Beyond the Gates
BEYOND THE GATES: Tamara Tunie Calls Soap ‘A Disruptor’ of Daytime TV; Karla Mosley Shares How Writers Room is Structured for Authenticity
Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Beyond the Gates stars: Tamara Tunie, Karla Mosley, and series executive producer Sheila Ducksworth appeared on a panel for Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans, Louisiana. Moderated by Crystal Renee Haylsett, the cast members of the first hour-long Black-led soap opera spoke on a myriad of topics of what makes this show so unique from top to bottom.
Tamara Tunie, who plays matriarch Anita Dupree shared, “The beauty of our show is yes, the central family is African American, which is the first time in the history of daytime television, What you may not be aware of that behind the scenes, what we call below the line in Hollywood language, is predominantly African American as well. Our hair department is completely African American, our make up department is predominantly African American, our wardrobe department is completely African American, most of our crew, I would say 75% of our crew and people in production department are African American.”
In the conclusion of her answer, and getting a round of applause from the attendees, Tunie exclaimed, “So, this is the first time in the history of television that an hour long daytime drama has that kind of representation overall, in all of the departments, and that is what makes it unique and special, and a disrupter if you will. We have disrupted daytime television y’all.”
Photo: EssenceFest
Karla Mosley spoke to the storytelling structure of the show to represent authenticity and for checks and balance for its characters, in a genre that has been up to this point, and for decades, been primarily led by a caucasian writing team.
The daytime veteran, who previously appeared on Guiding Light and The Bold and the Beautiful, explained, “I think the way that soap opera writers rooms work is really interesting. So there’s Michele Val Jean (head writer and creator, Beyond the Gates), and she has an assistant, and they come up with all the story. Then they send that on to five outline writers, and then those outline writers write all the outlines. Then, those outliners send it to five writers who write all the words. Then, Shelia and her team read all of it and make sure that it all makes sense. Then it comes to us, and we might say, ‘wait, I said this in a script yesterday, but then I’m contradicting myself today.’ So, there’s all of these levels of collaboration that help us to keep that authenticity and make sure that the story makes sense and feels real.”
Photo: CBS
The official series description for Beyond the Gates shares, “Set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington, D.C., in one the most affluent African American counties in the United States; a posh gated community with winding tree-lined streets and luxurious mansions to call home. At the center of this community are the Duprees, a powerful and prestigious multi-generational family that is the very definition of Black royalty. But behind these pristine walls and lush, manicured gardens are juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered. And those who live outside these gates are watching closely. These are the places where our characters live, love, work and play. Those who have “made it” and those who haven’t are all trying to navigate life … and some with more grace than others.“
Beyond The Gates airs weekdays 2pm ET/1pm PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+
So, do you think Beyond the Gates is doing a good job of being the “disruptor” of daytime television with its representation, plus mixed ethnic cast? Do you like how some of the stories push some boundaries of soap storytelling for its viewers? What do you think about how the writers room is structured? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
🗣️ WE HAVE DISRUPTED DAYTIME TELEVISION‼️ #BeyondTheGates pic.twitter.com/QxSimKhZ9V
— 🖤JustAtvFanatic🖤 (@_Deitraaaa) July 4, 2025
When a show trots out its main players to pimp or market the show, don’t believe all the hype.
But every show does that, given the chance. PR is part of the game, and every show plays it. I’d recommend looking at PR with a healthy dose of skepticism, regardless of whether it comes from an actor, a suit, a producer, or whoever. It’s PR, after all.
That said, most of what Tamara Tunie says is pretty hard to argue with–at least the part that’s factual rather than opinion. She may not be absolutely right that BTG is the first soap to feature an African American central family; I didn’t watch Generations, but I did think its central family was Black. So she might be a little off there (though the essence of what she says holds up: it could be the second show with an African American main family rather than the first, but in any case it’s a rarity). The predominantly African American group behind the scenes, however, is definitely a first for soaps; it’s been a complaint for years that although the genre has a substantial Black audience, the backstage folks are overwhelmingly White. When it comes to the opinion part of what she says, I can’t comment (for lack of informed perspective) on how disruptive all of that is, but she certainly seems to have solid reasons for saying so.
Jarrod, I believe the hype. I’ve been watching since it started airing back on February24, 2025 and will continue to watch the show.
She’s not off. Generations had a central black family but the show also had a central white family. Beyond The Gates is not centered around a white family at all, only white characters. There’s a difference. Generations wasn’t a “black” soap, it was fully integrated.
Still no one is watching
It’s doing pretty well in the ratings, actually, especially for a new soap.
(Unless what you mean is that nobody’s watching because basically not many people watch any of the soaps anymore, compared with say the 1980s–in which case, well, yeah, there’s that.)
Excuse me Dottie, I’m watching! It’s a fantastic show and is receiving rave reviews across multiple media platforms. I’m guessing you’re a part of Aryan Nation, which is a very racist group in this country. I haven’t missed an episode since it started airing back in February of this year!!
I’m glad youre enjoying it but no one else is
We didn’t know you spoke for everyone else in the viewing public! Just because you don’t care for something, doesn’t mean others don’t like it. Criticism is fine – but be specific about what you don’t like.
No one. No hay alguien. Nada. Ne personne pas.
Did you take a survey? Maybe you should hang out with the poster who yearns for Dex’s return to GH.
No, I am too, Dottie–far more than any of the other soaps at the moment, in fact (well, I’m not watching DAYS because I don’t have Peacock, so I can’t comment on that one).
No one
Tamara Tunie is absolutely right!!!
