Soap Opera 'Beyond the Gates' Is Airing Reruns, and Many Fans Want to Know Why

Soap operas don't usually air reruns. They don't air all year round, but when they're not airing, they typically just don't show anything. Reruns can be confusing because soap operas are so heavily serialized, and showing old episodes could confuse viewers who tune in every day expecting to see new developments.

CBS's Beyond the Gates is doing exactly that during the week of June 30-July 4, though, airing old episodes after leaving the audience on tenterhooks on June 27. Now, many want to know why the network decided to air reruns. Here's what we know.

The network is currently airing the first five episodes of Beyond the Gates instead of new material, but CBS has not been super transparent about why. In speaking with People (via Parade), showrunner Michele Van Jean said that the decision was "above my pay grade," meaning that it was made by CBS executives and not the creative team behind the series. For its part, CBS has offered no official explanation for the decision.

It's possible that the decision to air reruns was made in part because this week ends in a holiday, and the network wanted to make sure that anyone who is traveling or away from their TV during the day doesn't miss anything that happens on the show. That's just one potential theory, though. It's also possible that they wanted to entice new viewers who could jump into the show at the very beginning.

Given the decision to air reruns for a week, many fans of the show wanted to know whether Beyond the Gates would be back on schedule following the July 4 holiday. It looks like new episodes will return on July 7, so fans who have been without Beyond the Gates for a week will have their show back soon enough.

Of course, airing the first five episodes won't get fans caught up with the series, which has already aired 83 episodes in total.

While 83 is not a lot by the standards of long-running soap operas, it's longer than many primetime shows run in their totality. If you want to catch up on the full run, all the episodes are available to stream on demand via Paramount+. For many, though, soaps are best experienced on old-fashioned cable TV, which is how it was originally designed.

Beyond the Gates is one of CBS's newest soaps, but it seems to have already attracted something of an audience during its brief window on the air. The series follows a wealthy Black family living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., who have kept a number of juicy scandals at bay for years.

If you've been waiting for your fix of the show, it will be back to airing new episodes on July 7. Until then, you can relive the first five episodes every day on CBS.