwriters and some acting coaches. The first episode was totally disappointing (thank God for eye candy like Jibre Hordges and Brandon Claybon). Who's going to tell the 'lovely' Nurse Ashley (who looks like an aardvark) her wanna-be hunky husband is neither hunky nor straight ?

R49 Yep, that dude smelled every cookie in town. And nurse Ashley was homely AF.

That fat fucken Erroll Lewis from SON is rubbing his stub over this shit! lololololololol

When does Cady McLain show up?

I loved Tunie on As The World Turns, but not sure about her in this role. Was Debbi Morgan not available?

Viola Davis had a scheduling conflict, so she couldn't accept the role - so Tunie was offered it.

Karen Huger totally typecast as "Woman Sitting at Bar."

Yes! It has a gay storyline. I support all gay tv shows. Representation is good.

Second episode today. Have we seen the gay Congressman?

R96 Martin was in yesterday's Episode 1, and he and his husband, Smitty, are in today's episode.

Really enjoying this. I wish the gay couple didn't already have kids--can we be on TV unless we're parents?--but like the representation, nonetheless.

Who the hell is lighting this show? It garishly bright and makes every set look cheap.

Because it IS cheap.

I caught this. What garbage. And I agree about the lighting. It's lit like Murphy Brown from the 80's. It's looks so cheap. The acting is WORSE than the previews. I would not watch this again if you paid me. But I won't shit on it anymore in this thread.

Can bad lighting make bad acting worse? It really does.

I don't think any telenovela can touch the Indian chick and the drapery incident.

The gay couple look like they are about 25. And they have teenage kids?

The writing on this is awful.

Ron Carlivati is a hack. He destroys and assassinates any character he touches.

It'll be a fun daily diversion, but they introduced too many characters too soon. The show's website should contain a family tree (or a spreadsheet).

Are Samantha and Tyrell (the gay couple's adopted children) Anita and Vernon's great-grandchildren?

Oy.

Agree, I think they needed to go a bit slower with the intros.

I’m enjoying it! I agree I could use a family tree though.

The cheesy white firefighter guy is cheating on Nurse Ashley, mark my words.

Dani Dupree is a soap icon already after clearing off her ex’s desk with the golf club.

Hayley is a master con artist. She will end up betraying Bill and it will be delicious. So far good soap!

[quote] The cheesy white firefighter guy is cheating on Nurse Ashley, mark my words.

With a dude

[quote] The gay couple look like they are about 25.

Don't get that. .. And the black actor, Brandon Claybon, is 38. The white actor, Mike Manning, is 37.

[quote] The cheesy white firefighter guy is cheating on Nurse Ashley, mark my words.

I may be wrong but in the very quick preview clip, it looked like he was the one kissing the blonde real estate agent.

Mike Manning is funny looking. Weird eyebrows.

Mike Manning is adorable.

Nurse Ashley seems completely useless as a character.

I expect her to follow her dream and move to Paris, or head upstairs and never come back down (like Sister Marie on Days of Our Lives) very soon.

If she is there just out of some demand to have a white lady main character, let me just say that blonde real estate agent seems fun (and talented.)

Give her some plot.

The nurse seems pointless. Plus, she's fug AF

I agree the lighting is way too bright. It washes out everything.

I suspect the bright lighting is related to trying to light properly for darker skin people. Show should consult with Tyler Perry studios about proper lighting for darker skinned people. Tyler's shows manage to get the lighting right for the actors but also not overlight the scenery.

[quote]Dani Dupree is a soap icon already after clearing off her ex’s desk with the golf club.

It was Karla Mosley's character who cleared the desk with the golf club.

R75- Fantastic point. I read how african American/dark skinned folks require lighting for their skin tone. It was fascinating and I wish I had a link... The show looks like shit, which is a shame, because the sets are decent.

I think the sets look great. They put some money into them. But the super bright lighting is overwhelming everything, making eveyrthing looked washed out and thus cheap.

R77: 1950 and National Geographic Magazine phoned to say they miss you.

SMH

Intrigued by the final scene between Anita and Vernon yesterday when they were discussing the evil ex-son-in-law's seeming threat, and they agreed that "protecting Martin is our priority."

This one was OK while it lasted -- and it had a gay storyline.

This series is coming off as way too predictable and the scripts cliched. As already discussed, the lighting is way off and distracting. Observations from episode 2:

Who's idea is to do 'birds-eye camera views' in some of the scenes ? Can they get a worst actress to play 'Dani', the scorned ex wife ? The hot gay couple have no attraction to each other ? Husband comes home from work, and they don't kiss / hug / embrace / strip their clothes off like they would if they were a straight couple ?

Why in the world did they hire a cast of actors who all look to be the same age ? It's tough to distinguish grandparents / parents/ children / grandchildren when they all look like they're in the same age group. Clifton Davis is the only one who is convincingly older (he's nearly 80), and still very fuckable. The actress who plays his wife looks like she's wearing a kitchen mop on her head. It doesn't make her look 'older'.

R83 I love you! Spot on! Not only do so many of the cast look the same age - they look exactly alike!!! I can’t tell one from the other. Are there 10 sets of twins on this show? I can’t tell them apart. I completely cringe at Tamara Tunie wearing that gray mop and gray pantssuit. Who the fuck approved that mess??? The show needs work.

somebody in the crew has it out for Tamara Tunie.

The wig they're having her wear is doing her no favors. Surely that is a wig and not her real hair. And the silver pants suit was not flattering or becoming. Just served to make the hair/wig look even worse on her.

Then when you combine the wig and pants suit with the overly bright lighting, Tamara looked awful.

And Tamara is the top billed actor on the show.

Yes, I am saddened by Tamara's look- There is a gorgeous woman under this mess of shit they saddled her with.

I honestly think that this show is godawful. Like a spoof of soaps. Shallow as a plate.

I dont know how anyone can watch. No offense. I was a steadfast Y&R and OLTL fan during childhood well into my 20's/early 30's until OLTL was cancelled.

give me a Diahann Carroll in shoulder pads and hair-to-God catfighting with the other stars of this soap, and I'm THERE

This show makes DYNASTY look like Shakespeare. I finished episode 3, and it seems to be on a downward slide. Tamara looks like a ghost. I've seen more passion between two straight male room-mates than with the gay married couple. Speaking of which, why do all the black men look so much alike ? I can't figure out who is who (granted, they're all gorgeous and sexy, but...), especially with such a large cast.

It's a struggle to keep up with the characters as it is, but then for the storylines not to hold the interest of the viewers is a double whammy. I give this show through the summer.

[quote] Speaking of which, why do all the black men look so much alike ? I can't figure out who is who (granted, they're all gorgeous and sexy, but...), especially with such a large cast.

I’m having the same issue.

[quote] I've seen more passion between two straight male room-mates than with the gay married couple.

Do you know any gay couples who have been married for approx. 15 years? .. Perhaps the thrill is gone, and that could be part of the story. .. Martin even suggested he move into the guest room if his dream-sleep patterns were too much.

Fuck no!

I don’t watch shit like that

[quote]Speaking of which, why do all the black men look so much alike ? I can't figure out who is who (granted, they're all gorgeous and sexy, but...), especially with such a large cast.

This is a problem with all new shows, especially soap. Trying to distinguish all these new characters from one another is difficult no matter whether they are black or white or Hispanic or Asian.

The problem is compounded by the fact that with a largely black cast, most of the cast members have the same color hair. With other soap launches, I often had to distinguish the characters at first by hair color, "Oh, the blond guy did thus and such" and the "black headed guy is hunky"

The black men look alike and the black women all look alike.

Here is my post from the other thread. I didn't know about this one.

I'm really enjoying it. As I said above, it's a soap opera and not trying to be anything else but a soap opera, and I like that. They're laying the groundwork quite nicely. Martin's dreams, Tamara Tunie and Clifton Davis' characters hiding some secret about Martin, Dani just losing her mind and drinking, and Bill's shadiness. I'm overlooking all of the exposition until we're about 6 weeks in.

I only have two complaints: the lighting is too bright, and I wish there were more man candy. Mike Manning is cute, and so is the guy who plays Martin and the guy who plays the photographer, but the other guys are just meh.

R76 That’s correct, Karla Mosley’s character…who is Dani Dupree

[quote]That’s correct, Karla Mosley’s character…who is Dani Dupree

Too early in the show's run for me to possibly know any of the characters names. That's why I was referring to it by the actor's name since she is known in the soap world having appeared on two other shows.

Everyone else on this thread also seems to be referring to the actors' names rather than the characters' names at this point.

Karla Mosely isn’t anything special. I don’t like her.

As for the cast: Oye vey! They look alike.

I don't get the characters looking alike thing some have mentioned. I don't know all their names yet, but I can definitely tell them all apart.

Why the hell didn’t Tamara say NO to that mop wig that matches her close out K-Mart blue light special pant suit? Hideous introduction to the character! Tamara is styled horribly!!

R90 I know plenty of couples - gay and straight - married for fifteen years, and they have more passion between them than these two caricatures. The guys are gorgeous, yet their acting leaves much to be desired.

As I mentioned above, all the guys in the cast look exactly alike and I can't tell who's who. Same with the women. It's tough to hold interest in the storylines when the father / son and mother / daughter look like twins.

seems like the new soap is bringing up interest of the older soaps.

[quote]It's tough to hold interest in the storylines when the father / son and mother / daughter look like twins.

The overly bright lighting is making them all look the same age.

There is no passion between the gay spouses because their marriage is on the rocks.

People in this thread admitting they can’t tell black people apart…that is probably something you should keep to yourself

R105: Not all DLers are White.

The actresses are tressed, dressed and "complexed" so identically that it is difficult to tell them apart.

Inflexible wardrobe, hair and makeup stylists are defeating the writers' characters.

R105 I'm one of those people - actually the original one who brought it up. I'll do you one better - whenever I click my remote and land on FOX NEWS for a few minutes, I have no idea who the female reporter is because I can't tell them apart.

They all have blond hair cascading over one shoulder, mascara which looks like tarantulas on their eyes, thin surgically sculpted noses, pearly white teeth which look like neon lights and big tits. Forget it when two or more are at the anchor desk. It's hopeless. Should I keep this to myself, too ?

The men and women are really looking alike and while I am a pasty white Irish boy, I promise it's not a "all black folks look alike" thing.

I think too many of these characters have been costumed and dressed the same. I know it's an affluent community, but costuming should help the characters stand out in some way. Aside from the main 4 characters, and the hussy who stole Dani's husband, everyone else is blurring into each other.

I forgot a sentence. Affluent community shouldn't equal everyone is wearing the same suit/dress/suit.

[quote]Aside from the main 4 characters, and the hussy who stole Dani's husband, everyone else is blurring into each other.

The show is only three days old. You don't start knowing every character immediately. It takes time for you to start distinguishing the various character. This is why various character names are going to be repeated endlessly in the first 6 weeks or so.

I'm horrible with names and faces, even in real life. Doesn't matter whether they're black or white or Hispanic, I have a hard time keeping up with names and faces. So my not being able to keep up with every character on a brand new soap opera is par for the course.

But as has been said, the show could be doing things to distinguish the characters such as different wardrobe styles, different hair styles and especially different hair colors.

I'm not seeing much variation in wardrobe choices at the moment, but those differences may become more obvious as we get to know the character better. And those different hair colors are what always initially help me distinguish various characters in an ensemble at first, whether it be movies or TV.

This show only makes me long for the return of 'Greenleaf' on OWN. Now that was a great series with top notch acting and great writing.

