“Beyond the Gates” is true to the daytime soap formula. There’s jaw-dropping drama, over-the-top antics, forbidden romances, intricate plots, vile villains and more. And this only sums up the first week of episodes, which kicked off on Monday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on CBS. (The show is also available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.)

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,

CBS' new daytime drama about a well-to-do Black family in Maryland is pure, glorious soap opera. The last time a broadcast network debuted a new daytime drama, a good portion of America believed the President was a criminal,

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

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.S. broadcast television. Premiering Monday, it chronicles the dramas of the Dupree family, the de facto rulers of a tony gated community.

For the first time in more than 25 years, a new daytime soap opera is coming to network TV. "Beyond the Gates" is the first one-hour daytime drama to feature a primarily Black and multicultural cast.

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."

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.