With midseason finales closing in fast, the winners and losers of the fall 2015 TV season are becoming more and more apparent with each passing week. While some shows, such as Supergirl, have done a strong job of finding themselves an audience, others – such as ABC’s Wicked City – have floundered and subsequently been cancelled. One show that doesn't have to worry about being euthanized is CBS’ Code Black, and now it seems that we will be getting more of the show in the coming weeks.
CBS has announced that they have ordered five more episodes of their new medical drama Code Black. Throughout its short yet successful lifespan, Code Black has dominated its timeslot – Wednesday 10 PM - with an average audience of 9.14 million viewers. Factoring in viewers who watch the show on their DVR within a week of an episode’s initial airdate, the number adds up to around 12 million total viewers. It is worth noting, however, that a five-episode order from CBS is not an overwhelming sign of confidence. The network seems to be biding its time, keeping Code Black on the air but unwilling to commit to a full season order of the drama.
The show’s survival is all the more surprising when we consider the company it keeps. Medical dramas have been a dime a dozen for decades, but lately they seem to have multiplied like rabbits. Between Code Black, Chicago Med, and Grey’s Anatomy (just to name a couple), the market is decidedly saturated with network shows centering on doctors, nurses and hospitals. Part of the reason the show has worked with audiences is the emphasis on the fact that the doctors who inhabit the show work in an emergency room, and as such, their profession is front and center, rather than merely existing as a backdrop for their interpersonal drama to unfold. Whatever Code Black is doing differently, it must be resonating with audiences.
Code Black takes place within a busy emergency room at the fictitious Angels Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles, California, and is based on a documentary of the same name by Ryan McGarry. The series derives its name from the term “code black,” which indicates that an ER is overcrowded and understaffed – which is basically a doctor’s worst nightmare. Code Black stars Marcia Gay Harden, Raza Jeffrey, Bonnie Somerville, Melanie Chandra, and Luis Guzman. Check out a trailer for the show below:
So while some other freshman series have seemingly flat-lined this season, Code Black is still going strong. You can catch it on Wednesday nights on CBS at 10 p.m. ET.
