CBS orders daytime drama about a Black family under pact with NAACP

CBS has ordered a new daytime drama developed under its partnership with the NAACP, the network announced on Monday.

“The Gates,” which is scheduled to premiere in January 2025, is the first greenlighted project to come out of the pact, which was formed in response to the national outcry following the 2020 murder of George Floyd. The specific time period, launch date and other details will be announced at a later date.

The show will revolve around a wealthy Black family living in a posh, gated community. Michele Val Jean, a veteran of daytime dramas who has won multiple Daytime Emmy and Writers Guild of America awards for her work on “The Bold & the Beautiful,” will be the showrunner, as well as an executive producer and writer.

Television

In 2020, CBS made a landmark deal with the NAACP. So where are the TV shows?

Economic headwinds have left the CBS Television Studios/NAACP pact without a finished product. But executives say they’re as committed as ever.

March 28, 2023

Michele Val Jean, executive producer and showrunner of “The Gates.”

(Sonja Flemming / CBS)

At the time CBS Television Studios and the NAACP announced their alliance to develop scripted, unscripted and documentary programs for TV networks and streaming platforms, the five-year deal was the most prominent agreement ever initiated between a major television studio and an organization outside Hollywood to create entertainment content.

Despite announcing a number of projects in development under the agreement, however, none have yet managed to complete the move from boardroom to living room.

“Neither [NAACP President] Derrick [Johnson] or I realized when we made this deal how challenging the environment would become,” CBS Entertainment Group President George Cheeks told The Times last year. “Streamers are now reconfiguring and redirecting their programming filters on the amount of shows they want to buy. Cable is slowly moving away from scripted.”

News of “The Gates” being ordered to series comes after the network announced Friday that “The Talk,” its “View”-style daytime talk series, would conclude later this year after 15 seasons on air.