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New Daytime Drama ‘The Gates’ in Development For CBS; Michele Val Jean to Serve as EP, Writer & Showrunner

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: CBS

In what would be an unbelievable boost to the soap opera genre, CBS Studios and the NAACP, in partnership with P&G Studios, are coming together to produce a brand new daytime drama that would air on CBS.

The new soap in development is entitled The Gates, and it will center around a wealthy black family who reside in an upscale gated community. A very well-known name to daytime fans, Emmy award-winning writer, Michele Val Jean, will serve as the series writer and showrunner and one of the series EP’s. Val Jean is best known for her work as a writer for The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital plus Generations and Santa Barbara.

Other executive producers of the soap would be NAACP Venture president, Sheila Ducksworth, plus Leon Russell, Derrick Johnson and Kimberly Doebereine.

Photo: JPI

Ducksworth (pictured below) president of the CBS Studios NAACP venture, shared in a statement, “The Gates will be everything we love about daytime drama, from a new and fresh perspective. This series will salute an audience that has been traditionally underserved, with the potential to be a groundbreaking moment for broadcast television. With multi-dimensional characters, juicy storylines and Black culture front and center, The Gates will have impactful representation, one of the key touchstones of the venture.”

“I’m excited to develop this project with CBS and P&G, two of the longest and most passionate champions of broadcast and daytime television, and the NAACP, whose enduring commitment to Black voices and artists is both powerful and inspiring,” added Ducksworth. “I also want to thank CBS’ George Cheeks, NAACP’s Derrick Johnson and P&G’s Marc Pritchard for their personal involvement and support to take our next step forward with The Gates”

Photo: NAACP

The Gates would mark the first new soap opera in the CBS Daytime line-up since 1987 when The Bold and the Beautiful premiered. The new soap would join B&B and The Young and the Restless for an impressive block of programming for soap fans.

On the new series in development, it’s noted: “CBS Studios’ production venture and development deal with the NAACP was established to help elevate a diverse range of voices as well as increase the visibility of Black artists on broadcast and streaming platforms in an ever-evolving media landscape.”

So, what do you think of ‘The Gates’ becoming a new CBS Daytime drama series in what would be the first new network soap opera since the defunct-‘Passions’ 25 years ago? Comment below.

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That’s terrific news, does this mean The Bold and The Beautiful will be cancelled? It only got picked up until 2025. Or The Talk could be cancelled or let’s make a deal. I prefer they cancel Let’s make a deal. The show is terrible. I love The Talk they promote the soaps with there actors.

The bold and the beautiful isn’t going anywhere, it’s the #1 serial in the world….the new show would be on after B&B and move the Talk to 3pm….

I think it is wonderful that CBS is investing in a daytime program that is a soap.

Let’s hope ABC follows their lead and brings back some form of AMC & OLTL or some sort of blend of both shows as one.

Not gonna happen. Disney is in crisis and losing billions. Theyre considering selling ABC even. Also GH’s ratings are not as good as YR and BB. GH has barely over 2 million total viewers and their youth demographic is even worse.

Let’s not forget GENERATIONS was the first daytime soap with a black family at its core 35 years ago. It was an excellent show that didn’t have time to catch on and I believe Bal Jean was a part of that writing team. I hope the timing is right now and THE GATES will be a great success.

Wow. I would NEVER have thought we’d see another new soap–ever.

I will give it a try,* if it comes to fruition, definitely. I would be very interested to see what MVJ can do.

*Caveat: unless P&G Studios turns out to be Procter & Gamble; I want nothing to do with anything soap-related from them, ever again. All they do is break soap fans’ hearts.

Not interested; won’t be watching.

Respected… but how about at least a “hip hip hooray” for daytime ?

I’m not “hip, hip, hooraying” for a soap geared toward a black audience. First we had many black characters come aboard General Hospital (for example) to the exclusion of most other “diversity.” We STILL don’t have one Jewish character on GH, but are expanding on the black characters. And now a black soap? The catering to this one segment of the population in all things media is unbalanced. So it’s a no for me for many reasons, whether you or anyone else agree or understand from my point of view. When Michael wrote a post on FB that a new daytime soap was in the works my interest was piqued and I was excited to hear the details so I clicked the link here. And then I read them…

Wow….just….wow.

This isn’t the first all black soap. Generations back in the 80s made history.