Most characters haven't changed their clothes because the first three episodes have been the same soap day. The lead (Dani) did change her clothes, though. Personally, I haven't had any problem distinguishing characters in regard to their clothes. I'd like to see more men shirtless wearing an apron.

R110 of course, it takes time for characters to emerge.

But the sameness of both sets and costuming really struck me.

I think that's the reality of soaps in the post-2010 era - very cheap sets and costumes.

Those sets are not cheap, overly lit perhaps, but they put some money into those sets. They are pretty spacious and plentiful for a soap opera in 2025. No one is cramped on this show. I'm not sure what current soaps some of you are watching, where you would consider these sets as cheap unless it's GH, where the sets may be the only good thing about that show these days.

I wonder how much they are spending on this soap. I guess filming in studio allows for so many sets and space.

I'm not sure what they're spending, but they are saving a shit ton of money by filming in Georgia. Georgia and North Carolina are super cheap to film in, even cheaper than Canada, and they give significant tax breaks.

r115 I mean filming in atlanta means they can have big sets.

r116 That is what I meant. LOL. Filming in atlanta means they have more space. I wonder if some new soaps are developed if they will go the same root.

Tamara Tunie's clothes by Giorgio of Peachtree Street.

If they have 27 sets, as was stated during the previews last week, then the show likely is using two soundstages.

Passions did that at CBS Radford -- had one soundstage for the permanent sets like the Crane living room, Tabatha's house and police headquarters. Had the adjoining soundstage for temporary sets needed for whatever storylines the were filming that day.

R102 That big FAT slob Erroll forgot to mention that REPEATS of The Price is Right performed better than the previews week of Beyond The Gates.

I think days has two sound stages too.

Atlanta has lost it's luster. Only 20 productions currently filming there. Marvel is dead. It was bound to become another Wilmington.

I miss the old "African-American DLers" threads here.

Donna Mills, Joan Van Ark and Michele Lee are still alive and kicking in their 80s. Maybe they can visit the set and give this cast some acting lessons on how to develop interesting characters in a soap ? Hell, Invite 92 year old Joan Collins to give some acting lessons !

Uh, no.

[quote] why do all the black men look so much alike? I can't figure out who is who

R88 The only two I was a little confused about were Andre (the fashion photographer) and Jacob (the police detective). But even that disappeared after today's episode, which featured both of them in longer scenes.

So who is Dani’s daughter married to? He looks just like the young man who’s sleeping with Dani.

R128 Those are the two guys I was referring to in R127.

Dani's oldest daughter, Naomi, is married to the robbery-homicide detective named Jacob. We saw him with her today in the scene in the restaurant booth along with the white nurse and her firefighter boyfriend. Since Naomi is an attorney, it looks like these four could make up some kind of a public service quad.

The other guy sexing up Dani is fashion photographer, Andre. He's rich because his parents died in a plane crash when he was young and he double-inherited. Dani's sister Nicole and her husband, Ted, stepped up to help guide him in life, because he's Ted's blood nephew. Words used to describe him are smooth, carefree and a playboy.

So given their different careers and personalities, these two guys should become pretty discernible.

Thanks r129! So one could argue Dani’s sleeping with her nephew-in-law. I mean, they’re not blood related but still. 🤔

The Hair Department's barber has mastered only one haircut. Notice how all the male characters (with the possible exception of Vernon) sport identical buzz cuts.

Come on, man!!

R130 A "nephew-in-law" is your niece's husband. Or now with same-sex marriage, it could also be your nephew's husband.

[quote]Atlanta has lost it's luster. Only 20 productions currently filming there.

Viki Sleestack didn't like filming in Atlanta. She filmed a couple of episodes of The Resident there, and they warned her never to go outside the hotel after sundown.

[quote] Or now with same-sex marriage, it could also be your nephew's husband.

And with that definition, this means gay "Smitty" is Dani's nephew-in-law.

[quote] with the white nurse and her firefighter boyfriend.

Why did you feel the need to describe her as 'the white nurse' ? Interesting you mentioned other characters in the show, but never described anyone by their skin color or race. Not trying to start anything, but I'm curious as this really stuck out in your post.

R135, maybe because it's a mostly black cast?

I called the secretary the Asian woman to someone.

Why has BTG been called a Black soap? Why not just call it a soap?

[quote]they warned her never to go outside the hotel after sundown.

Are the downtown parts of Atlanta very unsafe after dark?

Did anyone else catch that line about Andre's deceased parents?

When Uncle Ted was talking to his nephew about the airplane tragedy that killed both of Andre's parents, Ted referred to his brother and his spouse as "STAN AND IRA."

With those names, it sounds like Ted's brother, Stan, was gay? ... meaning Ted's own gay son, Martin, had a guncle, which seems pretty common in real life.

I heard Iris.

Do any of you watch TV news?

R139 I not only heard "Ira," but the closed-captions also say "Ira." .. And whoever maintains the BTG Wiki website, put "Stan and Ira" down as the names of Andre's parents on his bio page.there.

Didn’t think so

R135 Wrote quickly and was simply distinguishing her from the" black nurse" at the hospital (Shanice?).

Promo that ran during the CBS daytime broadcast today showed Tunie being a guest on "Late Night with Steven Colbert" tonight.

I'm out. I gave it a week. Boring storylines, cliched characters and horrible acting. I won't rehash the awful lighting and the fact that everyone looks alike and dressed / wigged the same which makes one character undistinguishable from the other.

I'll just look for the cute actors in shirtless photos online and be entertained that way.

I like it, I hope it sticks around for a while. I have a few questions though.

1. What is the point of the white nurse.

2. Who is the woman on the motorcycle who ran the other woman off the road? How does she fit into this?

[quote]1. What is the point of the white nurse.

She's a talk to and best friend of the oldest Hamilton daughter. She's a working class character and anchors the hospital to the rest of the canvas.

[quote] 2. Who is the woman on the motorcycle who ran the other woman off the road? How does she fit into this?

We don't know the full story, but I'm thinking that she was involved with Nicole's husband in the past and Nicole's husband is her daughter's (who just became Nicole's new assistant) father. My guess is Nicole's husband left Lesley for Nicole or cheated on Nicole with Lesley.

I don't go near anyone whose name approximates "tuna."

Are only blacks allowed to watch since the actors are calling it a black soap?

Yeah this show is hot garbage. There is zero reason it had to be THIS bad, considering the talent behind the scenes.. No thanks.

[quote] 1. What is the point of the white nurse.

I think the the nurse is more than a talk-to. .. Andre, the fashion photographer (who just fucked Dani) has a big crush on Ashley, the nurse. This was relayed in Andre's scene with his aunt, uncle, and cousin when they were discussing Andre's backstory. .. The cousin was teasing him about Ashley, and Uncle Ted also reminded him that Ashley isn't like most of the women he's been interested in, saying she doesn't do casual. .. And in Friday's episode, one of the cliffhangers has Andre and the nurse stuck in an elevator at the hospital with a pregnant woman who's about to give birth. I'm guessing these two will have some kind of bonding moment over helping deliver a baby.

I like it too!

This has been in the works for over a year - and this is what they come up with ? Some production which looks like the local community theater group is putting on ?

The sets and lighting make it look like it’s filmed in an Ikea. Acting is underwhelming, and dialogue is doo-doo. The actors look like they’re wearing their own clothes right off the rack at Marshalls. Other than that, what’s not to love? I’d rather watch re-runs of Port Charles.

All of these lighting comments. Curious what you all think- Paul Rauch's OLTL was known for bright lighting. Loved this show but recalled that it looked cheap. However, check this out- the show looked pretty vibrant in retrospect.

This is a very entertaining blooper reel from a former camera man who is a great guy. Its scenes prior to editing, and the quality is superior so you can really see what he show looked like when it aired-

This was bright lighting that worked with the show's vibe.

I honestly think the lighting already looked better in Friday's episode. I didn't find it impinging upon any scene. The change was especially noticeable where they were using one of the previously-seen sets at the country club for the wedding venue and the lighting looked fine.

Someone needs to teach the actress who plays Dani that popping her eyes open wide and flaring her nostrils while clenching her jaw does not make her look 'fierce' or 'angry'. It makes her look more like a rabid werewolf. Who is giving her directions to do this ? Geez.

Karla Mosely has never been good in any role. Particularly this one.

r157- Thank you- I found her awful in the trailer and even wore on the show. This show is DOA in my eyes.

Some of you are forgetting what this replaced.

It's far more entertaining than that mess called The Squawk.

R160 Not by much.

Worse than expected. Production values, acting, writing worse than a first-run syndication production of Tyler Perry.

Irna Phillips rolled over in her grave seeing this trash occupy what was ATWT's timeslot.

One week in (and out) and I get the impression they're not even trying. I'm surprised the cast is even memorizing their scripts. The storyline (wife jilted for the younger mistress) is entertaining / shocking for the 1960s - not 2025.

I’d rather have The Squawk back.

Soaps take time to gel.

That being said, they may have wanted to keep people engaged but TOO much is happening off the bat.

Yea - one day and I'm out.

It reminds me of some dumb movie I saw years ago and a reviewer wrote that it seem "....less costumed than come as you are....."

Somewhere Victoria Rowell is hate watching this train wreck and cackling her head off.

I'm surprised she didn't sue to try to get a role on this show.

If you want a real train wreck, watch Rowell's own soap, "The Rich and Ruthless." It finally made it to some D-List channel that no one ever heard of called the UMC (Urban Movie Channel), which since became a streaming-only venue called ALLBLK. Four seasons (of six episodes each) of that mess was enough.

I betcha Sunny Hostin is fine with a streaming service called ALLBLK, with all black-cast series for programming. She probably wouldn't be too fine with a service called ALLWHT though, with all white cast series for programming.

I wonder if Dani's daughter, Chelsea (the unhappy model), is lesbian or bi? .. Next week's spoilers indicate she *shares a moment* with a friend's wife.

Did they beat GH in the ratings? Cuz they sure as hell didn’t beat Y&R or B&B.

I'm also not feeling Tamara Tunie in the part. A fine actress, but she doesn't seem like the right fit somehow. I would have liked to have seen Renée Jones back on soaps in a part like that. She's a year older than Tunie (66) and looks amazing.

I don't buy Anita as an EGOT, that's for damn sure. I realize the show wants to telegraph that these are very successful people, but Tunie, as amazing as she is, isn't that.

The snapping of fingers music annoys the fuck out of me. Cringe & Fast forward.

It was a solid first week and I'm already engaged with the story. Tamara Tunie and Clifton Davis work well as the matriarch and patriarch of this powerful family. I also like the little touches, like the way Nicole calls Dani, "sissy"

Storywise, I can find much to complain about it. It's solid.

The things I can nitpick are typical early soap-beginning issues that will be worked out as the weeks progress. It's been nice to see that all of the early reviews from the press have been so positive. It's also nice to see that CBS put some money into this production, from the sets to the extras. The production location probably helps keep costs down. Days, Y&R, and B&B should seriously think about relocating to Atlanta.

[quote] Days, Y&R, and B&B should seriously think about relocating to Atlanta.

Yes, or more generally speaking, film ANYWHERE else in the country other than LA and NYC, the two MOST expensive cities (at least for production costs related to this kind of production).

I've always wished for a Chicago-based soap where Taylor Miller and Kate Collins would play dueling matriarchs of two families. (They both live there.)

