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BEYOND THE GATES: Tamara Tunie Calls Soap ‘A Disruptor’ of Daytime TV; Karla Mosley Shares How Writers Room is Structured for Authenticity

By Michael Fairman

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Photos: CBS

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.

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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.

Beyond the Gates

RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Scores Third Most-Watched Week Since Its Premiere With ‘The Young and the Restless’ Crossover Event

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The tornado that ripped through Fairmont Crest and put the lives of the characters of Beyond the Gates and several from The Young and the Restless in jeopardy had viewers tuning-in for the week of June 8-12.

The highly-publicized crossover event kicked off on the Tuesday, June 9 episode of Beyond the Gates where six residents of Genoa City came to to visit the D.C./Maryland country club for a fundraiser for Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon), only no one expected a twister to tear into the proceedings, leading to several storylines intersecting as people were trapped with one another with Eva Thomas (Ambyr Michelle) being the most severely injured and now requiring a liver transplant to survive.

According to the ratings report from CBS and Nielsen ratings and as supplied to Variety, Beyond the Gates brought in on average 1.8 million viewers throughout the wee. That is up 11% from its season-to-date numbers and it makes the crossover/tornado episodes its third most-watched week for the soap since Beyond the Gates premiered back on February 24, 2025.

Photo: CBS

A GENOA CITY TOUCHDOWN

With the strength of the story, its special effects and bringing over cast of the top-rated, The Young and the Restless which included: Eric Braeden (Victor Newman), Michael Mealor (Kyle Abbott), Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott), Susan Walters (Diane Jenkins), Melissa Ordway (Abby Newman) and Bryton James (Devon Hamilton), the Thursday, June 11 episode was the week’s most-watched.

According to the numbers, the Wednesday June 10 episode brought in the most total viewers for the week with 1.87 million (up 17% week-to-week), followed closely by the Friday, June 12 episodes which had 1.84 million watching.

Photo: JPI

Over on The Young and the Restless, the week of June 8-12, also saw an increase based on the early return that week of Shemar Moore as Malcolm Winters wrapping up his leg of the story where viewers learned he had a son Holden Novak (Nathan Owens) with Stephanie Simmons (Vivica A. Fox), and survived his bone marrow transplant surgery thanks to Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn).

Y&R scored 3.11 million viewers for the week up 2% from its season average with the June 8 and June 9 episodes featuring Moore averaging 3.2 million viewers and up 9% year-over-year.

So, did you enjoy the tornado episodes of Beyond the Gates and seeing the residents of Genoa City crossover to Fairmont Crest? Share your thoughts via the comment section on the latest ratings for the two CBS daytime soaps.

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Beyond the Gates

‘Beyond the Gates’ Star Karla Mosley Weighs-in on Dani Dupree’s Love Life Endgame: Are You Team Bill or Team Andre?

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Last week, viewers of CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates watched as a tornado ripped through Fairmont Crest. In its wake, people were trapped with one another or seriously injured.

For Dani Dupree (Karla Mosley), she found herself stuck in an elevator with her ex-husband, Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). And wouldn’t you know, one thing led to another, and the two gave into their unresolved feelings for one another and did the deed.

Meanwhile, Dani’s current husband, Andre Richardson (Sean Freeman) suffered a minor injury to his leg, and was worried sick in the ballroom because he had no idea where Dani was after the twister decimated the place. Eventually, Dani and Bill part ways go back to their families and act like nothing happened.

Photo: CBS

When Dani is reunited with Andre, he professes his love for her even more than ever. As for Bill’s current wife Hayley Lawson (Marquita Goings), she could care less because she was making out with Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor, Y&R) in a closet at the country club!

THE TORNADO MAY HAVE CHANGED DANI’S HEART

For months, Beyond the Gates viewers have found themselves torn; rooting for Dani and Bill to get over themselves and get back together, or rooting for Dani and Andre, because its clear he truly loves her, even though their marriage may not have started out as the greatest love affair of all time.

Karla Mosley opened up to PEOPLE on Dani’s romance plight and who the writers of the soap might ultimately pair her with, expressing “I cannot say. I honestly have no idea.”

As it seems now, this triangle of Andre/Dani/Bill is about to heat up even more following Dani’s elevator exploits. However, according to Mosley, the popularity of Dani and Andre came as surprise to the writers, which has led to the romantic drama. “The writers did not think Dani and Andre were gonna pop off the way that they did,” explained Karla. “Originally, they thought Bill and Dani would be back together by the end of season one. And then it was like, ‘wait, what is happening?’”

Photo: CBS

WRITERS ARE TAKING THE PULSE OF THE FANS

The decision to not have Dani and Bill reunite within season 1 or half-way though season 2, Mosley shares is a sign of the times: “The old soap trope is the torn woman who goes back to her man. But I think there are enough women now who are like, I want to see her win.”

In the end, Karla believes that in this case, fans speaking up, can also translate to the writers room and influence their potential decision of who should be the ultimate man for Dani. She tells Beyond the Gates viewers,  “Keep talking about it, y’all.”

Meanwhile, questions remain: Could Dani and Bill’s elevator sex find her pregnant with his child, which would make this whole situation more messy? Stay tuned.

Now, let us know, who do you want to see Dani ultimately with … Bill Hamilton or Andre Richardson? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

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Phillip Boyd Makes His Debut on ‘Beyond the Gates’ in Recurring Role of Dr. Miles Arnold

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A new face emerged on today’s episode of CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates when actor, Phillip Boyd made his debut in the recurring role of Dr. Miles Arnold.

In story, Dr Arnold is a doctor and surgeon and on the June 16 episode, Miles had to sadly deliver some disappointing new. Neither of Eva’s (Ambyr Michelle) parents, Ted Richardson (Keith D. Robinson) or Leslie Thomas (Trisha Mann-Grant) is a donor match for the life-saving transplant surgery Eva desperately needs.

Eva, among others, was injured in the tornado that ripped through Fairmont Crest and its devastating aftermath. She sustained critical injuries during the storm and was trapped with her half-sister, Kat Richardson (Colby Nixon).

Courtesy/CBS

Phillip Boyd recently appeared on The McCord List, where he talked about his career between working in Los Angeles and Atlanta and said about his latest acting gig, “Dr, Miles Arnold works in the hospital. There’s something that happens, a natural disaster and a lot of the characters on the show are at this event and something tragic happens and they’re rushed to the hospital.”

The actor is also appearing in the final season of Tyler Perry’s Netflix series Beauty in Black where he shows up in 7 episodes. Boyd previously appeared in short term roles on General Hospital, The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives. In primetime, he also played the role of Mitch on 90210 and played Oscar in Tyler Perry’s The Haves and Have Nots for five-seasons.

So, so you think Beyond the Gates might make Phillip Boyd’s role bigger over time on the soap? Will Kat be the match that Eva needs? If not, who? Many people were ruled out on today’s episode. Drop you thoughts and picks for the donor via the comment section.

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