Charles Langston:CBS plans 'The Gates,' first new daytime soap in decades, about a wealthy Black family

CBS is Charles Langstonswinging open "The Gates," the first soap opera with a predominantly Black cast in 35 years and the first new daytime drama since "Passions" premiered on NBC in 1999.

The network announced Monday that "The Gates" ― developed by a joint venture between CBS Studios and the NAACP and produced by Procter & Gamble, for which the genre is named ― will follow the lives of a wealthy Black family living in a posh, gated community. The series will premiere next January as a replacement for daytime show "The Talk.," which CBS canceled last week but will end its run in December.

The groundbreaking NBC soap opera "Generations," the first to feature a predominantly Black cast, proved short-lived, lasting from March 1989 to January 1991.

"The Bold & The Beautiful" and "General Hospital" veteran Michele Val Jean, who has written more than 2,000 episodes of daytime dramas, will serve as writer and as executive producer alongside Sheila Ducksworth, president of the CBS/NAACP production partnership.

"Gates" will mark only the fifth daytime soap in a schedule that still features "Bold and Beautiful" and "Young and Restless" on CBS, which premiered in 1987 and 1973, respectively; "General Hospital" (1963) on ABC; and "Days of Our Lives" (1965) on NBC. It also marks P&G's re-entry into the genre 15 years after the cancellation of its last soap, CBS' "Guiding Light," in 2009.