[quote] Y&R, and B&B should seriously think about relocating to Atlanta

Seriously doubt either of those shows would relocate to Atlanta. The owners of both shows (Sony Pictures for Y&R and Bell-Phillip for B&B) are based in Los Angeles. B&B is even set in Los Angeles, so that works with their outdoor scenes. .. If either one of these soaps ever do exit Television City, I'm pretty sure Sony would move Y&R to their own sound stages over in Culver City, and the Baby Bells would more than likely move B&B to the studio space that Lauralee and her husband own, also located in Culver City. (I remember Sony once made noise about doing this, but CBS stepped up and upgraded TVC per their stipulation, so they kept Y&R there.) And reportedly both soaps are receiving a good deal to stay put at TVC during the major construction project undertaken by the new owners. We'll see what happens once that's completed (ca. 2028), but it wouldn't make much sense for owners who already have studios in L.A. to go elsewhere.

Dani is psychotic

Not in a good way

The woman going into labor in an elevator

So cliche

The long speech by a gun welding crazy at a wedding

Methinks Guza has more say in this than I thought

I binge watched the first five episodes over the weekend. Overall, I think it was a very strong launch. The first episode was especially strong, pulling me into the Dani (Karla Mosely) story quickly and having me curious to see what comes next.

As was said above, the show has some kinks to work out. All shows go through that when they launch. Can't expect perfection from the get go, especially with a crew that has never done a daytime soap before.

My big complaint it the one that has already been discussed -- the lighting is so bright everything looks washed out and consequently looks cheap. That is really detracting from the show because these are some really nice looking sets that getting lost in the over saturation. Frankly, I would have gone back and reshot the first few episodes with proper lighting once the problem was discovered in the editing. I fear a lot of people who might have sampled the show were turned off by the over saturated cheap look and didn't come back.

I do hope the give Tamara Tunie something to actually do, and not just have her play matriarch. Give her a storyline with some depth, something worthy of her talend.

But they are certainly are giving Karla Mosley something to do! Wow!! She's been on fire. So nice she's getting this chance to show off her skills after being saddled with that transgender storyline on B&B. Look forward to seeing where she takes Dani.

[quote]I don't buy Anita as an EGOT, that's for damn sure. I realize the show wants to telegraph that these are very successful people, but Tunie, as amazing as she is, isn't that.

I agree. They should've cast the real Black Female EGOT winner for the matriarch - Whoopi Goldberg.

[quote]They should've cast the real Black Female EGOT winner for the matriarch - Whoopi Goldberg.

Whoopi makes a lot more money and works a lot fewer hours as a co-host on The View.

This is just me and I'm not trying to be a dick, but soap fans have been used to cheap for about 15 years, give or take. This is the same genre with shaky sets and pictures strung from fishing line on black drapes, and the audience never missed a day. Any person who is going to sit down and watch a soap in 2025 is not going to be turned off by lighting that makes a set look cheap. The lighting needs help, and hopefully that will be addressed. There seems to be a social media push for CBS to air this in primetime during the summer, I hope it happens.

[quote]but soap fans have been used to cheap for about 15 years, give or take. This is the same genre with shaky sets and pictures strung from fishing line on black drapes, and the audience never missed a day. Any person who is going to sit down and watch a soap in 2025 is not going to be turned off by lighting that makes a set look cheap.

As we've seen here on DL, people are looking for a reason to hate Beyond the Gates, so giving them an easy target like lighting seems so avoidable.

But the lighting on Day, Y&R, B&B and GH all is much better than what we say on Beyond the Gates. And I daresay, BTG has a bigger budget than Days does.

I really think the lighting issue primarily is not knowing how to light a set for people with darker skin tones, so they lit it too bright. Well, GH and Y&R both have a good number of black characters and those shows seem to light their scenes properly.

BTG could easily have consulted with Y&R, Days and GH about proper lighting for black characters. Hell, they could have eased on down the road and asked Tyler Perry about it.

I don't think it's lighting darker actors, it's Atlanta, I think it's soap opera lighting, which is its own unique beast, that these folks are having trouble with. However, I think it's a process of figuring it out. But you do make a good point, R186

It's also WEEK ONE, folks.

I thought the lighting looked much better Friday and especially today. I watched it live after Bold and Beautiful and the lighting for both shows actually looked the same.

I agree the lighting on Friday's show, especially the scenes at the country club, looked much better than the lighting on the premier episode last Monday.

Haven't yet watched today's show.

Today's show was fun and the lighting was a million times better. I also noticed that today was the first episode not written solely by Michele. The breakdown and scriptwriters have now started, and Guza joined the credits as co-headwriter.

On another note, I love that painting in Lesley's apartment of the girls jumping rope.

Why are we rooting for Dani?

Why hasn't she been arrested?

Karla Mosely sucks ass. She’s awful.

A 'disturbed' woman pulls out a gun and shoots it at a small wedding ceremony attended by about thirty people, and everyone just gathers around and watches her terrorize the bride and groom. No one attempts to approach her and disarm her, not even the security and detective standing there. No one calls 9-1-1. Once the situation is over, no one calls the police, the detective at the wedding doesn't arrest her. Everyone in attendance is as calm as can be, and stands gathered around talking about what happened. Afterwards, the shooter meets her friend at a bar for a drink - again, no arrests, no police.

Maybe they grabbed one of the more experienced story-writers and moved her to the lighting team ?

I don't know if the camp is intentional (which would be awesome, btw)

R194 Don't forget the church hat.

So is Cady McClain playing Karen Walker? Or Patsy Stone to Dani's Edina?

The wedding scenes were stupid. Do better, Michele Val Jean.

[quote]A 'disturbed' woman pulls out a gun and shoots it at a small wedding ceremony attended by about thirty people, and everyone just gathers around and watches her terrorize the bride and groom. No one attempts to approach her and disarm her, not even the security and detective standing there. No one calls 9-1-1. Once the situation is over, no one calls the police, the detective at the wedding doesn't arrest her. Everyone in attendance is as calm as can be, and stands gathered around talking about what happened. Afterwards, the shooter meets her friend at a bar for a drink - again, no arrests, no police.

Exactly, and don't forget that hundreds of thousands of people were watching it via livestream. Not one person watching said "I need to call the cops"...

Sometimes, it feels like the scripts are AI-generated.

"Hey ChatGBT, write a soap opera, full of cliches."

I thoroughly enjoyed Monday's episode. The lighting issues seemed to be fixed nicely. Glad they got it corrected so quickly, but wonder why they didn't reshoot the first few episodes with the corrected lighting.

Why didn't they call the police on Dani while she was holding the gun? I wondered that but figured it was part of the plot. These are some of the richest people in the world. They are black royalty. The rules don't apply to them.

Besides, it was happening at an exclusive black country club where staff is paid very well for its discretion and likely got a bonus for not saying anything about this incident in particular. That's why the live stream has them all freaking out.

[quote]wonder why they didn't reshoot the first few episodes with the corrected lighting.

My guess, the budget.

[quote]Why didn't they call the police on Dani while she was holding the gun?

I'm assuming they were like, it's Dani being crazy again. No reason to involve the cops. The lawyer daughter, even sent her cop husband home (you can see some tension building there, perhaps he doesn't feel accepted in the family?)

My favorite performance was from Tamara Tunie in yesterday's episode. She was thoroughly pissed.

I also want them to pull back the layers on the Martin/Smitty relationship a little bit more. Martin's wound a little too tightly.

Have some of you never watched a daytime soap opera before? .. Obviously, no one will call the cops, nor will the detective or security there do anything, because this event occurred inside Fairmont Crest, and Dani is part of the Dupree royal family who rules this little kingdom.

My neighbor keeps trying to open up my garden gate. Gotta keep it shut.

As many predicted LaGIddens exits Days of our Lives for BTG.

Just as long as his camp mess input is kept to a minimum.

He’s been messing with my garden gate!

I thought it was a decent first week. Much better than Passions. The only other soap I watched from the very beginning.

Tops General Hospital in first week of plain-old-television broadcast ratings, and of course this is also better than what The Squawk was pulling in.

Great job for BTG, not so great for GH. The other character that I'm loving is ( I think her name is) Shanice. She's the head nurse at the hospital.

It's a little jarring to see Ron Carlivati's name listed among the writers. He's a breakdown writer for the show.

The reason I say its jarring is that Michelle Val Jean had been a longtime GH writer. She was there for almost 20 years, first hired by Claire Labine, and was considered the expert on the show's history. She was the script editor at GH in 2012 when Ron came in as HW and promptly fired her.

She then moved to B&B as a script writer for the next 12 years, until CBS tapped her to create Beyond the Gates.

Clearly Michelle is a forgiving person if she hired Ron even after her fired her.

R198. But but but... she wrote the maya doreen catfight

And all those Bb episodes

That stupid CuntnessDumbatella at the SON board constantly repeats that Michele Val Jean wrote the Maya/Doreen catfight. Big fucking deal. That was 35 years ago. Dumb bitch. Good ratings for BTG.

Great ratings for the first week!

The curiosity factor. Ratings will drop.

The first four to six weeks is the 'honeymoon period'. Let's see where the ratings are later in the Spring and Summer - are people staying home watching this series or recording it , or have they tuned out and occupying their time doing something else (I'm going to guess the latter).

This show is absolutely awful. And yeah, it is totally something Tyler Perry would have cranked out of his sausage factory if he was producing a soap. No surprise it’s shot in Atlanta where Perry’s shows are also shot.

Yeah- I do not know how I ever watched soaps of THIS is a "good show"

My mom used to ask me how I could watch such garbage and I was always SO offended- even as an 8 year old (but she would turn off the channel)

And to this day, late 80's and early 90's OLTL and Y&R both stand up and are as great to watch now as they were as a kid! (And I have gotten into ATWT and GL of late on YT)

This show is a disgrace. Utterly perplexed at this "soap". Is t because I am 45 and old?

Fuck, I cannot even type, so who am I to judge ^^^ IF THIS is a good show.. is what I meant

CBS will cancel this turkey by the end of the summer. They’re doing major belt tightening. Two out of the three FBI series have just been axed. This show is DOA.

[quote]Great ratings for the first week!

This is nice to see. It's rare for a new soap to beat its time slot competitor in the first week. The show is shaping up nicely, and they have created a fascinating universe, the supporting characters, like Mona and Shanice, are just as interesting as the main players. I also love how hot in the pants Vanessa is. I thought her husband may have been gay, but it looks like he's got a gambling problem.

Jamey Giddens was brought in to save BTG!

R219, I’m 100% with you. I love the way the universe feels real. A lot of thought and attention to detail has been put into this endeavor, and I appreciate that.

I love Shanice — she’s my favorite at this point.

I think Vanessa and her husband have an open-marriage.

Giddens being brought on board is a bad sign. His style of soap is OTT 80s Dynasty pastiche. No substance whatsoever.

Jamey is not headwriting the show, he's doing breakdowns. Val Jean and Guza are the headwriters.

Breakdown can make for a terrible episode. Have you ever seen Jamey’s breakdowns on Days???

Breakdowns reflect the vision of the headwriter, not the breakdown writer.

I'm about to break down. You don't KNOW the pressure I'm under!!

Does Jamey still have hemmorhoids? I remember when he went on and on about his roids back in the days of his podcast. Classy.

R227 LMAO I CANNOT 💀

More ratings news from Deadline.

The article includes some streaming stats in comparison to Y&R and B&B as well as percentages for the black audience.

Julie Hanan Carruthers has an assistant. Good lord.

It's all moving too fast for me

March 10 - 14 Preview.

