Rob Lowe Boards Code Black As A Series Regular

CBS medical drama Code Black has plucked Rob Lowe as a new series regular, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The veteran actor, who recently starred in the doomed Fox comedy The Grinder before it was canned after only one season, has joined Code Black as Col. Ethan Willis, a “doctor in the U.S. Military’s prestigious Combat Casualty Care research program who has been pulled out of a combat hospital in Afghanistan and embedded at Angels Memorial to teach what the military has learned about combat medicine.”

Not one to play by the rules, Lowe’s newcomer draws the ire of Angels Memorial’s finest doctors barring Dr. Leanne Rorish (Marcia Gay Harden), who welcomes his brash, aggressive modus operandi with open arms.

Indeed, the addition of Lowe is a sign of CBS’ minor overhaul to the Code Black series, and over the past few days the network has recruited Heroes alum Noah Gray-Cabey, Emily Tyra (Flesh and Bone) and One Life to Live star Nafessa Williams in recurring roles. Will it be enough to steer the series back on track after a middling debut? Time will tell.

Code Black season 2 is expected to premiere on Wednesday, September 28 at 10 pm ET/PT. We weren’t overly impressed by the original season, so here’s hoping the addition of Rob Lowe heralds a new lease of life.