CBS is developing a soap opera about a wealthy family that could be the first TV drama with a majority black cast in decades.
This project is titled “The Gates” and depicts the lives of a wealthy black family living in an upscale gated community.
This program is produced by CBS Studios/NAACP Productions in association with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble. “The Gates” will be written by Emmy Award-winning daytime veteran Michel Val Jean (“The Bold and the Beautiful”), who will also serve as showrunner. Valjean is also a daytime television show for which he wrote over 2,000 episodes.
The last black daytime soap opera was NBC’s short-lived Generations, which started as a half-hour drama in 1989 and was reportedly the first American soap to center a black family from the beginning. Fox’s 2015 hit drama “Empire” was also viewed by some as a melodrama, even though it aired in prime time.
“The Gates will be everything we love about daytime drama, from a new and fresh perspective,” said Sheila Ducksworth, president of the CBS Studios NAACP venture (pictured above). “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.”
The release of a new daytime soap would effectively end a decade of success, as the genre loses popularity amid declining ratings and competition from streaming. The last time the network launched a new soap opera was his 1999 (NBC’s Passions), and CBS’ last new soap opera was his 1987 debut The Bold and the Beautiful.
There are only three of his daytime series currently on the air: “The Young & the Restless,” “Bold & the Beautiful,” and “General Hospital (Days of Our Lives on Peacock).” In 2011, ABC made headlines for canceling two long-running soap operas, All My Children and One Life to Live. Two years later, Prospect Park tried to bring the soap back online. However, CBS recently renewed The Young and the Restless, 51, for another four years.