Generations was a flop lol. We dont need a “black” soap opera. Are nation has been divided enough along ethnic lines because of all the lies the media has propagated over the last 5 or so years.
Criminals have been enshrined as martyrs simply because they were killed by police in most cases because they were committing crimes. Now the average black youth thinks we’re back living under Jim Crow! Thats ridiculous. And Im a black man who was born in 1964. My parents marched with MLK. My father nearly suffered the same fate as Emmet Teal. But today is a different day. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BE A BLACK PERSON IN THE USA. THERE IS NO SYSTEMIC RACISM. EVERYONE AS LEGAL EQUALITY TODAY. Is racism gone completely? Of course not but today THE ONLY PERSON HOLDING ANYONE BACK FROM SUCCESS IS THEMSELVES! The left has lied to black folk and taken advantage of us far too long! Now we’re segregating our own selves. Its pathetic.

Don’t make it sound like it’s an us vs them situation. Your issue with a lack of a Jewish character on GH is similar to my distaste of B&B for lack of an LGBT character. That doesn’t mean I believe that spot is being taken by a black character.

All that matters is it good tv? Empire was successful because it was good soap for the first years. Yes, it had a predominant black cast but attracted viewers of all backgrounds.

I’m a red Devil and I thought Empire was a great show… well, at least until it all fell apart after the Jussie Smollett fiasco.

Satan, I would say your name before I would ever have “that” name in my mouth. It should only be spoken in terms of who has set many things back in time, sadly.

If you’d like, please read my replies to others on this thread and it will explain why I feel the way I feel. I agree about Empire; loved it. Any show can be great regardless of the ethnicity of the actors; that’s not my point.

Bye Rebecca. I hope The Gates starts a daytime resurgence and has unparalleled success just to piss you off.

It won’t piss me off any more than the vile antisemitism that emanates from the black community on a daily basis, from Farrakhan to Kanye, to the sports players to BHI to the anti-Israel crap and the racist narrative many black people have created about Israel. So, yeah, don’t count me as someone who cheers every time a black story or character or show or host or blah, blah, blah, happens. I’m way too plugged in to the hate spewed at my people for me to join the kiss-up crowd.

Rebecca, I would love to see Jewish representation. It’s needed. It’s necessary. I support it 1000% but I’m not going to shit on other communities in the the process. Your comments about outliers within the Black community are broad stroked. I’m Black and I find Kanye’s comments reprehensible but your comments are also insulting.

Have you watched “Transparent”?

It has pretty much all bases covered, and stars Judith Light in the unforgettable role as the ex-wife and mother.

Hi Brian; no I haven’t watched it.

Contrary to your statements CBS is not catering to any particular ethnic group. They are producing content for a demographic that actually watches their shows in large numbers and buys their advertising products. Its about the money!! Your argument is not with the African American community which demographically never abandoned the daytime soap community and played such a major role in keeping the daytime soap genre alive. Your complaints should be addressed to the existing soap community executives and producers whose movers and shakers are certainly not African American. Again, they are not embracing diversity due to wokeness. They are doing it because they want to make money!!!

I fully understand your frustration. It’s the same frustration that many people of color and the LBGT community felt for being sidelined on screen when we made up huge majorities of the audience. Our stories were never told and we were confined to being the loyal sidekicks. I can’t begin to tell you how many times we were told by industry soap journalists that our very presence offended middle America and grandma didn’t want to see us. Think about routinely reading that for decades. We are are now seeing a daytime community that looks more like America and the audience that watches it. More seats are at the table. So keep agitating for more Jewish representation on soaps and it will happen. Not because they are catering to a particular group because it deserves to happen. The pie really is big enough for all.

Unfortunately that’s not true for the Jewish population. My bet is once they start writing Jewish characters, they’ll be for Jewish POC. The “white” Jewish person has been stereotyped forever. On GH? Who was Jewish? “Bernie” the accountant. Hayden’s father, a non-character who was on for five minutes in a jail scene. What was he in for? A Ponzi scheme ala Bernie Madoff.

People think because there are Jewish writers and actors that Jews are “represented.” We’re not. And when we are? We get Bradley Cooper with a prosthetic nose (not sure why; as good-looking as he is his own nose would’ve done the trick, lol), Helen Mirren played Golda Meir, some woman whose name I can’t remember playing Carol King, and English actor Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders; great show) as Oppenheimer.

