ARTICLE: Opening the Gates: Everything You Need to Know About ‘Beyond the Gates’ Right Now

[Errol]

It’s finally here. The day we have all been waiting for, some all of our lives, others only since it was first announced on March 6, 2024. 

Beginning Monday, February 24, “Beyond the Gates” begins its historic daytime run on CBS as the the first new soap opera scheduled to air on the network’s daytime lineup in nearly 40 years (since “The Bold and the Beautiful” in 1987), the first new daily drama series to air on broadcast television in more than 25 years (since NBC’s “Passions” in 1999) and the first-ever one-hour Black-centric daytime drama series.

Set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington D.C., and in one the most affluent African American counties in the United States, “Beyond The Gates” is where viewers find a posh gated community filled with winding tree-lined streets and luxurious mansions that the wealthy call home.

In anticipation of the new series, we have a breakdown of what you can expect as the show begins and progresses below.

Licensed Music/Product Placement

The first episode of the series opens with Daphnée Duplaix’s Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson driving her expensive Black Mercedes S-Class Sedan throughout the community as viewers get a lay of the land as Nicole makes her way to the Fairmont Country Club to meet her mother, Anita Dupree (Tamara Tunie) and sister, Dani Dupree (Karla Mosley) for lunch. Licensed music featuring The Emotions’ classic song “Best of My Love” plays throughout the establishing scene. Following her arrival, Nicole exits her vehicle looking exquisite in her designer coat and matching skirt with a sleek black top.

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Tamara Tunie as Anita Dupree and Daphnée Duplaix as Nicole Dupree Richardson
Quantrell Colbert/CBS

Additional licensed songs are expected to be featured in the series, particularly the classics from the 70s.

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Karla Mosley as Dani Dupree Hamilton, Tamara Tunie as Anita Dupree and Daphnée Duplaix as Nicole Dupree Richardson
Quantrell Colbert/CBS ©2024

Although Apple doesn’t appear to be a direct sponsor of the soap opera, nearly every character can be seen carrying a cell phone that one could not mistake for anything other than an iPhone, albeit without the logo, something ever more clear when the characters interact via Facetime (it’s not called that).

The Opening Title Sequence

As previously reported, the opening title sequence shown in the first episode is just one of several variations after the first couple of scenes set the tone for the day. The opening generally includes 12 of the show’s 20 contract cast members. In week one, just two variations are used. The full theme music and end title credits (likely only viewable on Paramount+) will play at the end of episode four (Thursday, February 27).

 

Commercial Breaks

The classic “[show is] sponsored by” and “[show] will return in a moment” are back! This is where Procter & Gamble comes in with their plethora of products that will be used when it comes to sponsoring the series. Not to mention the products that will surely be displayed within episodes as things come along.

Similarities Among Characters / Backgrounds

Nicole and Dani take after their mother and father, Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis) in their unique ways. Nicole is sturdy and level-headed like her father. Dani is authentic and will fight tooth and nail to protect what’s hers, particularly her family, like the traits of her mother. Nicole pursued her passion in the medical field as a psychiatrist, while Dani became a world-renowned model. Their mother is an EGOT, famous for her music, while their father is a retired politician who helped fight the good fight during the civil rights movement.

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RhonniRose Mantilla as Chelsea Hamilton, Clifton Davis as Vernon Dupree and Tamara Tunie as Anita Dupree
Quantrell Colbert/CBSS

Like their parents, Dani and Nicole each have two biological children. While Dani has two daughters like their mother and father, Nicole has a son and a daughter. 

Dani’s daughters are Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) and Chelsea Hamilton (RohiniRose Mantilla) from her 30-year marriage to their father, Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett), who left her for the youngest daughter’s best friend, Hayley Lawson (Marquita Goings). Meanwhile, Nicole is married to Ted Richardson (Maurice Johnson), and they are the parents of Martin Richardson (Brandon Clybon) and Kat Richardson (Colby Muhammad). They also helped raise Ted’s nephew, Andre Richardson (Sean Freeman), whose father died in a plane crash. 

