CBS’s Code Black receives life-saving infusion of Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe—TV’s square-jawed, smiling survivor—has secured a new gig for himself, just a few months after Fox pulled the plug on the late and lamented The Grinder. Variety is reporting that Lowe’s latest career move is from legal comedy to medical drama, with the actor signing on for the second season of CBS’s doggedly traditional medical procedural Code Black.

The former Parks And Rec star will join the show as Colonel Ethan Willis, a military doctor recruited to teach new techniques to the disaster-prone emergency room staff of L.A.’s Angels Memorial Hospital. Described as a charismatic rule-breaker, Willis will presumably team up with Marcia Gay Harden’s Dr. Leanne Rorish (same) in order to break as many hospital rules, and save as many impossible-to-save patients, as they possibly can. “You can take your rulebooks and your procedures,” they’ll say, hopefully in unison and matching, blood-stained scrubs. “We’ll be busy saving people’s lives.”

Lowe’s addition is one of several changes coming to CBS’s show, which is being gently retooled in the hopes of snagging a bigger, more dedicated audience. Boris Kodjoe has been bumped up to series regular, while Bonnie Somerville and Raza Jaffrey have both departed the show.

 
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