On GH? We had Matt Cohen play a priest, Sean Kanan play AJ, Stuart Damon play Alan Quartermaine, Tamara Braun play Carly, Rena Sofer play Lois, Amanda Setton play Brook Lynn, etc etc. All Jewish actors and yet the show can’t create ONE Jewish character let alone a Jewish family. And so people out in some area who never even met a Jewish person still have the Bernie stereotype or the hook-nosed caricature that circulates. Instead of representing Jewish people with attractive Jewish characters like they do with other minorities, they don’t. They seem to go out of their way not to. GH has been on sixty years; they’ve had Jake the doctor ((who was good-looking) and Bernie. That’s it. In sixty years and in this age of diversity. It’s an obvious omission. Glaring. And in the last few years? They didn’t just introduce black characters; they built up a family, they keep adding to the family, they have TJ with Molly and Trina with Spencer. We now have Latina representation with Blaze and her mom and Asian representation with Mrs. Wu, gay and lesbian…but no Jewish characters.

Now add to my resentment the very real antisemitism from the black community; it’s real and much of it is vile. And when I’ve mentioned that there are no Jewish characters, some black viewers have had a nasty reply; they’ve laughed and/or said “you’re white.” You’re represented. Really? If it was as easy as that there’d d be no Jew hate, no Hiter, no no Nazis, no Farrakkhan, Kanye, BHI. No hook-nosed caricatures and conspiracy theories specifically about “Jews.”

To watch one remake after another with black characters of classic shows, more black characters developed for soaps, while MY people are being thrown hate not just by white supremacists but by many in the black community and those who were part of BLM, to watch one black character and story line keep popping up on GH while I see that there’s STILL not one Jewish character…yes, I feel resentment. A lot.

And so no, I won’t be tuning into this new soap. If relations were better between the black community and the Jewish community, if they were standing with the Jewish community and Israel instead of spewing utter hate, I’d be happy to tune in. But just like any other human being, we react to how we’re treated and regarded. And it hasn’t been pretty.

So it’s not about the “pie being big enough.” It’s about the writers, producers, etc, not wanting Jewish characters on the show even as they diversify. It’s been brought to their attention; they ignore it.

With that said, thank you for your polite reply.

Hatikva is all I will say.

Says a lot.

I’ll take Karen’s for $2000.

This is great news never thought we’d see a new soap

CBS soaps have never aired down here in Hell, so I doubt we will see this one either. But all the same, it has to be a “net positive” sign that a soap is actually going on the air, as opposed to the trend of the last 2 decades, with the networks picking them off one by one.

I agree with you. It is a positive sign to see CBS on board with any soaps. I will dive the first week a try. So if you wish to watch it–get thee behind me, Satin.

So much for the genre being close to death.

P&G getting back in the daytime drama business after cutting the cords with ATWT & GL. That’s shocking.

Still be determined- will this be 30 or 60 minutes? Does it replace The Talk or Let’s Make A Deal? Or, is CBS taking time back from the affiliates?

As for casting – the first call must made to Debbi Morgan.

So P&G Studios really is Procter & Gamble. I so hoped it would turn out not to be.

Wonder what changed? P&G spent 15 years or so trying to get itself out of daytime; now they want back in, after all the damage they did? Hmmmm.

Proctor & Gamble had an “image problem” for a while, because some FundaMENTAList religious nuts started a rumor that the entire corporation was on MY payroll!

Entirely untrue of course. What would the Devil want with a soap company??

But it seems like they expanded their corporate portfolio into other areas (like Gillette razors) and seemingly got out of the TV business. But just like CBS, they apparently changed their mind about soaps as a “dead” genre.

Oh I hope Victoria Rowell gets cast in “The Gates.” Used to love her in Y&R as Drucilla Winters.

I don’t like it already! Not my thing . And if they cancel the Bold and the Beautiful I’ll be very disappointed! Bold and the beautiful is my favorite soap opera!

It was stated that the two Bell family soaps would not be cancelled for the new show. If they are smart at CBS then it would follow B&B. THE TALK could follow at 2:30 or 3. In NY the Judge Judy reruns may stop, for the East Coast. I wish that AS THE WORLD TURNS had not been axed, a part of daytime history since April 5, 1956. THE TALK then DR. PHIL could have followed. But instead poor writing killed Turns in its last two years. So legal issues sent newer Judge Judy shows & Dr. PHIL into limbo & here we are with tentative plans for a new serial, which is an expensive risk for CBS. But there is a slot for it. However the soap genre is dying & we need a new shot of adrenaline or it will vanish. So BEST OF. LUCK. to its success !!

No, no! I wish the soap genre never dies. I’d be lost without my soaps. As would thousands of soap fans, I’m sure.

I only just started watching B&B about 2/3 months ago, and now I am hooked.

B&B is the most popular soap in the world. It is distributed around Europe and brings in much more money that YR. It aint going anywhere lol. It will probably outlast YR.

