CBS has ordered five more episodes of freshman medical drama “Code Black,” plus Colton Haynes will return to “Arrow,” in today’s television news roundup . . .
Series Update:
CBS has given a positive diagnosis to “Code Black,” ordering five more episodes of the show, Variety has learned.
Created by Michael Seitzman, the series stars Marcia Gay Harden and Raza Jaffrey and takes place in a hectic emergency room. Though it hasn’t been a huge ratings performer, it’s been among the most steady of the first-year series this fall. Last week’s episode rose to a best-since-premiere 1.8 rating in adults 18-49 while drawing 9.2 million viewers overall in Nielsen’s “live plus-3” ratings.
“Code Black” has also been met with equally moderate reviews. Variety TV columnist Brian Lowry wrote that the name “certainly feels like a misnomer, since it’s hard to think of a medical drama that could possibly look more beige.”
Last month, the network ordered six additional scripts, and now five have been picked up for episodes. With the additional order, the first season is at a total of 18 episodes, though CBS has still not handed over a full-season pickup.
Casting News:
Colton Haynes will return to the CW’s “Arrow” for an upcoming Season 4 episode. The actor, who plays Roy Harper, tweeted the news on Friday, though details on his storyline have not been released.
Just landed in Vancouver to…BEGIN FILMING ON #ARROW AGAIN!!! 🙀😸🙀 So excited!!!
— Colton Haynes (@ColtonLHaynes) November 20, 2015
Agency News:
APA has hired literary agent Beth Blickers, Variety has learned exclusively. Blickers, who comes from Abrams Artists, is based at the agency’s New York offices. Her primary focus is repping writers, directors and designers for theater, opera, film and television, and her clients include playwright Bill Cain, film and TV writer Lisa Loomer, playwright and director Aaron Posner, playwright Rey Pamatmat and director Will Davis. Blickers began her career at the William Morris Agency.
Premiere Dates:
Some of the Duggars are returning to TV with an offshoot to the canceled “19 Kids and Counting,” which will follow two of the family’s now-married daughters Jill Dillard and Jessa Seewald. The three-part TLC special “Jill and Jessa: Counting On” will debut Dec. 13 at 8:00 p.m. Part two will air on Dec. 20 and the third installment on Dec. 27 at 9:00 p.m.
TLC axed “19 Kids and Counting,” after news broke that a member of the family, Josh Duggar, had molested underage girls, including the two sisters who will star in “Jill and Jessa: Counting On.” The special will revolve around how the girls have been dealing with life after the world learned that their older brother had molested them when they were younger. The three episodes will also follow Dillard’s move to Central America to do missionary work, plus Seewald’s pregnancy.