R171 Chelsea left the bar with a guy, but when they got outside, he introduced her to his wife, and Chelsea said she'd been looking forward to meeting the woman and kissed her. They went off to have a threesome.

The guys all look alike, except for Reuben Gregory.

R229’s article has a typo in the first line. Do better, Deadline.

I am loving this. I watched AMC from 1983 until it was canceled and it has always bothered me that it's gone. It was so comfortable to watch and it meant a lot to me. So I was thrilled to jump onto this show from the beginning and it is not disappointing. It's basically just like AMC in pacing, costumes, sets, lighting, writing and I'm so happy it's here. I've watched all 11 episodes. I missed the line about Andre's parents so I'm glad I came to this thread.

236- MY ASS IT IS! This is trash-

EAT MY DECOMPOSED CUNT!!!!

[quote] It's all moving too fast for me.

Fast is good in my book. The hour goes by quickly.

If you're having trouble keeping up, R231, I'd suggesting checking out this (gay) guy on Instagram who posts a daily video recap at: beyondthegatestea

I don't find him annoying like a lot of soap commentators. He does a good job at recounting things with some opinion and humor thrown in.

The soap got a mention on SNL in the Weekend Update skit

I watched All My Children. I loved All My Children.

This, sir, is no All My Children.

It was nice seeing Cady McLain. So far, she’s about the only one who has been able to elevate the terrible dialogue.

Shocked to see a Black soap that's not named after Tyler Perry.

They should create a character who’s a flaming closet case and name him Perry Tyler.

I watched it for 30 minutes. Then I couldn't do it anymore. Agree about the lighting. It's not good, looks very artificial and takes me out of everything that is happening on screen. The acting was what really ticked me off though. Everything felt like school theater even coming from seasoned actors. Nothing felt real, more like a table read in motion.

For now I am just assuming that it's the direction that needs strong finetuning. I'll check back in three to five months when things have settled and production got its routines down.

About costumes: They seem to try a Real Housewives vibe which personally is not a good choice to make stories feel realistic. It doesn't work on RH for me and neither does it work here. Show me people in jeans and sweaters any day and it makes it easier for me to relate.

Initial response was good. But this will quickly fade away. Typical soap.

From my POV, there's been no major issue with the lighting for more than a week now. .. Also, I thought the nighttime scene via special effects featuring the DC skyline with the Washington monument in the background was pretty well done.

Yes, lighting only seemed to be off that first week. By second week, it seemed to be fine.

Oddly, I've noticed multiple promos for the show and some "previously on Beyond the Gates" that have used scenes from that first week with the lighting corrected.

Very strange that they clearly had the ability to correct the lighting for that first week of shows in the edit bay yet did not do so. Wonder what was going on there.

I am sure they just tried to crank out the episodes and fix things as they went along. Starting a one hour daily soap cannot be an easy task.

r247 I am surprised they didn't just do a 30 minute show. bold and the beautiful is a top soap I think because it is only 30 minutes.

This could have easily been a 30 minute show. There are SO many commercials, and they come in at odd times, pacing wise.

The way the show cuts to commercials is………strange.

It's 37 minutes. Just like Y&R.

But unlike Y&R, things actually happen.

I originally thought -- actually hoped -- that BTG would be a 19-minute soap like B&B, but the current platform is fine. There's enough going on to hold my interest.

They clearly write to show to have a cliffhanger at the halfway point.

They're doing that so they can break the show into 30 minute segments to sell in foreign markets.

I've read nothing about the ratings for the second week.

If they were at all decent, we'd be seeing stories about it.

Still beating GH in the key demos.

r253 Even if the ratings aren't good they are still bigger than the talk. I think "beyond the gates" is getting over double the ratings of the talk last I read. Even with production cost, it is a good deal. Filming in Atlanta also helps with cost.

I’m enjoying it but they need a good couple to root for. Dani and Andre are hot but going nowhere since Dani is hung up on Bill and Andre is inexplicably obsessed with boring nurse Ashley

The only character I'm interested in is crazy Leslie and her alter ego (and wig) Shelley.

She is old-school soap batshit crazy.

Three weeks in and I'm still enjoying it. I also love crazy ass Leslie/Dana or whatever and I like that Eva is softening towards the Richardsons. I do like Dani and the gay couple. I want to know what Martin's secret is and I want to know why he's so hellbent on presenting this heteronormative view of his life.

I find the show very good, even though I've started to roll my eyes every time someone talks about how great the Duprees are or when one of the Duprees talks about how great they are. Yesterday, Anita said that it's great to come out from behind the gates from time to time and I was thinking - who talks like that, but I get what Val Jean is setting up here.

R258, I’m also enjoying the show quite a lot. Shanice is my favorite character. I also really like Eva’s story. Of course, Sherry Carter is a hoot.

The Talk was far from perfect but the salaries of the five hosts can't begin to compete with the salaries of 25 soaps stars/actors. Tamara didn't come cheap after SVU.

Plus, The Talk served as a promotional vehicle for all the CBS shows; how many xs did Justin Hartley and Shemar come on to talk about Tracker and SWAT?

Those product placements at the end had to have brought in some bucks, too.

This show is a return to sponsored soap form, with Proctor & Gamble, at least in part, underwriting production in exchange for free or greatly reduced ad rates. That, coupled with the GA filming credits, means nobody's losing money here.

[quote]Shanice is my favorite character.

Oh yes, I love Shanice. I also love Mona. The only story that I'm not feeling is the gambling storyline.

[quote] The Talk was far from perfect but the salaries of the five hosts can't begin to compete with the salaries of 25 soaps stars/actors

Normally I'd say that scripted shows can be re-run so costs are amortized at some point. But this is usually not true with serialized drama and probably even less so with daily drama. So, I am not sure why a soap is desirable over talk. Maybe a more loyal viewership ensuring more steady and hopefully higher ratings in the same demo?

R261, unless you work at CBS or at BTG or P&G or the NAACP, I don't think there's a way to tell if BTG is losing money or not.

And it needs to do more than not lose money; it needs to MAKE money.

Back in the day, we had daily performances by so many greats -- Hubbard, Zimmer, Anne Heche, Anna Stuart, Debbi Morgan (she was robbed at the 2009 DT Emmys), Strasser, Slezak; male actors, too, Bryggman, Grant Aleksander, Chris Bernau, Larry Gates.

Now, we have ...this. These five soaps hampered by budgets and rushed productions. Morals are thrown out the windows with killers and creeps being cast as the heroes and heroines.

"Sonny would never hurt his kids." "Luna had a rough childhood." "We can't send Kristen to jail because of her daughter!" "Phyllis faked her death but she was mad that Diane did the same!" "Sharond framed Daniel but she wasn't in her right mind!"

It's ALL a mess and posting that it's great is NOT going to make it great. Ever.

I'd rather spend an hour a day rewatching on YouTube classic moments.

"So, I am not sure why a soap is desirable over talk. Maybe a more loyal viewership ensuring more steady and hopefully higher ratings in the same demo?"

soaps (GOOD soaps) may have more loyal viewership, but The Talk also served as a promotional platform to pump up other CBS properties.

Plus, The Talk often included soap content, which garnered higher ratings.

The whole thing doesn't make sense.

[quote] I want to know what Martin's secret is

R258 They've hinted that Martin was involved in someone's death and Bill the lawyer (Dani's ex-) took care of covering it up. Recall, they had that scene were Bill was talking to Martin and reminded him of things from his past, putting an obvious spin on the word "OVERKILL."

Perhaps it's some kind of Chappaquiddick-like incident, only the death involved a twink who was working in his campaign.

CBS is trying to tap into the heavily black daytime audience. 55% of the audience of BTG is black, so it's already a win for CBS. The cast of 20 contract players are mostly newbies, they aren't breaking the bank with this cast. The four leads are probably the most expensive, and I seriously doubt they are breaking the bank.

There is a difference between the costs for a brand new show, shot in Atlanta, then a show that's been on for 50 years, being shot in LA, and having a veteran-heavy cast.

Bottom line for me is that it's nice that CBS decided to invest in a new soap. It's nice that the critics and ratings show that it's being nicely received. I'm certain that this show is not everyone's cup of tea and that's fine. If this works, maybe someone else will get a shot at developing a soap.

Hardly anyone streams talk shows on a regular basis, especially when they're as bad as The Squawk. People might check out a talk show post-broadcast, if they missed or hear about a specific guest whom they want to see, but that's about it. Even those people probably won't watch the entire show. .. Meanwhile, daily soaps bring viewers to the streaming sites on a regular and continuing basis. In that regard, they're seen as "gateway shows" and serve to get viewers to the streaming site with the potential of having them stick around and check out other shows there. This is why Peacock took on Days.

Two of the many things I like about BTG is that there are many scenes with lots of characters interacting in the same room and the feel of the setting being an actual community with different levels of characters organically connected.

Critics wrote that Liza Huber "unconvincingly" held a blanket up against her in her premiere on Passions. (Gwen was ostensibly nude under the blanket in her scene with Ethan.)

Today's critics don't DARE criticize BTG for fear of being called racist. I've seen it happen on twitter.

I'd love it if other nets, streams invested in soaps.

Invest in writing, actors, directors, sets, etc.

Elderly white men waxing nostalgic about old P&G soaps from decades ago are not the target audience of this soap. Although, I'm sure there are probably enough guys in that demo who can appreciate a hot young black guy in his underwear.

"Elderly white men" -- that old, moldy chestnut.

Viewers -- not matter what their demo, age, race, orientation -- want GOOD STORYTELLING.

They want someone to root for!

Who am I rooting for on BTG (or on ANY soap)?

Why hasn't Dani's family committed her to a sanitarium?

CBS wants black audience for this show, but this show has black characters, but the stories are universal. You could replace the entire cast with white actors and the stories would still work.

[quote]Who am I rooting for on BTG (or on ANY soap)?

Who you root for depends on any number of things. I root for Shanice to get the gossip. I'm rooting for Dani because she is the woman wronged, but I'm also rooting for Hayley, because she has no idea what she's gotten in the middle of. I'm hoping that Smitty gets to be a reporter again. I'm rooting for Vanessa to get more cock. I'm hopeful that Eva doesn't get in too deep with her crazy mom's schemes, and I don't think Ted is her father.

Quite frankly, compared to the other 4 - BTS is the most solid in storytelling right now.

[quote]Why hasn't Dani's family committed her to a sanitarium?

I'm assuming you're new to soap opera.

Ha. not new.

Not tat tall.

I haven't gotten to know any of these folks long enough to root for them.

Dani said she was okay with Bill having affairs out of town and behind her back but in front of her and under her nose was a different story.

Okay. On one hand, it's great that she's out there living her best life -- having a guy on the side. But I don't know why Bill and Dani split or why I should care for Dani. I'm rooting for the poor bride. Dani assaulted her while her whole family stood by and supported her.

This show is for the blacks. Period.

[quote] I'm rooting for the poor bride.

Hayley, or "Fail-ey" as Dani called her, has really come around the last few episodes. I wasn't too sure about her at first, but I'm quite enjoying her recent no-nonsense approach to what's going on, and I've become a fan as well.

They’ve lost their luster already. Week 3 ending was BORING! Step it up, Beyond The Gates.

r263 Yeah, I think it is the higher and more consistent ratings. People will skip days or weeks of a talk show if the guest aren't interesting. People will tune in every day in if there is a lull in their soap.

r265

R280 You could put up a yule log burning 24/7 and get better ratings than The Talk. Who the fuck wanted to listen to fat Sheryl Underwood and creepy Jerry O’Connell??? Anything will get higher ratings than The Talk.