I’m looking forward to this new soap. I love all the daytime soaps. But at the same time it saddens me because I’d entered a competition where you send a pitch for a TV show, and mine would have made a great daytime soap, but I didn’t win. Of course everyone thinks their stories are the best. But if I had money I would produce it myself. I guess it’s who you know in this business. (My motto: If you don’t succeed once, try try try again.)

I wish it well, but I can’t take on a fourth soap.

That’s OK. I appreciate you replying. I wish you all the best with “The Gates.” Looking forward to watching it.

My only wish is that they take Devon off Y&R and put him on the GATES! He is a scene crusher, ruined Abby and is nothing like Neil Winters. Y&R would be better off without him and that Mamie lady!

I agree about “that Mamie lady.” But I like Devon.

Hope it replaces The Talk, which is unwatchable — shouldn’t have ever replace As the World Turns.

Will it be an hour show?

It will be refreshing to see this come to daytime. Thank you
How can I become a actress on this program?

Ok for a new daytime soap but NEVER at the expense of B&B. The Talk needs to go away with its 1.6M viewers. The new soap can follow B&B, but will not take me away from GH. GH is the best soap for now.

Yeasssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!

Beyond the Gates

53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Winners: ‘General Hospital’ Takes Drama Series, Tamara Tunie and Scott Clifton Top Acting Honors

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The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards have just concluded on Friday night, October 30, and it was ABC’s General Hospital who took home the top prize for Outstanding Drama Series for the sixth time in row. Executive Producer, Frank Valentini accepted the award on behalf of the show.

Beyond the Gates scored its first two acting honors in the young history of the show. Veteran actress, Tamara Tunie won her first ever Emmy for Lead Actress a Daytime Drama Series for her performances as Anita Dupree, while Ambyr Michelle took home the gold in the Emerging Talent category.

Scott Clifton won his fourth Daytime Emmy overall, and second Lead Actor Emmy for his heart-tugging performance as Liam Spencer, who believed he was battling an inoperable brain tumor, only for it to turn out to be medical ruse to bilk Liam’s father out of $1 million dollars.

Scott Clifton

Courtesy/NATASYouTube

DECADES BETWEEN BETH MAITLAND AND ROGER HOWARTH LAST EMMY WIN

In the Supporting Actor and Actress categories, Daytime Emmy history was made with Beth Maitland  (Traci Abbott, The Young and the Restless) winning her second Emmy 41 years since she won her first won, and Roger Howarth (Matt Clark, The Young and the Restless) following suit for the men with his coming 32 years after he won in 1994 for One Life to Live.

Roger Howarth

Courtesy/NATASYouTube

Jeff Kober picked up his second Daytime Emmy win for his role as Cyrus Renault on General Hospital in the Outstanding Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series category. He previously won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role in 2022, following a nomination in the same category in 2021.

The Kelly Clarkson Show, meanwhile, won Outstanding Daytime Talk Series it its final year, while Sherri Shepherd won for Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Host after finding out her talker had been canceled after four seasons.

Genie Francis

Photo: NATAS/YouTube

THINK OF LAURA

General Hospital star Genie Francis (Laura) received the Lifetime Achievement Award and shared from the stage, “I know 50 years sounds like an awfully long time, but it doesn’t feel like that to me,” she said. “As they say, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.”

Overall, General Hospital, Beyond the Gates and The Kelly Clarkson Show received the most gold statuettes for the night with four wins apiece.

Here’s a look at the honor roll for tonight’s big winners below:

Outstanding Daytime Drama Series
General Hospital

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress
Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree, Beyond the Gates)

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor
Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor
Roger Howarth (Matt Clark, The Young and the Restless)

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress
Beth Maitland (Traci Abbott, The Young and the Restless)

Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series
Ambyr Michelle (Eva Thomas, Beyond the Gates)

Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Drama Series
General Hospital

Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series
Jeff Kober (Cyrus Renault, General Hospital)

Outstanding Casting for a Daytime Program
General Hospital

Outstanding Directing in a Daytime Drama Series
Days of our Lives

Outstanding Talk Series
The Kelly Clarkson Show

Outstanding Talk Series Host
Sherri Shepherd, Sherri

Outstanding Lighting Direction for a Daytime Program
Beyond the Gates

Outstanding Costume Design/Styling for a Daytime Program
The Young and the Restless (Episode 13273)

Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup for a Daytime Program
Beyond the Gates, The Kelly Clarkson Show

So, who were you happy to see win a Daytime Emmy on tonight’s 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards? Do you think the right show and actors took home the gold? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section. In case you missed it, you can watch the replay of tonight’s livestream of the Daytime Emmy ceremony below.

