Is CBS Daytime Poised For Shakeup? Soap ‘The Gates’ In Works Raises Questions For Future Of ‘The Talk’

Lynette Rice
·3 min read
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CBS announced some promising news for the future of daytime dramas last week when it revealed plans to develop a new sudser that would follow the lives of a wealthy Black family in a posh, gated community.

Dubbed The Gates, the serial is from Michele Val Jean, who has written more than 2,000 episodes of daytime dramas and won multiple Daytime Emmys for her work on The Bold & The Beautiful and General Hospital. She will serve as writer and showrunner and will also executive producer alongside CBS Studios NAACP Venture President Sheila Ducksworth, along with Leon Russell, Derrick Johnson and Kimberly Doebereiner.

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What CBS didn’t say, however, is how long each episode of the soap would be — though it’s looking to be an hour a day — and where (or when) it would go on the schedule should it earn a series pickup. Dropping The Young and the Restless is out of the question since the Bell/Sony drama ranks No. 1 in daytime and just earned a four-season pickup.

Same goes for The Bold and the Beautiful, the Bell serial that is the No. 2 ranked soap in daytime and has been renewed through fall of 2025.

Killing Let’s Make a Deal or The Price is Right doesn’t make sense, since both game shows have solid ratings, sound budgets, and frequently contribute much-needed specials for CBS primetime.

That leaves The Talk, which remains the lowest-rated show on the CBS daytime lineup. Produced by CBS Studios and now in its 14th season, The Talk recently underwent change by hiring Rob Crabbe, the former executive producer of The Late Late Show with James Corden, to replace longtime EP Kristin Matthews.

Crabbe has already made some much-needed improvements, like extending the first act of the show and injecting more intimate interview segments. But this is only Crabbe’s first season and he needs more time to make his mark. For now, The Talk is still down double digits in persons and women 18-49, though it remains the third most-watched talker in daytime behind The View and Live! With Kelly and Mark.

Most recently, CBS let go of The Talk‘s current executive, Laurie Seidman, as well one of the show’s PR reps as part of the company’s widespread layoffs.

The network has yet to announce a 15th season pickup for The Talk and for now, has no further information about the new soap’s timeline — much less where it would go should it earn that pickup.

The decision by CBS Studios to develop a new soap is the result of a partnership with the NAACP and P&G Studios. If picked up to series, The Gates, which Ducksworth has wanted to do since the NAACP formed the partnership with CBS, would mark the first time since 1989 that a daytime drama revolved around a Black family; the last time was the short-lived Generations on NBC.

There are only four soaps still in existence. Besides CBS’ winning lineup, ABC has General Hospital and Peacock has Days of Our Lives.

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