If you primarily know Tamara Tunie from her longstanding role as medical examiner Dr. Melinda Warner on Law & Order: SVU, prepare to see (and hear) her in a whole new light. As fabulous family matriarch Anita Dupree on CBS’ new daytime drama Beyond the Gates,

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Nowadays actors cross from one medium to another all the time: Meryl Streep stars in movies, Hulu and HBO series and on Broadway;

A new CBS daytime drama is making history as the first soap opera in decades to feature a Black family at its center. "Beyond the Gates" follows the powerful Dupree family in an affluent Maryland suburb.

The history-making series is the first one-hour, day-time drama to feature a predominantly Black and multicultural cast. The new soap opera follows the successful and influential Dupree family. Natasha Brown talked with stars Tamara Tunie and Daphnee Duplaix about the show.