Procter & Gamble Works Up New Lather for Soap Operas With ‘Beyond the Gates’

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor If one of the newest products from consumer-goods giant Procter & Gamble reminds you of something the company made in the 1960s, 70s or 80s, well, there’s good reason.

When “Beyond the Gates” debuts Monday afternoon on CBS, it will mark a return by the company, one of the world’s biggest makers of household staples such as laundry detergent, deodorant and floor cleaner, to the world of soap operas.

In a different era, Procter was a producer of some of the genre’s longest-running examples, including “Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns,” and they were as important to Procter as Mr.

Clean, Pampers and Tide. P&G is teaming up with a joint venture between CBS and the NAACP to produce the show. “Gates” centers on members of the fictional Dupree family, who live in an affluent community outside the nation’s capital.