They seem to be trying too hard to convince us they’re something different. But to me it’s just a typical soap with more black faces. I like the show and have added it to my viewing of DOOL, GH and Y&R, but it ain’t the Second Coming. I think the repeats last week were a mistake. I didn’t watch them again.
The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.
Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Beyond the Gates
‘Beyond the Gates’ Daytime Emmy Winners Ambyr Michelle and Tamara Tunie to Chat Live on the Michael Fairman Channel
Just over a week ago, Beyond the Gates stars Ambyr Michelle and Tamara Tunie broke ground becoming the first performers in the history of daytime’s newest soap opera to win Daytime Emmys!
Michelle became the first, when she took home gold statuette earlier in the ceremonies in the Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series category. Later, Tunie joined her when she took home the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, the first Emmy of her veteran career.
Now, both actresses visit the Michael Fairman Channel live for two separate chats! Ambyr Michelle will be with us on Wednesday, November 11 beginning at 6pm ET/3pm PT, while Tamara Tunie follows the next day on Thursday, November 12 beginning at 7pm ET/4pm PT.
Photo: CBS
Find out what happened on their Emmy night both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, and in the celebration afterwards, plus what’s next for Eva and Anita in story on the CBS soap opera.
AMBYR TOOK A ‘SEAT AT THE TABLE’
Daytime Emmy viewers will recall Ambyr’s heartfelt Emmy acceptance speech, when she shared, “I don’t just see an award. I see every audition, every rejection, every moment I questioned my artistry. And to Eva Thomas, thank you, girl. Playing your pain made me process my own.“
She ended her speech with, “To my beautiful Black women and girls, take up space, be undeniable, create your tables, and fill those seats. When the tables are full, and those seats are full, make the table even bigger. So that the women coming up behind you never have to ask permission to belong.“
Photo: CBS
TAMARA HONORED THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE HER AND HER MOM
Tamara Tunie received a standing ovation when her name was called after her win in an enduring career. Tunie began by sharing, “My heart is so full right now. This is the best welcome back to daytime ever, There is a host of Black actresses who paved the way for me, and I feel them as I stand here tonight, beginning with the legendary Cicely Tyson, the first Black woman to appear on a daytime television show, The Guiding Light.”
Tunie went on to thank her co-stars and everyone at Beyond the Gates and soap opera fans, plus getting to share the screen with the legendary Clifton Davis as Anita’s husband, Vernon Dupree. However, it was Tunie’s mother, who at 92, was with her on Emmy night that she thanked the most.
“There is one person who has been on this journey with me every single step of the way, who has traveled across states, countries and oceans to support my dream,” she expressed. “I would not be who I am as an actor or a woman without her love, support, encouragement and mere presence, She has been my example, my role model and my inspiration. I accept this honor on behalf of my mother … who, at 92 years young, crossed the country yet again to see me take this goal tonight. I love you, mommy!”
HOW YOU CAN JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Make sure to join us in the live chat with your questions for Ambyr and Tamara in what is sure to be emotional conversations.
If you cannot be with us live, but have a question you would like posed to either actress, make sure to drop in the comment section below and we just might pose it during the live broadcasts.
So, were you happy to see Ambyr and Tamara win Emmy gold? What are your hopes for Eva and Anita as the holiday season approaches and with 2027 just around the corner? Let us know in the comment section.
Next week on the Friday, November 13 episode of Beyond the Gates, Yvette Nicole Brown and her real life husband Anthony Davis guest star. In story, Brown takes on the role of Temeka the cousin to Shanice (Ernestine Johnson Morrison).
When Temeka comes to Fairmont Crest she will be accompanied by her husband, Tony, played by real-life hubby Anthony Davis. The castings come as the soap opera continues to expand the family of Shanice. Previously, we met her brothers, Cedric and Lamont.
As Shanice gets ready to head down the aisle with Dr. Ted Richardson (Keith D. Robinson) will the presence of Shanice’s family members actually deter the nuptials from ever taking place?
Photo: CBS
This now makes the third daytime drama appearance by Yvette Nicole Brown. She first popped up on The Young and the Restless in 2016 and 2017 as reporter Lois Thompson.
Then in 2023, she played a nurse on General Hospital when she appeared in the March 29, 2023 episode honoring her real-life friend, Sonya Eddy who past away in real-life in December of 2022, The soap honored her in death when her character, Epiphany died.
Photo: ABC
Brown and Eddy first met in 2003 while testing for an ABC pilot titled “The Four Divas” alongside Octavia Spencer and Carla Renata and became very close friends up until Eddy’s passing.
It was actually Brown’s character, who came forth to Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and shared that Epiphany died saving her life which gave some sort of solace to Elizabeth; knowing Epiphany died doing what she loved, helping people.
As for Anthony Davis, not only is he an actor, but a writer and minister known for TV and film roles including: He Wasn’t Man Enough (2025), The Family Business: New Orleans, and The Upshaws.
Brown is also recognized from her roles on: Community, The Odd Couple, The Mayor, That ’70s Show, The Office, Boston Legal, Chuck, Mom, Big Shot to name but a few.
So, looking forward to see Yvette Nicole Brown and her real-life husband, Anthony Davis on Beyond the Gates? Happy to see more family members from Shanice’s life showing up at Fairmont Crest? Do you remember the heart-tugging episode where everyone learned Epiphany had died on General Hospital and Yvette Nicole Brown’s part in the story? Let us know via the comment section.
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Katie Kicks Bill to the Curb … for Now
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers
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B&B’s Sydney Bullock Weighs In on Future of Dylan and Will: ‘I Think She Can Hold on to Him for Awhile’ (Exclusive)
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