Beyond the Gates
Bob Guza and Julie Hanan Carruthers Named Executive Producers of ‘The Gates’ Joining Michele Val Jean
There is finally some intel on the highly anticipated and highly guarded upcoming new daytime soap opera, The Gates.
Former General Hospital head writer, Bob Guza Jr., and former All My Children EP, Julie Hanan Carruthers are reportedly joining Michele Val Jean as executive producers of the show as first revealed by Soap Hub.
While Michele Val Jean is The Gates showrunner and creator, she is also joined by previously named executive producers, Sheila Duckworth, Kimberly Doebereiner, Leon T. Russell and Derrick Johnson. The Gates is set to premiere in January of 2025 on CBS. At the epicenter of the story is a wealthy Black family who live in an upscale gated community.
Photo: CBS
Daytime soap fans know Guza as the longtime head writer for General Hospital spanning 15 years by himself or as a co head-scribe. He began his Port Charles journey in March of 1996 and became head writer for the first time from December 1997 to December 2000.
Eventually, Bob returned to the series in June of 20o2 along with Chuck Pratt Jr. During an almost four-year run, the duo crafted the lives of the citizens of Port Charles. Chuck and Bob steered GH’s storylines until March 2006, when Guza became the sole head writer, once again.
In 2007, Bob’s wife, the late Meg Bennett, would co-write GH alongside of him. Then, in 2008, Guza left and returned to his head writing duties solo following the conclusion of the writer’s strike. He remained with the General Hospital till 2011. Guza has won three Daytime Emmys for writing General Hospital, one for his work as a script writer on Santa Barbara and four as a consulting producer for GH.
Photo: JPI
As for Julie Carruthers, she began her soap career in various production jobs on Santa Barbara from 1984-1990. In 1994, Julie came to GH and worked her way up to senior supervising producer. She exited to become the executive producer of the now defunct, Port Charles.
After the half-hour GH spinoff was canceled in 2003, she was named the EP for All My Children, and was with your favorites from Pine Valley until its conclusion in September of 2011. Julie has been nominated for five Daytime Emmys throughout her career.
So, what do you think about an EP soap team that includes: Bob Guza, Julie Hanan Carruthers and Michele Val Jean? Does it make you more excited for the debut of ‘The Gates’? Comment below.
I am weary of Bob Guza, but look forward to seeing Julie Hanan Carruthers’ return. Semi disappointed it isn’t someone like Wendy Riche who has some rich history. But, overall, it’s nice seeing this soap moving in the right direction. I just wonder where in Atlanta it will shoot. I have been hinting at Tyler Perry Studios, albeit with some production quality changes, but we’ll see what happens!!!
I sm hopeful for classy storytelling, romance and suspense. Less reliance on tired tropes. CBS should be commended for this project.
was excited till I saw the name Bob Guza
me too. His years at GH were dreadful.
Just curios but has a soap ever had this many executive producers? I think the most I might have seen is two, if that. The Gates seems to have four or five. Any particular reason why they would have or need so many? Is it because it will film in Atlanta and you need some there & some in Los Angeles?
Typically, daytime soaps only have one production company, either produced in-house like most of the ABC soaps or by outside production studios like the CBS & NBC soaps. “The Gates” will have three production companies: CBS Studios, P&G and NAACP.
It seems like most of the credited EPs likely won’t be too hands on. For example, Derrick Johnson is president of the NAACP while Leon Russell is chair of the NAACP board of directors. Sheila Duckworth leads the CBS Studios/NAACP joint venture that resulted in the creation of “The Gates”. Kimberly Doebereiner is head of P&G Studios.
Val Jean, Guza and Hanan Carruthers will likely be the ones responsible for the day-to-day running of the soap. Guza and Hanan Carruthers were probably brought on board because Val Jean (and the other credited EPs) don’t have experience being an EP on a daytime soap.
Wouldn’t get too excited about Carruthers either. At AMC, she was responsible for storylines that lead to a ratings nosedive and cancellation. Think Dixie’s poisoned pancakes, Erica’s unabortion, and killing off Stuart.
