Review of new CBS soap recalls DS

[Midnite]

I don't know what came over me, but I decided to check out the premiere of "Beyond the Gates", a CBS soap centered on an affluent black family. So of course I had to read its review in today's LA Times, which surprised me by not only mentioning "Passions," but also had this:

Talk to anyone who has ever been a fan of daytime soap operas, and they will fondly recall a habit that was forged in childhood, when they raced home after school to watch "Days of Our Lives," All My Children" or "Dark Shadows" with their mom, grandmother, sister or aunt.


Themes in "Beyond the Gates" are pretty mundane: love, sex, revenge, family, etc., so I don't anticipate that a vampire will show up the Dupree family tree.

A new soap makes messy history


edit: I don't know Uncle Roger manages it, but I think editing on an iphone is hellish.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

You're not the only one who checked out the show. And I have to say I wasn't the least bit impressed with the first couple of eps, despite the fact that I was definitely a Tamara Tunie fan during her As the World Turns days (others may know her from Law & Order). I couldn't have cared less about the whole My-Ex-Is-Marrying-Our-Daughter's-Former-Best-Friend story. And so far the nurse and her firefighter boyfriend have to be the most boring couple I've see on a soap in decades. However, then came the third ep: I do love me some Psycho-Mother-Forces-Woman-Off-The-Road-So-That-Her-Daughter-Can-Get-The-Woman's-Job - truly twisted! - and something that really intrigues me enough to keep watching is the secret from the past that the whole Dupree family is apparently keeping from grandson Martin and how, no doubt because of that secret, he's having terrible dreams that he doesn't quite remember. So, I'll stay with the show to see how the revelation of the secret develops. After all, if most of the other stuff stays the same, there's always the fast forward button.

... but also had this:

Talk to anyone who has ever been a fan of daytime soap operas, and they will fondly recall a habit that was forged in childhood, when they raced home after school to watch "Days of Our Lives," All My Children" or "Dark Shadows" with their mom, grandmother, sister or aunt.

Very nice to see. 

edit: I don't know Uncle Roger manages it, but I think editing on an iphone is hellish.

Same here. There's very little of what I do here that can really be done on a cell phone.


Now that I've seen four eps and have my own basic opinion of things, I'm curious to check out that review to see what it says...

[dom]

I watched the first two eps with my eyes mostly closed. I'm not sold but I'm not done.

[Midnite]

But dom, the fashion, the wigs, the eyelashes!!

[dom]

Okay, I'll watch the next eps with open eyes.   

But dom, the fashion, the wigs, the eyelashes!!

[Josette]

You may have seen interviews in which Tamara mentioned growing up over a funeral home.  About 30 years ago I met her mother, who was running the funeral home.  I had her as a customer for a number of things and met her at the funeral home.  She also did some acting, playwriting, etc.  And, of course, mentioned her daughter was an actress.  So, I've always been interested in her.

Somehow, I never knew she was in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and never watched it!  I just found that out a little over a week ago!  But, there have been a few other things I've watched just to see her.  So, I recently watched Stephen Colbert because she was on and found out about this.  I taped the first episode, but really didn't want to be stuck with an extra hour to watch every day!  However, I was quite unimpressed with the first episode, so didn't bother getting any more.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Ratings: CBS’ Beyond the Gates Draws 78% Bigger Audience Than The Talk

Definitely some interesting info in the article. One thing in particular (the TVLine readers' rating) really surprised me. But then I'm not the target audience for a lot of the story...