Tamara Tunie Dubs New CBS Soap Opera As “Disrupter” Of Daytime Television

July 11, 2025

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Tamara Tunie, who plays matriarch Anita Dupree in Beyond the Gates, opened up about the soap opera’s cast and crew, revealing how the show has “disrupted” daytime TV. The new series, which premiered in February 2025, has set a lot of records. However, Beyond the Gates‘ most striking milestone is that it’s the first hour-long daytime drama show with an African American central family.

While speaking with Parade, Tunie went into more detail about how Beyond the Gates is making history. The actress revealed that not only is the soap opera revolutionary because of its onscreen talent, but it is also quite notable because of the people working behind the scenes on the CBS TV series. Check out Tunie’s comments below.

“But what you may not be aware of that behind the scenes, what we call below the line in Hollywood language, is predominantly African American as well. Our hair department is completely African American, our make-up department is predominantly African American, our wardrobe department is completely African American, most of our crew, I would say 75% of our crew and people in production department are African American.

So, this is the first time in the history of television that an hour-long daytime drama has that kind of representation overall, in all of the departments, and that is what makes it unique and special, and a disrupter if you will. We have disrupted daytime television y’all.”

Beyond The Gates Is A Game Changer In Daytime TV

As Tamara Tunie said, Beyond the Gates is completely and utterly disrupting daytime TV. For decades, soap operas have featured predominantly white casts. Shows like Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, and many more haven’t exactly been pillars of diversity. However, with Beyond the Gates, perhaps daytime TV is finally changing.

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The new CBS soap opera Beyond the Gates is altering the norm of daytime TV. Yes, the audience can see the diversity onscreen when they watch episodes, but what they don’t see is how the show is changing the game behind the scenes, as well. Beyond the Gates has a unique production, as most of the crew is made up of African Americans, just like the cast.

Our Take On Tunie’s Reveal About Beyond The Gates’ Crew

The Soap Opera Is A Success

Beyond the Gates is so groundbreaking because of its cast and crew. The daytime TV show’s creator, Michele Val Jean, is the first Black woman to create a soap opera, after all, while star Tamara Tunie pointed out all the other ways Beyond the Gates is diverse behind the scenes. However, its story also sets it apart from the crowd.

The characters and their plotlines in the CBS soap opera allow the series to explore various perspectives. As a result, Beyond the Gates‘ story is much more intriguing, pulling in more viewers — its ratings and reviews reflect as such (it holds a 100% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes). Its innovation and groundbreaking nature are what make daytime TV so great, and it’s about time a show like Beyond the Gates came along.

New episodes of Beyond the Gates, starring Tamara Tunie as Anita Dupree, air on weekdays (Mondays through Fridays) at 2 pm ET on CBS.

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