ABC spent a lot of money to move the show to LA. I’m just a few years, the ratings were well below OLTL making Frons decision to cut both shows easier to explain.
poisoned pancake debacle was truly awful.
Robert Guza, Jr joined GH long before 1996. He first joined the show in 1982 under Anne Howard Bailey and continued from 1985-1986 under the legendary Pat Falken Smith.
Naturally, a Black EP with a cultural competence for the storytelling wouldn’t be hired. These choices don’t exactly inspire confidence in turning a page for the genre; they’re from the old guard and may not appreciate real innovation. It’s a symptom of not cultivating new talents behind the scenes, for many years. Add constraints of the censors and time slot, then we’re back to the same formula. The preferred talking point for this show is that the Black characters are wealthy, which isn’t new, rather than a fresh take on how to do soaps.
Totally agree
I’d like to see diverse, younger and fresher writers/EPs for this groundbreaking series. If this centers around a wealthy black family, I hope they have black writers to add authenticity to the scripts/storylines. Just my opinion.
Beyond the Gates
‘Beyond the Gates’ Emmy Winner Ambyr Michelle Wants to Compete on ‘Dancing with the Stars’: ‘Pick Me’ (Exclusive)
Soap opera fans are always clamoring for when Dancing with the Stars reveals their cast each season, that they would include a familiar face from daytime drama, but it rarely happens, if ever, anymore.
Over the last several years, the series has leaned heavily into casting celebrities with massive TikTok or Instagram followers, which in turn, have helped this season and last have their best ratings numbers in years.
But, how about for next season’s cast of Dancing with the Stars, that it could include newly-awarded Daytime Emmy winner, Ambyr Michelle (Eva Thomas) of Beyond the Gates?
Photo: CBS
LOVE OF DANCE TO LOVE OF ACTING
Michael Fairman TV spoke to Michelle about her dance background and if she would love a shot at lifting the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy during Wednesday’s November 11, livestream chat on the Michael Fairman Channel.
Ambyr explained to fans (who joined in on the live chat), how she began her show business career. “I started off as a dancer, first and foremost. Acting wasn’t really something I wanted to go after. I did plays when I was younger, but it was just something we did in school, but I really wanted to be a dancer. I moved out to LA to dance, and I fell out of love with dance, which was so weird.”
This year’s Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series winner, added, “I was like, ‘What is going on?’ I moved all the way out here for dance. I found I was forcing myself to go to dance class, and I just didn’t have the passion for it. I was working at this restaurant at the time, and one of my coworker was like, ‘What about taking an acting class out here?'”
Next, Ambyr took the coworker up on the idea. “So, I took an acting class and I fell in love with it that day,” shared Michelle. “I was like, ‘I want to do this for the rest of my life.’ I thought, I would love to book a role, of course, as a dancer, but I think acting has a little bit more longevity.”
Photo: ABC
A SHOT AT THE LEN GOODMAN MIRRORBALL TROPHY
When the talked turned to if Ambyr would consider or be interested in appearing on the ballroom dance competition series, she piped up with, “I would love to do Dancing with the Stars! Pick me!”
As those in the live chat rallied around this idea, it made us think, Ambyr could be the first contestant from Beyond the Gates, and someone representing the soaps. It checks off so many boxes! To which Ambyr replied, “That would be beautiful.”
You can check out the full conversation with Ambyr below.
So, what do you think soap fans? Can we make sure Ambyr’s name gets in front of the producers and casting director for next season’s Dancing with the Stars? Would you like to see her in the competition? If so, who would be your dream pro professional dance partner for her? Let us know in the comment section.
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.
‘Beyond the Gates’ Emmy Winner Ambyr Michelle Wants to Compete on ‘Dancing with the Stars’: ‘Pick Me’ (Exclusive)
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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‘Beyond the Gates’ Emmy Winner Ambyr Michelle Wants to Compete on ‘Dancing with the Stars’: ‘Pick Me’ (Exclusive)
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