The show that would excite most DLs would be called "The Vivians of Vance". It would have generated a mega-thread already!

This is off topic, but I'm surprised that The Talk doesn't work for CBS. How difficult is it to find capable hosts to talk to interesting people?

I think The Talk couldn't survive after what happened after the Les Monves scandal, Julie's departure, and Sharon's flaming out. They tried to make it over, but it wasn't working, so they canceled and went back to soap opera. They probably could have gone with another Talk Show, Game Show, or a daytime News Hour like NBC and ABC, but CBS is still the more traditional of the networks and found a way to make a soap opera, in this current climate, affordable.

“ Today's critics don't DARE criticize BTG for fear of being called racist. I've seen it happen on twitter.”

How could you have seen something you’re claiming isn’t happening?

r283 I think the ratings for the talk was okay, but I think they realized scripted shows bring more people to the streaming platforms. You can miss an episode or five of a talk show, but not so much a soap opera.

General hospital is always at the top of hulu's top shows. Same with days of our lives with peacock.

No. I've had sufficient.

[quote] General hospital is always at the top of hulu's top shows. Same with days of our lives with peacock.

And BTG is in the Top 5 shows streaming at cbs: 1) Matlock, 2) Tracker, 3) Watson, 4) BTG, and 5) Elsbeth.

^ REALLY? That surprises me. Watson is 3rd, in the top five?

r288 Well there you have it. I think CBS in retrospect regrets canceling "as the world turns" and "guiding light." They were canceled when streaming was still new. Today they would have did what NBC did with putting "days of our lives" on streaming only.

As much crap as Ellen Wheeler gets (deservedly) for ruining Guiding Light, she was trying to innovate with the interactive website, web material, and podcast.

I agree, R290, Guiding Light and As the World Turns may still be around if streaming had been the quality and have the accessibility then that it has now.

Wheeler was doing all the new media stuff -- podcast, etc -- but what's the point of engaging viewers when you have a shitty show.

Under her, the show lost Grant and Jerry.

That's why people stopped watching.

There are EPs who think they can do away with beloved characters and it never works out.

Braeden said at one of his cake event things that there was a producer who tried to do away with Victor Newman (talking about him like he was another person) and that producer is no longer here!

R285, I've read comments (not even criticisms) and posters respond with 'that's because you're racist!'

Liza Huber got dragged over the coals when Passions started; but nobody's going after the meh acting on BTG because if people do they'll be accused of racism.

How much is the acting to blame and how much the directing? I watched some scenes and I thought the acting is terrible. But then I also noticed that the actors were shot from unusual angles which highlighted their weird positions to each others. They had long shots for dialogs while just standing, facing each other. The scene was probably meant to have close-ups. But instead they aired the long shot without the actors moving their bodies at all. Then the dialog ended and the characters moved out of frame without talking. Maybe an editing problem. But it all looked like production was still figuring things out.

r294 I was surprised they didn't go with the traditional 3 camera set up of most soaps. It is easier to film, although less real.

I won’t watch that vomit

R289 Yeah. Viewers must be checking out Watson on the streaming side, because it's not doing that well on the POT broadcast. But yesterday, BTG moved into No. 3, bumping Watson to No. 4.

Cady McClain is giving Lucinda Walsh and I love it.

Michele Val Jean QA on Soap Central

My mother in law calls it 'beyond crazy people'. She loves it.

The role of Dr. Ted Richardson, currently played by Maurice Johnson is being recast.

Thanks for posting, R301.

It’ll be interesting to find out more about why the recast happened.

I really would have thought Bill would have been the first recast. He doesn't have much chemistry with Dani or Hayley.

OR the white nurse.

Of course, the most miscast role is Anita......

I like the chemistry between Anita and Vernon and believe their love story.

The Gatekeepers podcast is suspecting (from some social media posts) that the recast may have actually occurred before the premiere.

Is it also suspecting why?

This shit is ghastly. But I am genuinely happy that you all seem to be enjoying it and that the viewership seems decent to good!

Fuck it!

I became my own mother, trashing soaps!

I'm so far really not buying anything Tamara is saying or doing. And that makes me sad.....I have loved her and her work for years.

I'll check back in after a month or so.....supposedly there's a big secret coming out with her and maybe that will make things coalesce, but right now, Karla Mosley, the crazy lady coming after Ted and that fine ass Andre are the only ones holding my attention. Oh, and Cady McClain, too.

R308 (Um yeah, I am glad you brought it up- from the few episodes I caught before saying that this is garbage, this show did Tamara no favors. She looks, well, not great, and her acting- is not exactly exceeding the material (which is shit)

The acting is uniformly awful and as has been stated- the camerawork and blocking is just stilted and horrible- Its like watching a freshman acting class in a communicty college.

community ^^

The jokes write themselves.

R308, it's easy.

Anita Dupree is the matriarch of the famous Dupree family, head of the premiere family of FAIRMONT CREST!!!

She's an EGOT winner but her biggest claim to fame and what she's most proud of is being the matriarch of the prestigious Dupree family.

The premiere family of FAIRMONT CREST!!!!!

FAIRMONT! CREST!

I thought the guy playing Martin would be the first one recast.

Does Ryan's Hope hold the record for soap with the most recasts?

R311 exactly. I just feel like she's so miscast for that particular energy. Nothing she's acting/doing is giving that kind of energy,

They either needed to write Anita with a more brittle edge (think Tracy Quartermaine, Vanessa Chamberlain) or in some way tailor the role to fit Tamara's style, or cast a more flamboyant, grand diva for the role.

Every scene with that drippy nurse just screeches to a halt.

They haven't given Anita much to do.

Check out this second episode from B&B.

McCook and Flannery go at it. You don't know much BUT you know that Eric and Stephanie were about to call it quits.

R316 Yes. And having Anita and Vernon be paragons of the community is NOT a story.

They've given Vernon a couple of scenes where we know he's no saint in that he abetted the cover-up of Martin's big scandal that could ruin his political career that Bill managed for them.

Tamara Tunie is AWFUL in this role. She’s the lead in this shit??? Oye vey!!

R319 = Victoria Rowell.

R320 = Tamara Tunie

[quote] And having Anita and Vernon be paragons of the community is NOT a story.

The stories are about the younger characters. The "Grans" as they are referred to are currently playing the roles of the solid, stable, and wise matriarch and patriarch on canvas. There's enough story currently going on with their two daughters and four grandchildren. We also just met their two teenage great-grandchildren, with the boy about to have some story unfold.

And the comparison to 1987 Eric & Stephanie when B&B began doesn't really work with senior citizens Anita & Vernon, because given McCook and Flannery's ages back then -- they were in their 40s -- they would be more on the level of Dani & her ex-husband (Bill) and the currently lovey-dovey, Nicole & Ted. Those are the characters in BTG who appear to be in their 40s, and that's where the main stories are happening (e.g. Dani's feud with Bill and his new young wife, and Nicole's marriage about to implode due to Leslie's scheme involving daughter, Eva.) Dani and Naomi are also the ones who have the already-adult children not unlike the ones Eric and Stephanie had when B&B began.

In short, we didn't see a Grandma and Grandpa Forrester on canvas when B&B began, so in that regard BTG is more multi-generational.

Has this shit been cancelled yet?

[quote] Dani and Naomi are also the ones who have the already-adult children ...

Edit R322: meant to write "Dani and Nicole"

I have this show on in the background. I STILL don’t know who is who. There’s nothing drawing me in to this show.

Shouldn't there be an opposing family to the Duprees? They can't revolve the whole show around one family. There needs to be business or personal conflict with an entire other family.

i.e. Adam Chandler vs. Palmer Cortlandt, AMC

So far the only opposition to the stately and noble Duprees is coming from Dani Dupree's powerful low-down lawyer ex-husband Bill and his new trophy wife Hayley. But it's really no contest, and we're clearly meant to root for the Duprees. But Bill dumped Dani for the younger Hayley, who was a friend of his daughters, which really isn't that much of a gripping story. Whereas with Palmer and Adam, Adam hated Palmer because he'd ruined Adam's little sister when they were all poor young hicks in the holler, and then Adam and Palmer each grew up to become powerful, devious moguls, played by screen-commanding actors aided by what now seems like Shakespearean writing teams. There is nothing like that on Beyond The Gates so far. It's not that the acting isn't decent and the writing is actually terrible, but it's all just so routine. I'm still watching, but really only because I don't really have anything much better to do at that time, not because I really give a shit about what's going to happen to anybody.

No second family for conflict.

And yes, everyone sort of looks the same/is dressed the same - because they are all members of the same community. There isn't a big contrast anywhere. So unfortunately, aside from a few standouts like Dani, the shadings of each character are blurring together.

So from what I read here, the show is making some rookie mistakes in writing and directing, possibly also in acting. Why? Soaps have been around for decades, so getting the basics right shouldn't be too difficult. I get it that finetuning is always necessary for a new show. And it takes a while to get a show up and running to be a well oiled machine. But from what I read here, basic and essential elements are not considered.

Is the expertise no longer available after so many soaps got killed off in the last ten, fifteen years?

Some of the sets are grand, like the Dupree mansion. And Dani's kitchen set looks spectacular as well.

Then you've got Bill and Haley's mansion which looks to be the size of a postage stamp. The living room and dining room all combined into a tiny space that only has one entryway at the back center of the set. Then, they have a tiny grand foyer that is a different set. Very bizarre.

R329 The fact that it has SO many non rookies - Michele VJ, Guza, and numerous others - makes it surprising they ARE making rookie mistakes.

I think the problem may be there are way way way way WAY too many cooks in the kitchen. The creator AND the NAACP org AND P&G (in whatever form) AND also CBS.

[quote]The fact that it has SO many non rookies - Michele VJ, Guza, and numerous others - makes it surprising they ARE making rookie mistakes.

It may just be part of the natural growing pains any new soap must go through. As you said, given the non-rookie talent running this show, some of the mistake are very surprising, especially the overly bright lighting of the first few episodes.

However, I do suspect the fact they are shooting in Atlanta with a crew that's not used to taping a soap opera may have a lot to do with it. Some of that non-rookie talent, such as directors Steven Williford and Phideaux Xavier, assumes the people under him know how to shoot for soaps and may not be spelling things out as clearly as they should be.

Hayley should be played by a tall, beautiful, 20-something, willowy model type. The actress playing Hayley is cute but is 43 IRL and doesn't look like she'd be the daughter's friend or someone to go stark raving mad with jealousy over. She does look good for 43 but the role should be played by someone in their 20s for maximum effect.

[quote] I think the problem may be there are way way way way WAY too many cooks in the kitchen

Beat me to it. Isn't that usually the case?

Karla Mosley, who plays Dani, is 43 in real life.

I can't find an age for Marquita Goings, who plays Haley.

R333, where are you fining that Marquita is 43?

They should have had Bill dump Dani for a white woman

Are some of you new to soap operas? Did you see the first year of Santa Barbara or Ryan's Hope, the Ryan's Hope first episode? Personally, I think this show is "solidish," but there are first-year problems that will be ironed out as the show gets its rhythm. I've been around to see the premieres of Texas, Santa Barbara, BB, Generations, Capitol, Port Charles, Loving, The City, Passions, and Sunset Beach. It takes a while. Bill Bell hated the first year of Y&R. I'm not sure what some of you are expecting.

I am not sure what you think we should expect. If we don't like the show, do you want us to come back in a year? The show needs to be at its best now, not just in a year. Because if the viewers check out now, there won't be a second year.

