Michele Val Jean ‘Humbled’ By Reactions To ‘The Gates’ Saving Daytime Drama

Rachel Dillin
·3 min read
Michele Val Jean to helm The Gates, a new soap with CBS, P&G, and NAACP.
Michele Val Jean to helm The Gates, a new soap with CBS, P&G, and NAACP.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

News of a brand new soap called The Gates set daytime afire with excitement yesterday. CBS, P&G, and the NAACP are part of the upcoming show. The soap’s showrunner, head writer, and co-executive producer, Michele Val Jean, had some thoughts on the wonderful reaction to the first new daytime drama in a quarter century.

The Gates Gets Positive Reception

After The Gates news broke, Val Jean took to Twitter to share some of her initial thoughts. “I’m so profoundly touched by the overwhelmingly positive response to #TheGates,” she wrote. “What made this announcement especially poignant was it happened on [Jacklyn Zeaman]‘s birthday. She would have loved this. #angelspirit.”

In a follow-up tweet, the veteran daytime writer wrote, “To everyone who reached out about #TheGates, know that I appreciate you and I’ll get around to liking: responding to your comments so you know I see you. But it’s gonna take a minute so be patient. In the meantime, I’m humbled [by] and grateful for your support. Wow. Let’s do this.”

General Hospital‘s Jon Lindstrom (Ryan), who has a brand new book out, tweeted, “I could not be more proud and excited for my brilliant friend [Michele Val Jean] who may have also just saved the future of daytime dramas. #TheGates [General Hospital] #soaps #daytimetv [CBS] [NAACP] #cbs #naacp”

The reaction to the new daytime drama was so great that it ended up trending on X (formerly Twitter) for a bit. Fans immediately chimed in with their cast wish lists for the new sudser. Chief among them is Victoria Rowell (Dru, The Young and the Restless).

Another soap fan wrote, “Mishael Morgan [Amanda, Y&R] would be a good get for The Gates. Y&R doesn’t appreciate her. I don’t think Michele Val Jean would make the same mistake.”

Former All My Children star, Debbi Morgan (Angie) was another big name that popped up repeatedly. Alan Sarpa wrote, “I do think The Gates does need to get at least one name actor. Whether it is Victoria Rowell or Debbi Morgan, either one would make sense. You need eyeballs when launching a new show and the target audience, Black people, knows Victoria and Debbi.”

So far, there are no details on when the new show will begin airing. We’ll bring you that information as soon as we know.