"I've been a lover of soap operas since I was 10 years old, and I've always felt that there was a huge void in soap operas, which is just beyond apparent," Ducksworth says.Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

In 1968, Ellen Holly became the first Black lead on a soap ("One Life to Live") while the true breakthrough roles had to wait until the '80s with Darnell Williams and Debbi Morgan on "All My Children," then the '90s, with Kristoff St. John on "The Young and the Restless."

Soap operas, or melodramas with massive ensemble casts, have been a staple in popular culture for nearly a century. Though long-running soaps like “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “General Hospital” have dominated day-time television for decades,

The first thing viewers of “Beyond the Gates” see is a black Mercedes gliding past manicured lawns and stately estates.

In the first soap opera since “Generations” to feature a predominantly African-American cast, Tamara Tunie plays the matriarch of a family living in a gated community just outside Washington.

With a powerhouse cast and an all-star creative team, this is more than just another soap opera—it’s a long-overdue cultural moment.

Tunie, whom fans will recognize from her years on “Law & Order: SVU,” has returned to her soap opera roots in CBS’s “Beyond the Gates,” the first daytime serial centered on a Black family in the history of U.

The hour-long show debuts on CBS Monday, focusing on a family living in a wealthy D.C. suburb. "This is not your grandmother's soap opera," says star Tamara Tunie.

It’s premiere week for the first daytime soap opera in 20 years, and it just so happens to be the first, one-hour Black daytime soap as well. This week, Beyond the Gates viewers will meet the core characters and families in the CBS soap opera,