Beyond the Gates has hit its first milestone.
The CBS sudser hit 100 episodes today, so in celebration, Creator Michele Val Jean and Executive Producer Sheila Ducksworth reflected on the show’s progress so far, their breakout storylines, and what fans can expect in the very near future (like more from the Articulettes).
DEADLINE 100 episodes! How does it feel?
MICHELE VAL JEAN I feel a hundred years older. It’s hard to wrap my head around it. It’s quite a milestone.
SHEILA DUCKSWORTH At 100 episodes, I’m feeling like we’re just beginning!
DEADLINE You are great about engaging with fans on social media.
DUCKSWORTH Soap fans are awesome and like no other. Before we even aired our first episode, tens of thousands of people joined pages and podcasts and accounts that they themselves created. And it’s just grown from there over these past five months we’ve been on air. I love hearing all the wild predictions and also providing the extra insights and interesting backstories behind the show, whenever I’m able.
VAL JEAN I think it’s good to have a social media presence, and I always have, but it’s challenging in my new role as a creator and head writer. It’s tempting to respond to criticism. But I really have to stop myself, especially if somebody’s being loud and wrong. It’s really hard to say no, but I think I’m getting better at it. I try to go on when I think there’s something that I need to say.
DEADLINE Like, for example, when you made the change with the Ted Richardson character?
VAL JEAN I did not respond to any of it because it’s a personal matter to the show and to the actor, and it’s really not my place to comment on it, so I just didn’t say anything. People were very upset, but what can I say? What can you say? Sometimes changes get made.
DEADLINE I want to jump right into a storyline that’s been so provocative — the one involving Martin [played by Brandon Claybon] and how he was attacked on that deserted country road. An offensive slur was used by his attackers.
VAL JEAN I decided to go down that road because I wanted to show something that happens that you’d never see on daytime. It happens. It’s like people being recast. It happens. I’m telling a story from the Black experience. A lot of it based around a Black family who is privileged and wealthy, but at the end of the day, they can still be accosted on the side of the road by racists. It’s shocking and I meant it to be very shocking, and I think production and the actors did an amazing job. It was controversial, but I don’t think controversial is wrong. It’s hard to be that right now. And so I give all credit to the network for standing behind it and believing in it. And as far as whether stories like that kind of live on in the psyche of this world that I’ve created, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some repercussions down the line. Martin still has a lot of healing to do because he’s sublimated so much of that because he had to. Nicole still has a lot to work out because she’s so angry at being left out, and she feels like she could have helped him and her role as a psychiatrist. Vernon and Anita, even though they felt like they did what they had to do at the time by covering it up, are now feeling the repercussions of that. Now another guy is dead and now they’re in debt to Joey Armstrong. So yeah, the tentacles do live on.
DUCKSWORTH The Martin storyline is just real. And that’s what we’re looking to give our viewers. Realness on every level.
DEADLINE Maryland is right next to DC. Will we ever know who their president is in this world?
VAL JEAN No. I want to stay away from politics in the show as much as I can with a Black congressman, but I want this show to be entertaining, not polarizing.
DEADLINE I’ve noticed there hasn’t been a Febreze mention in a couple of weeks.
VAL JEAN It’s making a comeback. And Tide will be coming back as well.
DEADLINE Did Procter & Gamble give you any guidelines on how to integrate those products, or is that all up to you?
VAL JEAN We get guidelines from P&G, but they’re just that. The way we write it is us, but there are certain things they want said.
DUCKSWORTH The relationship we have with P&G is a partnership in every sense of the word. We have joint creative oversight on all our integrations, with P&G sometimes even joining us on shoot day.
Bonita Brisker as Sharon, Tamara Tunie as Anita Dupree and Maria Howell as Tracy. Quantrell Colbert/CBS
DEADLINE Is there any chance of an Articulettes reunion later on?
VAL JEAN Aug. 1 and 4.
DEADLINE I understood the benefit of running a week of reruns during the July 4 holiday week. Do you see this becoming a norm with the soap going forward?
VAL JEAN I’m not sure. Those decisions are made way above my head. I’m hoping that we won’t have a lot. I saw the value of that first week too, because if you didn’t watch it from the beginning, then you could get introduced to the world.
DUCKSWORTH For those who missed out on Premiere Week, the repeats provided another opportunity to join us on day one. It gave others an opportunity to catch up on episodes. And for those superfans who know soap equals subtext, it gave our most stalwart fans an opportunity to re-watch and look for clues foreshadowing all the upcoming, juicy story.
DEADLINE You only have Frank Carlivati working in your writers room for a short-time. Why couldn’t he stick around for longer?
VAL JEAN Ron, Bob Guza and Chris Dunn all agreed to come on to help me launch the series. Now they’re off to do other things. There’s no animosity. I’m so grateful to have had their knowledge and their humor and their contribution, and I can’t say enough about them.
DEADLINE Are there any cast additions coming up that you’d like to tease?
VAL JEAN Yes, we have a cast edition that I think the soap opera world will be very, very happy about. And it’s a male.
DEADLINE A hot male?
VAL JEAN He’s a hot male, yeah.
DUCKSWORTH I can’t say who just yet, but I will say longtime soap fans all know and love him! I will though give you two exciting names…Gizelle Bryant and Dr. Wendy Osefo from The Real Housewives of the Potomac. They both recently joined us for a day on set and they have some super fun scenes that we can’t wait to share.