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Who Should Win Outstanding Lead Actor at the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards? (Poll)

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Lead Actor Emmy Nominees

The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmys are just a day away, and one of the more hotly-contested contests is which of your favorite leading men will walk away with the gold statuette for Outstanding Lead Actor?

The 5 actors who are going for gold each have had quite the history with the Daytime Emmys with several already having racked up several wins. Let’s take a look and the take our Michael Fairman TV poll at the bottom of the post and vote for who you think most deserves this year’s Lead Actor Emmy.

The nominees are: Eric Braeden (Victor Newman, The Young and the Restless), Steve Burton (Jason Morgan, General Hospital), Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful), Thorsten Kaye (Ridge Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful) and Christian Jules Le Blanc (Michael Baldwin, The Young and the Restless).

Scott Clifton

Photo: JPI

FIVE ACTORS HAVE ALL PREVIOUSLY WON GOLD

As far as the actors Emmy resumes: Eric Braeden has been nominated nine times for Lead Actor and won once in 1998. Steve Burton is a two-time Daytime Emmy winner, both in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category for GH as Jason Morgan and Y&R as Dylan McAvoy. This nomination makes it Steve’s 10th overall, and his third time in the the Lead Actor category.

Scott Clifton has won three times previously in 2011, 2013 and 2017 and has the distinction of being the only actor to win in Younger Actor, Supporting and Lead. This is his 8th nomination Thorsten Kaye is a two-time Lead Actor winner in 2023 and 2024, while Christian LeBlanc has also won three times as Lead Actor in 2005, 2007 and 2009 and this is his first nod in over a decade.

The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are set to be handed out in a ceremony on Friday night, October 30 beginning at 8pm ET/5pm PT at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California. And while there is no network television broadcast partner this year, fans can watch the ceremonies livestreamed on the NATAS/Daytime Emmys You Tube Channel.

Now below, cast your vote for who you think should win Outstanding Lead Actor tomorrow night, and then in the comment section let us know who you are rooting for on Emmy night.

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‘General Hospital’s’ Nancy Lee Grahn Hosts Daytime Emmy Lead Actress Dinner Keeping the Tradition With a Twist!

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Daytime Emmy Ladies Luncheon

Leave it to General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) to throw an intimate get together in her own style! That’s exactly what the three-time Daytime Emmy winner did to keep the tradition of last year’s Lead Actress winner throwing a party for this year’s nominees.

But as has been tradition, where the ladies gathered for their annual nominee lunch, this year on October 28, Grahn decided to make it a dinner party and she cooked all the food instead of venturing to a Los Angeles hotspot.

The Lead Actress lunch has been a tradition started by four-time Daytime Emmy winner, Susan Flannery (ex-Stephanie Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful and ex-Laura Horton, Days of our Lives) back in 2005. Now, here we are 21 years later and its still going strong.

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?

Joining Grahn for for the Lead Actress dinner were 2026 nominees: Heather Tom (Katie Logan Spencer, The Bold and the Beautiful) and Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Summers, The Young and the Restless), Karla Mosley (Dani Dupree, Beyond the Gates), Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree, Beyond the Gates), and Stacy Haiduk (Kristen DiMera, Days of our Lives).

This year, Karla Mosley and Tamara Tunie became first-time Lead Actress nominees, while Stacy Haiduk, also earned her first Lead Actress nomination, although she had been previously nominated in the Supporting Actress category.  Currently, going in to Emmy night, Heather Tom is tied with Erika Slezak (ex-Viki, One Life to Live) for the most Daytime Emmys won by an actress with 6, while Michelle Stafford had racked up three, two for Lead and 1 for Supporting.

HEARTFELT THANK YOU’S FROM LEAD ACTRESS NOMINEES

Taking to her Instagram, Michelle Stafford posted some snaps and shared, “This is SO special. A beautiful night with truly beautiful, extraordinary women. What an incredible tradition that Susan Flannery started. Instead of women competing against each other. Here we have five women who have become friends, lifting each other up and supporting each other. We walk into Friday night with a true gift of friendship. Thank you Nancy Lee Grahn for opening up your beautiful home and catering this incredible dinner. Thank you Dylan for being a good girl for the picture! 🐶”

Meanwhile, Nancy Lee Grahn shared a video on her Instagram of the actresses chatting it up around the dinner table, while explaining she cooked the dinner for all the gals! (You can see it below).

So, what do you think about Nancy serving up the annual Lead Actress gathering with dinner at her house? Excited to see all the nominees together before tomorrow night? Weigh-in via the comment section.

 

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