Code Black (CBS 2015, Marcia Gay Harden, Raza Jeffrey)

Code Black, based on the award-winning documentary by Ryan McGarry, is a heart-pounding medical drama that takes place in the busiest, most notorious ER in the nation, where the staggering influx of patients can outweigh the limited resources available to the extraordinary doctors and nurses whose job is to treat them all – creating a condition known as Code Black.

At the heart of the ER’s controlled chaos is Residency Director Dr. Leanne Rorish (Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden), renowned for successfully performing high-risk procedures in Center Stage, the trauma area reserved for the most critical cases.

Her four new first-year residents are Christa Lorenson (Bonnie Somerville), Malaya Pineda (Melanie Kannokada), Mario Savetti (Benjamin Hollingsworth) and Angus Leighton (Harry M. Ford). Leanne’s confidante, Jesse Sallander (Luis Guzman), is an amiable seen-it-all senior nurse who manages the residents. Also working in the ER is Dr. Neal Hudson (Raza Jaffrey), an excellent physician who sometimes disagrees with Leanne’s “cowboy” approach, and Dr. Rollie Guthrie (William Allen Young), the energetic, longest-serving attending.

In Center Stage, life is measured in seconds, and these heroic doctors and nurses operate with speed and skill within an overwhelmed system to treat the crowds of people who are often there for one of two reasons: to die or to receive a life-saving miracle.

From CBS’s press release, August 2016…
SEASON FINALE: After an explosion at a presidential debate, the two wounded candidates were taken to Angels Memorial for treatment. Dr. Will Campbell threatened to report Dr. Heather Pinkney for using his prescription pad, and she threatened to accuse him of sexual harassment. Dr. Mark Taylor returned to help Dr. Leanne Rorish find money in the budget to keep Jesse Sallander and the other nurses from walking out. Dr. Mario Savetti confronted Dr. Angus Leighton about his Adderall abuse, and ended up going to his brother, Dr. Mike Leighton, when Angus refused to admit he had a problem.

COMING UP: In the season premiere, Col. Ethan Willis (new cast member Rob Lowe) joins the team as part of a program in which the Department of Defense sends doctors to hospitals to teach new techniques and technologies that they learned on the field of combat. Willis and Mike take a harrowing chopper to Malibu to help save shark bite victims; Campbell (new series regular Boris Kodjoe) has become the head of both the OR and the ER in order to save costs, causing strife between him and Leanne; and Jesse welcomes a new round of residents. Noah Gray-Cabey, Emily Tyra and Nafessa Williams join the cast in recurring roles as new residents in the ER.

cast
Ben Hollingsworth as Mario Savetti
Harry Ford as Angus Leighton
Luis Guzman as Jesse Sallander
Marcia Gay Harden as Leanne Rorish
Melanie Chandra as Malaya Pineda
Rob Lowe as Ethan Willis
William Allen Young as Rollie Guthrie

other cast info
Bonnie Somerville as Christa Lorenson
Maggie Grace as Leanne Rorish (Originally Cast)
Raza Jaffrey as Neal Hudson

key behind the scenes crew
Brett Mahoney as Executive Producer
David Semel as Executive Producer/Director of Pilot
Linda Goldstein-Knowlton as Executive Producer
Marti Noxon as Executive Producer
Michael Seitzman as Creator/Executive Producer
Ryan McGarry as Executive Producer

show type
medical drama

broadcast from
9/30/2015 – continuing

network and production companies
CBS – ABC Studios – CBS Television Studios