‘Beyond the Gates,’ the First Black Daytime Soap Opera, Is Set to Air on CBS in 2025
The historic soap opera stars 'As the World Turns' alum Tamara Tunie.
Updated Nov. 26 2024, 6:54 p.m. ET
Daytime television wouldn’t be the same without soap operas. The genre is one of the few where extravagant plotlines aren’t questioned due to its unpredictable nature. Soaps are also one of the few ways you can bring a character back to life, and no one questions it (i.e., The Young and the Restless’ multiple recasts of Adam Newman.
Though soap operas have existed for decades and are often passed down among generations, the genre can become stuck in its ways. That is, until now. In September 2024, CBS announced its plans to premiere Beyond the Gates, the first-ever daytime soap opera featuring an all-Black cast.
Here are the details on Beyond the Gates’s cast, premiere date, and more!
‘Beyond the Gates’ is the first Black daytime soap opera and stars a cast of soap icons.
On Sept. 19, 2024, CBS made its first announcement about Beyond the Gates. The network shared on CBS News that the weekly soap opera follows a “prominent multigenerational family” named the Duprees, living in an affluent Maryland suburb.
Per the show’s logline, the Dupree family is “the very definition of Black royalty.” And like most families, they have some skeletons in their closets.
“Behind these pristine walls and lush, manicured gardens are juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered,” the logline further explained. “And those that live outside these gates are watching closely.”
Beyond the Gates includes a cast of soap opera vets. Tamara Tunie stars as the family’s matriarch, Anita Dupree, a famous singer who raised two daughters with her husband, a former senator. The role is Tamara’s return to soaps after her run on As the World Turns as attorney Jessica Griffin. Fans of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit also know her as forensic scientist Dr. Melinda Warner.
Daphnee Duplaix and Karla Mosley play Tamara’s character’s daughters. Daphne plays Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson, a psychiatrist who appears to have her life together, though the audience discovers that’s not the case. Daphnee is best known for her role on One Life to Live, where she played Rachel Gannon. The character earned the actor an NAACP Award nomination.
Beyond the Gates is Karla's second soap opera role. She was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her role as Maya Avant Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful. In her new role, Karla plays Dani Dupree, an ex-model turned momager.
When is ‘Beyond the Gates’ premiere date?
Beyond the Gates hasn’t shared its premiere date yet. However, CBS has confirmed that the soap opera will air sometime in 2025. In addition to having an all-Black principal cast, the show’s premiere will also be historic, as it’s the first soap opera debut since Passions premiered on CBS in 1999.
While Beyond the Gates does not have an official date, Variety shared in October 2024 that more names have been added to the cast since it was picked up as a series in April. Actor and Tony nominee Clifton Davis (Godfather of Harlem) has signed on to the series.
Clifton will be joined by Alex Alegria (CSI, Gossip Girl), Lauren Buglioli (Bad Monkey, Florida Man), Ben Gavin (Super 8, The Dark Tower), Jibre Hordges (Grown-ish, 9-1-1), Jen Jacob (The Union, Law & Order: Organized Crime), and Mike Manning (Days of Our Lives).
Other cast members, including Brandon Claybon, Timon Kyle Durrett, Sean Freeman, Marquita Goings, Maurice Johnson, Trisha Mann-Grant, RhonniRose Mantilla, Ambyr Michelle, Colby Muhammad, and Arielle Prepetit, will be part of the main cast.
