For the first time since at least 1999, a brand new daytime soap opera is closer to making its way to broadcast television. CBS Studios and NAACP Venture announced today they are developing a new daytime drama series for the CBS Television Network titled “The Gates,” with veteran writer Michele Val Jean (“The Bold and the Beautiful,” “General Hospital”) set as writer and showrunner.
Val Jean, who exited “The Bold and the Beautiful” last month as a scriptwriter after writing more than 2,000 episodes of daytime dramas and winning multiple Daytime Emmy and WGA Awards, will also serve as an executive producer for “The Gates” alongside Sheila Ducksworth, Leon Russell, Derrick Johnson and Kimberly Doebereiner.
The potential series will follow the lives of a wealthy Black family in a posh, gated community. It will be produced by the CBS Studios/NAACP production venture in partnership with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble. P&G, in particular, might sound familiar to soap fans as the company helped pioneer the genre with the likes of “As The World Turns,” “Guiding Light,” and “Another World.”
“‘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. “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.”
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Speaking more on CBS and P&G’s involvement, along with the NAACP, Ducksworth added, “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. 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.’”
CBS Studios’ production venture and development deal with the NAACP was established to elevate a diverse range of voices and increase the visibility of Black artists on broadcast and streaming platforms in an ever-evolving media landscape.
The news of “The Gates” comes as CBS announced last week a four-year deal to keep network television’s highest-rated and most-watched daytime drama series, “The Young and the Restless,” on the air through at least the 2027-2028 broadcast television season. “The Bold and the Beautiful” also received a one-year extension on its current deal, keeping it on the network through at least the 2024-2025 television season.
With the pickups at CBS, other daytime dramas are currently seeing security at their respective platforms and networks, with “Days of our Lives” contracted at Peacock through September 2025. Meanwhile, “General Hospital” doesn’t officially receive renewal orders at ABC as the network owns the series outright. Craig Erwich, President, Disney Television Group, overseeing content strategy across ABC Entertainment, Disney Branded Television, Freeform and Hulu Originals programming, recently stated the network was “deeply committed” to the show.
