‘The Young and the Restless’ Scriptwriter Madeleine Phillips Welcomes ‘Beyond the Gates’ To Daytime Drama Writing Family

In a room filled with some of the most talented and respected writers in television and film, among other categories, writer Madeleine Phillips took time to acknowledge “Beyond the Gates” as she and fellow writer Dave Ryan gave an acceptance speech for “The Young and the Restless” taking home the Writers Guild Award for Daytime Drama during Saturday night’s in Los Angeles ceremony, which marked the show’s seventh win overall in the category.

After Ryan thanked the guild for its recognition of their show, along with the cast and crew, among others, Phillips added, “And we want to say to our colleagues at ‘Beyond the Gates,’ which is a new soap opera starting in a couple of weeks, we welcome you to daytime. We’re so happy you’re here and we look forward to seeing you here next year. Thank you, so, so much.”

Phillips has been a scriptwriter at “The Young and the Restless” since February 2024, having previously served as the executive assistant to the show’s head writer and executive producer, Josh Griffith.

A veteran of the Sony soaps “Days of our Lives” and “The Young and the Restless,” having joined the writing team of the latter series after several years at the former, Ryan’s first script for “The Young and the Restless” aired on July 12, 2024.

For more about the show’s win at the Writers Guild Awards, and who else was nominated in their category, click here.

“Beyond the Gates”

“Beyond the Gates” is the first brand new soap opera set to debut on a broadcast network in more than 25 years, since the launch of “Passions” in 1999, and the first-ever one-hour Black-centric daytime drama series.

The series premieres  Monday, February 24 at 2:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT on CBS, and will be available to stream Live and On Demand on Paramount+. Ahead of the premiere, during the week of February 17-21, 2025, CBS will air “Beyond the Gates: Welcome to the Neighborhood,” a five-day, five-part daytime special that will give potential viewers a sneak peek at the new series with episodes like “Unveiling Fairmont Crest,” “Creating the Cast,” “Fashion and Flair,” “A Day in the Life” and “Sneak eEek and Guest Stars.”

Created by veteran soap opera writer Michele Val Jean, “Beyond the Gates” is developed and produced by the CBS Studios/NAACP Venture, led by Sheila Ducksworth, in partnership with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Alongside Val Jean, who also serves as head writer, executive producer and showrunner, executive producers include Sheila Ducksworth, Julie Carruthers, Robert Guza Jr., Leon W. Russell, Derrick Johnson, Kimberly Doebereiner and Anna Saalfeld.

In addition to Val Jean, the writing team consists of co-head writer Robert Guza Jr., Susan Dansby, Michael Montgomery, Judy Tate, Danielle Paige, Jazmen Darnell Brown, Cheryl L. Davis, Lynn Martin, Ron Carlivati, Sara A. Bibel, Christopher Dunn, Gregori J. Martin and Teresa Zimmerman. To find out more about the new show’s writers and their writing credits, click here.

Recently, CBS released a promo touting its growing soap opera lineup that includes “Beyond the Gates,” “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “The Young and the Restless.” 

Watch the “CBS Daytime is soapier” promo below.