Marquita's age was listed in a link on X or Reddit someone dug up a few weeks ago and pointed out she was same age as Karla . Sorry don't remember which but the person had to do some digging as her age is wiped from major sites.

Nope

[quote] And yes, everyone sort of looks the same/is dressed the same - because they are all members of the same community. There isn't a big contrast anywhere.

That's not true. Leslie and Eva aren't rich. That difference is being played in their story. Kat's even made comments about the way Eva dresses. Also, Haley came from a disadvantaged background. Life inside the Gates with Bill is all new to her. Civil rights attorney, Naomi, may have come from the wealthy community, but she and her police detective husband live the kind of middle-class life he grew up in (his father was a cop). Their friends. nurse Ashley and fireman Derek, are also not rich.

[quote]I am not sure what you think we should expect. If we don't like the show, do you want us to come back in a year?

That's completely your choice. My point is a simple one: There isn't a soap ever created that didn't need some time to work out the kinks. This one is no different. Whether you want to go on the ride with the show or not, that's your choice. It's not my place to tell you what you're willing to tolerate. As I said, I think the show is "solidish," but no one else has to agree with that assessment.

Someone pointed out Palmer Courtland versus Adam Chandler, two characters that didn't appear on AMC until well after a decade after the show's original premiere.

R335 Per white page listings, Goings is 38. And that corresponds to the age she would have been when she competed in track and field for Cedar Shoals High School, Athens. (Pole vault in 2003 and hurdles in 2004). She continued to compete at Georgia State University in 2005-06.

Interesting that Karla Mosley is playing 7-10 years older, while Marquita Goings is playing 7-10 years younger.

Amazing

I'm actually OK with Hayley as is. Dani and Hayley have believable hate chemistry and I could totally see them becoming frenemies if Bill fucks Hayley over soon.

I wish they'd play some of the story where Hayley was supposedly getting close to the Duprees before she seduced Bill. We should have seen all of that play out for the first 6 months. I suspect that was actually written and then someone at the network decided to start the show at the point where Dani would be freaking out and aiming a gun at Bill/Hayley.

IMO, Dani, Bill, and Hayley are this generation's version of Katherine, Phillip, and Jill. It's a great setup for a story and a long-running feud. When we are introduced to Katherine and Phillip, they are already in a loveless marriage - then enter Jill. BTG skipped Hayley's arrival into their lives. We missed the setup and entered the story already in progress.

[quote] There needs to be business or personal conflict with an entire other family.

[quote] No second family for conflict.

With Vernon being a retired politician and Anita being an entertainer, our core family doesn't have a family business, so I wouldn't look for conflict coming from business. (btw - I'm fine with that. Daytime soap businesses tend to be so generic and fake that they are laughable.)

But we do have personal conflict between the Dupree-Richardsons and Dani's ex-husband, Bill. None of them like Mr. Hamilton. Plus, Bill's law firm seems to be serving as something of a "unit" from which conflict is originating. There, we have four characters: Bill, Haley, Tomas, and Mike.

Dani vs. Bill and Dani vs. Haley are front and center. Meanwhile, Vernon and Martin are having to tread lightly where Bill is concerned, because we've learned that Bill is the one who took care of the big scandal that could ruin Martin's political career. We also have The Virgin Kat becoming involved with the lovely Tomas (with Eva sniffing around). And Naomi is now going to sue Bill's law firm on behalf of the three women who were sexually harassed there by sleazy Mike.

Given all that, sometime out in the future it wouldn't be that difficult to expand this unit centered around Bill to include another relative of his and/or Haley's, so that the "families in conflict" element would be along the lines of Dupree-Richardsons vs. Hamiltons.

I agree with R348.

I think there’s also a lot of potential conflict with Jacob’s family. I like that we’re hearing about his parents and brother who seem to be solidly Blue Lives Matter.

I have become invested in the Martin/Smitty thing despite the actor playing Martin being somewhat weak. You see this type of couple in real life, but it's never been explored on a soap before.

Speaking of the Richardsons, I'd like them to clean up the timeline or clarify it. If Leslie and Ted were together before he met Nicole, that would make Eva older than Martin, which doesn't seem likely.

R350, is Eva the result of a fling Ted had during his marriage to Nicole? They've hinted they've weathered some storm in their marriage. There's no way Eva can be older than Martin, who has two teenage children. Martin and Smitty sure don't look old enough to be parents of those kids, though.

R351 Both kids were adopted at an unspecified age and time after Martin and Smitty had been married for awhile.

btw - IRL, Claybon (Martin) is 38, and Manning (Smitty) is 37. While not the story here, it's not unfeasible for men who are that age to have kids who are 16/17. Fathers at age 20 happens ... especially in daytime soaps ... lol!

Yeah, the Martin actor seems to be a weak link in show.

Martin and Smitty's kids are adopted, which could also explain some of the age weirdness there - could totally see two married men in their late 20s adopting kids that were perhaps already 4-5 years old

He's Olivier compared to the latin guy playing one of the lawyer's in Bill's firm.

Yes, the Latin guy needs work, but he's very sexy.

I like the actor playing Tomas. I think he and Kat are *cute* together. .. I also think the actor playing Martin is improving. I thought he was better in both of his scenes yesterday -- with Smitty and the one the one with Vernon and Anita. .. Vernon's referred to Martin more than once as "arrogant," and if that's key to his current portrayal, then I think he's got that part down, because he'd definitely coming across as a selfish prick.

Beyond the Gates ratings in free-fall. It’s now tied with General Hospital in the bottom spot.

Now people are calling it Beneath The Gutter.

Top 5 shows streaming at cbs.com:

1. Matlock

2. Tracker

3. Beyond the Gates

4. Watson

5. NCIS Origins

When the network renewed Watson for Season 2 this week, they noted how it's delivering for them on the streaming front.

R350 Ted and Nicole had a conversation today that made it sound like *the blip* in their marriage occurred when Nicole became "so wrapped up in having another child." (They already had Martin.) .. So if that's when Ted got with Leslie - whom he knows as "Dana" - and got her pregnant, then that's why Kat and Eva are about the same age. .. I would only add that Leslie-Dana getting pregnant at that point in time, doesn't mean that Ted didn't already know her prior to him meeting and marrying Nicole years before.

Wait till Jamey Giddens’ scripts start airing. The ratings will skyrocket!

R337, Michele had been around long enough not to make some of the many mistakes we're seeing.

Sadly, The City, Loving, Santa Barbara, Sunset...they never climbed out the ratings cellar

Isn’t Beyond The Gates in the ratings cellar? Surely they are not beating Y&R and B&B, the decades solid #1 and 2.

This show is probably the worst show ever, much less soap. Unmitigated trash!

R358 you do realize that there’s no material statistical difference in those ratings. All are terribly low—one like the next.

Production continues to be enhanced. Lighting is no longer an issue at all (imo). Other sets have shown expansion into additional space. Examples: Anita and Vernon's home, Dani's home, Bill's office, etc. The outdoor 'location' shots are also being done well.

Who keeps farting in Nicole’s house? Why else is she constantly spraying they nasty Febreeze?

It's product placement for P&G.

I actually love how ME-LO-DRA-MAT-I-CAL-LY Nicole sprays it around.

The fact that it's so not subtle males me laugh.

The Third Victoria could do product placement during a scene effortlessly.

I recall how she offered David Vickers some V8, saying, "It's quite refreshing." without missing a beat.

Looks like "Kenny" might have something to do with the mystery surrounding gay Martin.

Thank God, there isn’t Febreeze douche.

Anita; “Nicole, your coochie be stankin,”

Nicole: “I’ll be right back mama. Gonna give me a spritz of new Febreeze ocean spray douche.”

Two minutes later…

Nicole; “I’m back. What do you think?”

Anita (taking a whiff): That’s my girl. My baby can’t be walking around with a crusty cunt.”

And scene

**end scene**

Have the gays had sex or even kissed yet?

They have kissed. Chastely. I am living for drunken mess Dani! More! More!

The only characters who are the least bit interesting are: Drunken mess Dani, Dana/Leslie/Sherry/Ann (and her wigs) and Ava.

The rest are out of 1960s P&G-ville.

[quote]The only characters who are the least bit interesting are: Drunken mess Dani, Dana/Leslie/Sherry/Ann (and her wigs) and Ava.

Those are by far the most interesting characters.

I'm also enjoying Bill and all his shenanigans .And player Andre going from kissing a nurse (whatever her name is) to bedding Dani in minutes is intriguing.

Really wish they'd give Vernon and Anita something to do to add some depth to them. So far, they're both coming across as one-dimensional saints.

And please can we give Martin and Smitty some depth too. They're squeaky clean. Whenever they reveal Martin's repressed secret, it better be a doozy!

How long before it is revealed that Eva and Kat are twins separated at birth by Miss Wig who knows how to play a fake nurse in the hospital.

Hmm

How long before it's revealed that Miss Wig used to be MISTER Wig???

Loved, loved, loved the scenes on Monday's show between Vernon and Dani.

Those scenes of the father giving his hurting daughter a pep talk cemented their relationship in my mind. They were perfect scenes.

Now, I just wish we'd get some similar scenes between Anita and Dani.

They need to spray that Febreeze into Anita’s cooter. It must be all musty and cobwebby by now.

I want a scene with Martin & Smitty similar to the one we got today with Jacob & Naomi, where Martin & Smitty are lying in bed, and Martin directs his husband to make sure to use TIDE® STAIN REMOVER on the cum stains they just spewed all over their sheets. Smitty rolls his eyes saying, "Have you forgotten who's been doing ALL the laundry in this household for more than a decade now? I think I know a thing or two about stain removal, especially when it comes to bed sheets." .. Martin replies, "I thought we agreed we weren't going to talk about Tyrell's issues tonight."

R381. I just wish Clifton Davis could remember how to act...

We need Anna Maria Horsford to come on and see Vernon and say ‘Rueben’. Clifton Davis is horrible on this show. He has no energy.

R362. Skyrocket like Ms. Giddens blood sugar levels.

Clifton Davis is 79 years old. I think they went a little too old with the casting, but he adds a certain amount of gravitas to the role, and I like him in the role. The only really bad acting, in my opinion, is the actor who plays Martin, and the hot Latin dude.

I don't particularly care for the gambling story, but the rest of it holds my interest, especially crazy ass Leslie. She is one of the breakouts for me. I also love Mike Manning. I don't buy Cady McClain as Dani's BFF and partner in crime; that would have been a great role for someone like Vanessa Marcil.

When I was fresh, my mother would use black soap to wash my mouth out!

Mine too!

R387. I agree. Mike Manning can actually act!

R372, 💀💀💀

I have no problemo with the Hot Latin dude Tomas' acting, and I enjoy his scenes with Kat. I think they make a cute couple. .. In Martin's defense, I think the actor has shown improvement, so we'll see. I'm probably giving him something of a break, though, because we've heard from others that he's self-important and arrogant, so his "stiffness" kind of works with that.

As for Clifton Davis' age (born in 1945 and now 79) -- Given that they wanted "Vernon" to be a character who had experienced the civil rights movement (1954 - 1968) firsthand, I don't think they could have gone much younger. Someone born in 1945 would have been a teenager into college age during that era, so his age works with that.

The break-out actress for me is Eva (Ambyr Michelle). She's playing a wide range of emotions that change from day-to-day and whatever they give her, she nails it. I think she's great.

No idea how people watch this shit. This is horrid.