Martin, a politician like his grandfather, is married to Bradley “Smitty” Smith (Mike Manning), an accomplished journalist lured back into his former career but finds difficulty in sharing the news with his husband. Outside work, the two raise their adopted teenage children, Tyrell (Jaden Lucas Miller) and Samantha (Najah Jackson), each of whom finds high school jarring. Meanwhile, Martin has difficulty of his own as trauma from his past causes nightmares that he keeps to himself while Smitty is at a loss on what to do to help.

 

The 27 Sets

The fact that a daytime drama series can boast that it has 27 sets is one thing. The fact that each of those 27 sets has its distinct looks and message, like an easter egg, is another. Between the portraits on the walls with a story to be told of their own, the awards on display at the Dupree home, including at least two Emmy awards on a high-level stand, along with the actual use of the piano in the living room by Naomi as she awaits finding out why her grandparents had placed an emergency call, with a specific ringtone and all, similar to bat signal, to members of the family requiring them to meet at the family home promptly at 7:00 p.m., only to reveal they are being forced to attend Bill’s wedding, after the former son in law threatened Vernon with revealing things he knows about the family, including where the bodies are buried. Meanwhile, Anita and Vernon vow to keep all the secrets, those yet to be revealed, to themselves. From the entryway to the foyer to the sitting room, to the living room, the Dupree family house is large and in charge.

The Fairmont Crest Country Club, the largest of the sets is where the bulk of the show establishes itself with many of the characters gathering here, considering how large it is and how much of a role it’ll play in the social scene. Not only is it where gossip is learned, and told, but it’s also the setting for many venues, including Bill and Hayley’s wedding where all the drama will unfold in the first couple of episodes.

Exterior shots of the various character homes, businesses and properties are fully on display but don’t worry, there is no inauthentic CGI like some soaps have tried in the past. Like “The Bold and the Beautiful” and its establishing scene of the Forrester Mansion, each location looks as real on the outside as it is inside, and that’s not a jab.

Fashion

As Christel Khalil (Lily Winters, “The Young and the Restless”) said last week at a private CBS party in Los Angeles celebrating the launch of “Beyond the Gates” joining the network’s daytime lineup, the soap screams MONEY!

Christel Khalil
Instagram

While most characters come from wealthy families, no one’s style says “poverty.” That’s a testament to the work done by costume designer Jeresa Featherstone, who made each character have a style of their own to the point that you realize they aren’t just wearing clothes, they are wearing fashion, to answer “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Bob the Drag Queen’s iconic question.

 

Sex vs. Love Scenes

As shown in the trailers and promos, one of the first “love scenes” will be between Dani and Andre, with the two having their first sexual encounter later in the week. Previously, one might have thought they had an agreement prior but it’s established this would be their first and last time. Of course, that’s what Dani tells Andre, but we don’t believe her. What’s great about the scene is it’s clear this is “sex” and not “love.” On other shows, characters forget the difference.

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Karla Mosley as Dani Dupree Hamilton
Quantrell Colbert/CBS

Overall, the scene is sexy, sensual, and sweet, especially with Dani ready to seek revenge against those she feels have wronged her. And we mean, revenge!

P&G Studios / End Credit Title Cards

While many had hoped the iconic PGP logo, or some variation of it would be on display along with the memorable beats that accompanied it at the closing of each episode of “As The World Turns,” “Guiding Light” and “Another World,” sadly, that’s not happening.

P&G Studios

Instead, you get a more modern P&G Studios logo as a title card, including a candle for the “I” in studios. That said, the closing of each episode will end with “CBS Studios Production: A Paramount Company” accompanied by its CBS network jingle. The NAACP title card appears after the P&G Studios one.

“Beyond the Gates” airs weekdays at 2:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT on CBS. Stream Live and On Demand on Paramount+.

For more about “Beyond the Gates,” keep reading Soap Opera Network.

Note: The post Opening the Gates: Everything You Need to Know About ‘Beyond the Gates’ Right Now appeared first on the Soap Opera Network website.
 

 

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Edited February 24 by Errol
Fixed name of licensed music group

[Liberty City]

THIS! This is what I love!