NEW YORK (AP) — The first thing viewers of “Beyond the Gates” see is a black Mercedes gliding past manicured lawns and stately estates. The sedan pulls up at an elegant country club and the valets come out. The Emotions’ funky tune “Best of My Love” is playing.
That car and the glamorous woman behind the wheel are driving into TV history on Monday as CBS begins airing the first Black-led daytime soap opera — and the first new network soap since “Passions” premiered in 1999.
“I think that not only will it change daytime, but it’ll also change the landscape of TV,” said Sheila Ducksworth, president of CBS Studios/NAACP Venture and an executive producer. “I think it really will be something that will have far-reaching effects, and I look forward to it.”
Set in an affluent, gated Maryland community, “Beyond the Gates” has drama, joy and heartbreak played by very attractive people with a strong pocket-square vibe. But even the rich can lose it: The first episode ends with a roundhouse punch. A later episode has a golf club raised in anger.
“We want people to be entertained. We want people to have fun with it,” said Ducksworth. “There’s a lot of unpredictable stuff that’s going to be happening, a lot of juicy storylines. We have a lot of scandal and secrets and lies embedded in this world of power and prestige.”
Four generations represented
Actor Daphnée Duplaix, a veteran of “Passions” and “One Life to Live,” is the driver of the Mercedes and therefore won the distinction of being the audience’s first glimpse of life in upscale Fairmont Crest.
“It was pretty awesome when I realized that I am the opening scene into this new world that we’re creating. I was like, ‘Oh, that is fun and exciting,’” she said. “That meant a lot. It really did.”