When Sheila Ducksworth was named president of CBS’ new production partnership with the NAACP back in 2020, one of her first calls was to Michele Val Jean — a longtime writer on such soaps as The Bold and the Beautiful,

"You have not seen this many Black people in the middle of the day” on television, "Beyond the Gates" creator Michele Val Jean said.

The first soap opera to premiere in more that 25 years will feature a primarily Black cast, a historic breakthrough for a genre that is a throwback to an earlier time.

That car and the glamorous woman behind the wheel are driving into TV history on Monday as CBS begins airing the first Black-led daytime soap opera — and the first new network soap since “Passions” premiered in 1999.

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.

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,

"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.

Beyond the Gates,” CBS's new daytime soap opera premiering this week, is the first all-Black daytime soap on TV.