Is new CBS daytime soap The Gates taking over The Talk's timeslot? (Speculation)

For the first time in decades, a new daytime soap opera is making its way to network TV. CBS has given an official order to The Gates, a program focused on an affluent Black family who live in a gated community.

The series will be showrun by daytime veteran Michele Val Jean who, according to the network's press release, has written more than 2,000 episodes of daytime dramas including for The Bold and the Beautiful and ABC's General Hospital. Val Jean will also serve as a writer. The scribe has multiple Daytime Emmy and WGA Awards to her name and is joined by Sheila Ducksworth, Leon Russell, Derrick Johnson and Kimberly Doebereiner as executive producers.

CBS has yet to announce when the soap will make its debut outside of a premiere window; it launches in January 2025. More details are set to be released at a later date, however, given the network recently announced The Talk coming to an end in December 2024 with its fifteenth season, we can speculate on where The Gates will fall in the daytime line-up.

Currently, after the morning news block, The Young and the Restless runs for an hour followed by The Bold and the Beautiful's 30 minute slot. The Talk typically kicks off the next leg of CBS' programming which is heavily reliant on talking heads giving viewers the latest news regarding celebrities, social happenings, and current events.

The Gates will expand the network's daytime soap offerings. In the days of yore, there were four soap operas that were the afternoon staples--The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, As the World Turns, and Guiding Light. This new soap could strengthen CBS' soap stock for years to come if Bold is renewed like Y&R before its contract expires in May 2025. For fans of the medium, like myself, the line-up going from a duo to a trio is a welcome sight.

Not to mention it opens the door to the possibility that soap operas will live on in the broadcast arena which would be a point of triumph for those of us concerned that it might become a dying art form if it's not respected, supported, and prioritized by the networks that still have solid soap fanbases to cater to.

We pass these dramas on from generation to generation. If The Gates finds its footing in 2025 and garners its own devoted audience it will revitalize the medium. So, while we will be saying farewell to The Talk, we could have a new program to look forward to day-to-day in their slot which could see the same longevity and beyond. Here's hoping!

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