[quote]The break-out actress for me is Eva (Ambyr Michelle). She's playing a wide range of emotions that change from day-to-day and whatever they give her, she nails it. I think she's great.

I agree, she does well in every scene, and I like her and the character. Oh, and I forgot to mention Shanice.

I figure Cady McClain got cast on the show because she's married to Jon Lindstrom IRL and he and all the other actors were required to live in the Atlanta area when they accepted their roles. So she was readily available. I don't buy her in the part either, though. And I really dislike the gambling story line, and I'm not enjoying Lindstrom at all. He's so stiff, humorless, and dry in the role. Baddies on soaps need a little camp, and he has zero.

R383 literally made me LOL.

I welcome any and all product placements on these shows, but I thought Nicole went a little overboard on the spraying. How stinky is that house?

McClain and Lindstrom are divorced. And that’s a fallacy that the actors are required to live in Atlanta. Cady still lives in NYC and commutes. Lindstrom commutes from CA. Tunie still lives in NYC.

The hot latin guy is dreadful, but forgivable if they find a way to get him into less clothes.

R395 Lindstrom and McClain announced their divorce in April 2024. (The statement said they remain friends.) .. But per the BTG end credits, neither one of them is on contract, so that Atlanta residency requirement may not apply. A lot of McClain's current social media shows her in NYC. Meanwhile, Lindstrom has mentioned "commuting" and being on a plane more than once.

R396 Perhaps when the shit hits the fan over Ted's infidelity, Nicole's addiction to Febreze will come to the forefront. .. This could lead into a never-done before PSA story on people who can't get enough of inhaling the vapors of everyday aerosol products like hairspray, deodorants and air fresheners... lol.

R383 On Thursday, we actually saw Smitty folding the laundry with a HUGE bottle of TIDE on the table. I was waiting for Martin to say something about what a wiz Smitty is at getting the jizz out.

Smitty deserves so much better

Maybe Smitty is into big round butts.

The actor who plays Martin is quite good-looking, and he and Smitty make a great-looking couple, and I would pay to see their sex tape on OnlyFans.

Perhaps the post above is correct, that the Martin actor is being directed to act this way because the character is so uptight. I want to know why they gave their son that horrible name, Tyrell.

R403, they adopted their kids when the kids were children; presumably the Tyrell and his sister were named by their bio parents.

Looking at this reel of various line-readings he has on his Instagram, I think one can tell that Brandon Claybon (Martin) has a lot more to offer acting-wise than playing this arrogant, uptight, stern, image-conscious congressman who seems to never let his guard down. Maybe after the character's big political scandal breaks, there will be an opportunity for the writers to begin changing Martin's persona. I don't hate the actor's acting, but I do want to slap the character sometimes.

Does Karla Mosley have the Graves disease? She has them beatty eyes like Wendy Williams.

[quote]Does Karla Mosley have the Graves disease? She has them beatty eyes like Wendy Williams.

No. She’s just the master of “eye acting”

Well her eye acting annoys the shit out of me. Fuck that.

She looks more like that tranny she played on BB than ever before.

I cannot STAND That Daphne Duplaix. Annoying as all hell.

R410. Sadly, she's one of the better actors.

Friday's big reveal at the anniversary party about Ted and Leslie's affair as well as Eva being his daughter was great. And everyone looked great.

The actors playing crazy wig lady and her daughter are by far the best on this show

R413 Agreed. They are much better than the 2 supposed ‘stars’ of the show - Tunie and Duplaix.

With the info the show has told us in the last week or so, Anita's singing group, Anita and the Articulates. is modeled on Diana Ross and the Supremes, with Anita being the Diana Ross character in this situation.

Now that I've got that background of Anita's being based on Diana Ross, I have a greater appreciation for the Anita character and where she's coming from.

Glad the show gave us that info

This show is a pile of doody.

Anita is an EGOT! My sister is NOT!

Why does Nicole use so much Febreze? Could it have something to do with whatever secret Martin is hiding?

Nicole’s snatch reeks. Ain’t no amount of febreeze to cover up the stench!

Tamara Tunie's acting is horrific. Very stilted. I am shocked since she is a celebrated actress. Hope she gets better. The acting on the show is pretty bad even by soap standards. Want the show to be successful. Hopefully its success will lead to more soaps-- maybe even bringing back some old ones.

R420 is too kind.

This show is garbage.

"Nicole, yo cooter be reekin' girl."

I’d love for Right Winger Michael Swan to make a two line guest appearance on the show, bumping into Tamara Tunie. “Hello Lass. I see you aren’t on the Karen Carpenter diet”. Then he walks away.

R423. Lol!

I’m a bit behind on the show, but I like it. I don’t understand all the negativity about it in this thread.

[quote]I don’t understand all the negativity about it in this thread.

r425, I am also enjoying the show. Nice to see a new show launching.

People seem to be hate watching the show -- watching it for the purpose of finding negative things to say about it. That's what you seem to be seeing on this thread.

You don't need to watch long to see things that are awful...

R427, especially if you have your mind made up.

[quote]It’s now tied with General Hospital in the bottom spot.

It's currently last, according to the latest data.

This crap show loses a million viewers from its lead-in, The Bold and the Beautiful. That’s not good.

r429 Well that is higher than the talk during its last week. Not to mention it is in the top 5 on CBS streaming. Even with the show being more expensive (and not too much since it films in Atlanta), it is probably a success.

Still popular-trending in the No, 3 spot at cbs.com.

When you add it all together, Beyond The Gates is still the lowest viewed soap opera.

Fifteen-year old Doris Kappelhoff (Doris Day) with her older brother, Paul, age 18

That's some pompadour(?) Paul has! Was he using Doris' curling iron?

^^^ Don't know how that post landed on this thread. Apologies.

R435. That photo is more interesting than anything happening on this show.

This last week's shows have been excellent soap opera.

I love this show, although I recognize that the writing and acting can be pretty clunky.

I really, really enjoyed the reveal the Eva is Ted's daughter. Great soap.

Tut they built the anticipation for that up so well that I couldn't wait to see how it all turned out! And we're only 10 weeks into the series. Excellent work.

The wig lady has really become the break-out star of this show, with Eva not to far behind.

I laughed out loud when Martin shoved Ted across the room landing him on the sofa, then thought, it actually makes sense that he'd be THAT pissed off over his father having used him when he was a kid as cover for his affair.

Also, I've been enjoying the Kat vs. Eva scenes. The groundwork for a long, ongoing feud is there.

But what now for the wig-lady? I was asking myself the same questions that Anita had for Leslie during her take-down at the Duprees.

I gave up after a couple of weeks. So, it’s gotten better?

Renewed for Season 2.

Great news r442. Glad CBS has enough faith in it to give the show time to grow and draw a bigger audience.

Finally getting a chance to catch up on past two weeks' worth of episodes and the reveal that Ted is Eva's father.

Wow! Great stuff there. Excellent performances all around.

But a special kudo to Ambyr Michelle who broke my heart in her portrayal of Eva. Superb work!

R444 Ambyr really is a stand out, plus she does it all. .. Because, besides the heavy dramatic material from this past week, she was really good in the sneaky fun stuff they had her playing when Kat was hot on her trail.

Great line. Nicole to her sister Dani, “It is hard to cry on your shoulder over the sound of your righteous indignation.”

IA Ambyr is a standout. They don’t matter much at all anymore but she’ll end up with a Daytime Emmy. I’m happy for MVJ but recasts and an acting coach is needed on set. The Martin actor is horrific.

They also need a rival family in town.

Great news about the renewal. Eva and Lesley are great characters, and I'm interested in seeing what they do next.

My issues with the show:

1) The editing and fade-outs need work.

2) Poor Martin still can't act.

3) I really need someone to knock the Dupree family off their throne. I'm hoping Vernon has many stray kids waiting to be revealed. Since Anita is based on Diana Ross, we need a Mary Wilson type to show up in town with a grudge.

4) Does Nicole live next to a landfill? All that Febreze she's spraying.

Nicole’s spraying away her crotch rot.

Is Smitty the bottom?

[quote]1) The editing and fade-outs need work.

Very true. The fade outs at the end of each episode are especially abrupt. Viewer needs another second or two to let the idea sink in before dealing with a commercial.

[quote]2) Poor Martin still can't act.

Can't argue with that one. So, they're replacing the Ted actor, who can act and has done a nice job with the affair reveals, but they keeping this Martin actor. Very weird.

[quote]3) I really need someone to knock the Dupree family off their throne. I'm hoping Vernon has many stray kids waiting to be revealed. Since Anita is based on Diana Ross, we need a Mary Wilson type to show up in town with a grudge.

Absolutely! Anita would be more interesting if she indeed had an enemy causing trouble for her. As it, she is rather boring. And oy vey! That 5-minute long rendition of Amazing Grace. Are they trying to chase viewers away?

[quote]4) Does Nicole live next to a landfill? All that Febreze she's spraying.

When Eva was cleaning out her desk, she opted not to take the Febreze. I chuckled at that.

[quote] Absolutely! Anita would be more interesting if she indeed had an enemy causing trouble for her.

I'm wondering if they're planning to go forward with the idea that Anita try to make amends/reunite with the other two members of her old singing group, The Articulettes. I might guess that at least one those two women could still be pissed off at her. So perhaps not an enemy, but at least someone who can bring conflict and doesn't give a rat's ass about who Anita Dupree thinks she is.

[quote]Can't argue with that one. So, they're replacing the Ted actor, who can act and has done a nice job with the affair reveals, but they keeping this Martin actor. Very weird.

I think there's something else going on with that recast. It seems to be a tight-lipped set, which is why nothing has spilled. Someone doesn't care for the current actor or the current actor pissed someone off and got himself fired.

[quote]The Articulettes

I love that name.

[quote]That 5-minute long rendition of Amazing Grace.

Gurl! I had to rewind that and watch it again, because I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it. The man just got busted cheating on his wife, had two women pregnant at the same time, and Anita feels that Amazing Grace is the appropriate song to break out for this occasion for a family sing-along.

[quote]Is Smitty the bottom?

My guess is no, based on Martin's personality.

I think the Martin-Smitty dynamic is meant to read vers.

[quote]Is Smitty the bottom?

[quote]My guess is no, based on Martin's personality.

I would have to agree. Smitty (hate that name) has far more control in this relationship. Just like Vernon is still the one pulling the strings on Martin as a Congressman.

Martin seems like a passive person who is easily controlled/manipulated.

I think Martin and Smitty are too young to have kids that old.

[quote]I think Martin and Smitty are too young to have kids that old.

Both seem to be mid 30s. Brandon Claybon (Martin) is 37 in real life. Mike Manning (Smitty) is 38.

And the kids are adopted. So, we don't know what age they were when they were adopted. Or how long they've been part of Martin and Smitty's family.

Finding a family to adopt siblings can often be difficult, especially older siblings, say siblings over 6 or 7.

Mike Manning is 38? Damn, I was thinking more like 28, same for Brandon.

There's speculation that this homeless June character that Naomi has become involved with might be the teens' bio-mother.

[quote]There's speculation that this homeless June character that Naomi has become involved with might be the teens' bio-mother.

Ahh, that would fit. I was wondering where they were going with this. But Naomi got Martin's help in getting June a bed. At some point, there will be a photo op for Martin to meet June. He'll take the kids along and June will recognize them.

The new guy who debuted today playing "Kenny" looks interesting.

WTF purpose do the annoying nurse and her bf play in all this? Their scenes are always a snooze and both are among the worst actors on the show, which is saying a lot.

Ted actor is pretty awful. And he does this weird twist thing in all of his scenes. I’m familiar with the recast but he looks far too young. Actually, most of the ages on the show are wonky.

I think the nurse is supposed to be based on Elizabeth Webber from GH who MVJ is quite fond of. It ain’t working though.

This bar with the deep green walls looks like a dive bar, at least judging by the decor.

Yet somehow all these rich people living in Fairmont Crest go there for drinks regularly. Why would Anita and Dani and Bill and all the rest go to a dive bar regularly rather than an upscale, sophisticated bar that is more appropriate for their socio-economic class.

I can see slumming it at a dive bar occasionally, but why are they going there regularly?

The show sucks. I still can’t tell the actors apart. The last ratings that I saw, this show loses a million viewers from Bold & Beautiful. That says alot.

R464 The bar is called "Uptown." I think it's supposed to be more like a longstanding (historical) neighborhood bar frequented by people who work/live in the area. Given how other patrons are dressed, the uniforms that the staff are wearing, and the type of glasses fancy cocktails are served in, the place doesn't read "dive bar" to me. It also has a small stage area for singers to perform. (Remember the karaoke party?) Today, Martin and Kat were seen sitting in modern-looking club chairs. If I'm remembering correctly, one of the times Vernon took Anita there, something was said about recalling when they'd go there when they were younger.

Ashley (the white nurse) is OK when she's with Andre, but that white firefighter dude is an awful actor. Cute, but awful.

I don't think NuTed is an improvement on Old Ted. He looks too much like Andre, and more like his daughter's boyfriend than her father.

Leslie is really the spark of the show right now.

Ashley is okay, but (imo) the material with Andre is one of the weaker stories in the mix. There's not much there to explain why this playboy has a thing for her. It seems that maybe the show has cooled that story, though? It hasn't been played much lately. Perhaps they've seen it's not working and decided to go a different direction?

Anyway, Ashley and Derek's domestic "issues" are the thing of sitcoms. I could see both of them being bumped to recurring, remaining on hand as talk-to friends to Naomi and Jacob, etc.

The only thing that would make Derek somewhat interesting to me is if we learned he's a deep-in-the-closet gay guy, so that's why he's so desperate to hold on to his relationship with beard Ashley and why he sees Andre as a threat. We'll say Derek is the jock who got drunk one night and fooled around with Smitty at a party when they were in high school together. Smitty bumps into Derek at Orphey Gene's and comments that it looks like he's 'straightened' himself out. Derek then starts having flashbacks and night sweats about their encounter.

I'm not trying to start anything with this comment, but I compare Derek and Ashley to all those "on the periphery" black characters (couples) who have been on soaps for decades. Their only purpose was to support the white characters, and their stories were just afterthoughts or filler stories until you got back to the white characters. They're the Bryan and Claudia of Beyond the Gates.

At the moment, that certainly seems to be true r469.

But Ashley and Derek's characters may be expanded in the coming months. Takes time to develop all the characters.

I mean Dani's daughter Chelsea hasn't been fleshed out too much. And Nicole's daughter Kat is about as one-dimensional as she can be -- her only purpose on the show so far is to hate Eva.

I’m a big Cady McClain fan but I don’t understand the point of her on this show. She shows up, has a short scene or two with KM and then she’s gone again for a few weeks. No interaction with anyone else? Not even Dani’s daughters? It feels so random when she pops up.

As for Derek and Ashley, I’m curious how the Derek actor was even cast. He looks lost in every scene. And the Ashley actress is so bland.

Is Orphey Gene's considered upscale?

R472 No, Orphey Gene's is meant to be an old-school diner. It's full name is Orphey Gene's Soul Kitchen. It's where people go to get a big dose of Southern comfort food. You can see their daily specials on the wall in the background. And you can also see that it's meant to be a place that's become historic-famous enough that even celebrities have dropped in to eat there since there are walls featuring signed photographs.

They need to add another affluent Black family to the show.

Bill Hamilton, while connected to the Duprees as an ex-husband, could easily have a couple of family members added (beyond his wife Haley) in order to give him a larger family. .. Also, more than once they've mentioned that Greg and Vanessa have twins who are at college. I believe they're a boy and a girl. That would be another easy add.

Cady McClain is useless.

Actress-singer, Maria Howell, is joining the cast as "Tracy," one of the other singers in Anita's old group, The Articulettes. .. I'm thinking Tracy might be more or less the peacemaker of the trio since we saw Anita call "Sharon" the other day, who apparently hung up on her.

I thought they needed to bring in Hayley's not-so-rich parents.

Calling Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams.......

R456 R457 Actor Brandon Claybon (Martin) stepped into a tiktok discussion where someone was trying to figure out the kids' ages in relation to their adoption, and he stated that Martin & Smitty adopted Tyrell and Samantha when they were 11 and 10. Tyrell is now 17 and Samantha is 16.

Is Brandon Claybon a gay?

Claybon and Mike Manning on Michael Fairman

Thanks for posting that interview.

[quote]Is Brandon Claybon a gay?

He doesn't say anything specifically in that interview, but my guess is yes.

R480. Helen Keller says " Yes."

He's big into Halloween. In fact, I think he said it's his favorite holiday, so that's always a sign.

R484. Small meat.

Ex-Ted (Maurice Johnson) said in his "goodbye" tweet that he brought "Class, Gravitas, Passion, Empathy, Chemistry and MANHOOD" to the role of Ted. Was the "MANHOOD" a dig at the new guy? He had it in caps.

It probably means he was fired for flashing one of the young actresses on set with his "MANHOOD."

I don’t know how to describe the line delivery of the actor playing Martin but it’s just… odd. He’s really bad.

Kudos to the BTG production team. Keith D. Robinson debuted on Thursday. And on Friday, Robinson's name and photo was in the opening credits!

I figured we'd be seeing Maurice Johnson's name and photo in the credits for many weeks, as happens on most shows when actors come and go.

So, bravo to whoever made the switch in the opening credits right away.

R485 Maybe he's a bottom, because he looks like he's got a big booty.

R488 I agree. He has one note and he hammers it home every time. I have no idea why his family wants to love or protect him, why Smitty loves him, or anything else other than he's Mister Scowly Secret Wannabe Senator dude.

The show is still the least watched network soap opera. They lose a million viewers from Bold & Beautiful. Michele val Jean ain’t all dat.

Can they give Smitty something - or someone - to do? No past affairs? No exes?

Joke about Beyond the Gates on the final Weekend Update of the season on SNL:

CBS has just launched a half hour daytime soap with an all Black cast. Its title is All My Children Don’t Know Who They Daddy Is.

BeTing GH in demos

This show barely beats GH in the demos, but the fact is they lose a shit ton of their lead in demos from B&B, whereas GH gets shit for a lead in (GMA3) and GH builds on their lead in.

Smitty married into the core family. We probably won't hear too much about any kind of backstory for awhile. Depending on what Martin's big secret scandal is perhaps that could lead to Smitty getting pissed and finding "comfort" elsewhere.

Smitty has to do something with those eyebrows of his. He ain’t gonna find no comfort elsewhere with those caterpillar eyebrows. Yuck.

Have Jamey Giddens' grease-stained scripts started airing yet?

Who has time for a soap opera with a full time job?

Will this air in the evening?

If so, then perhaps, but I’m not into paying for Paramount Plus.

I’ll wait for the reviews.

I wanna be Fat Jamey Giddens’ boyfriend.

[quote] Have Jamey Giddens' grease-stained scripts started airing yet?

DAAAMN!

R500 As with the CBS network's other two soaps (Y&R and B&B), the last five episodes of BTG are always available to stream at cbs.com, no charge.

[quote] Who has time for a soap opera with a full time job?

The same people who have 4+ hours to play video games, or a few hours every day to "goon." Whatever that is.

I do miss having a VCR.

I watch sometimes on cbs dot com but damn, it's like 75 minutes long with 40 minutes of commercials and 35 minutes of show. Fuck that shit.

Instead of Tomas saying he joined the Navy to pay for law school, he should have told Kat that he funded his education by being a NYC rent boy, and he got the tattoo to mark the end of that chapter of his life and the dawn of a new beginning.

The actress who plays Eva is the real standout on this show. She can do anything and is acting circles around everyone else. What a find.

Eva and her "mama" are great.

The woman playing Nicole definitely played the shit out of the story where she learns about Leslie and Eva.

Tamara Tunie, who’s supposed to be the star of this show, is terrible!

I've never seen more bedazzled caftans in my life...

R509 I hate to say it but.....yes, Tamara (who I normally love) is terribly miscast.

Tamara is a dependable actress, capable of many great things... But playing a larger-than-life character is not one of them. To make this narrative work, they needed a good actress with a little more of the drag queen factor, like Diahann Carroll in Dynasty. Hopefully, the producers can make some adjustments when it comes time to tweak the show's premise.

And to think they cast Tamara over me!

As cuckoo as Rowell is she would have played the shit out of Anita Dupree.

They need to copy Dynasty and have Vernon's first wife come back to town after years away. That would stir shit up.

I don't have the issues with Tamara that some of you do, but I think Rowell would have been good in that role. And even though I have never liked what she's doing on Days, Jackee would have been great in that role too. Jackee can do street meets the suburbs very well when she has proper direction. I also think Jackee would play a good nemesis to Anita. Anita's very own Mary Wilson.

As for Clifton Davis, he brings a particular kind of gravitas to the role. I have no problem with him, but we need some skeletons to come out, because I'm sure he's had an affair or two, maybe a stray kid out there.

I am curious what Lesley has planned next. She's got to get Ted back into bed, somehow. Plus, Eva needs to get her some of that hot Latin guy to put Miss Priss in her place.

R516 An affair and kid would have been great if they hadn't just played that same story with Nicole and Ted.

I have no issues with Tamara playing Anita.

Jackée is OTT on Days. Her shtick is quite tiresome. I can't stand the way she talks either.

As for skeletons and Vernon .. Let's not forget the NAACP is helping produce this show, and Vernon seems to be their voice. As such, I might guess his character probably won't have much scandal that he directly owns.

Vernon's tacit approval of letting Bill handle the coverup regarding his congressman-grandson, Martin (which sounds like it occurred after Vernon was already out of office) might be about as much of a skeleton he'll be involved in.

I wouldn't rule out youthful idiscretions

Somehow, I doubt they'd want to go there since we've heard that young Vernon marched alongside Dr. King. (Grandson "Martin" was even named for him.)

There's just too much out there now about MLK's "youthful indiscretions" to want to touch that subject. - jmho

Supposedly, there's a big story coming up for Tamara that really gives Anita some definition. Have been told it will leave the audience "shook." But I've yet to see any hints of what that might be.

I'm going to give him a chance, but I'm not really feeling nuTED. The voice is too squeaky, and I think he's too thin (words that aren't usually typed on Datalounge)

Too thin?

We'll have to investigate that further.

hmmm .. nice butt

NuTed comes off as Martin's brother. Doesn't look old enough to be his father.

OriginalTed is actually three years younger than NuTed..

I guess I’ll give Tamara Tunie 1 star because she put up with that stupid costume earlier in the week - that freaking thing that kept hitting her left chin everytime she moved. Diva Tamara could have yelled at the costume designer to get that fucking thing off my chin. Whatever that thing was on the costume - it didn’t work.

Can you imagine Rowell and crazy wig lady in a scene together? The scenery wouldn't survive.

Vernon definitely fucked Tracy!

Oh no, Leslie's got a new wig.

So did Tamara have it written into her contract that she wears caftans?