Angels Memorial Vs. Grey Sloan Memorial

For those who have yet to see CBS' new medical procedural drama Code Black , which premiered on Sept. 30, don't come in expecting to see another Grey's Anatomy-like show. This is a much more serious drama than Shonda Rhimes' hit series. In fact, think of the show more like a friendly companion to the hit, long-running NBC series ER. Much like ER, Code Black's Angels Memorial Hospital is inspired by a real-life hospital, Los Angeles County Hospital, and was adapted into a fictional series from the documentary of the same name by Dr. Ryan McGarry, who is an executive producer on the show. McGarry's documentary explored his real life experience in the ER at LA County and the many doctors and nurses on staff as well. So if Code Black is more like ER than Grey's Anatomy, how similar or different is Code Black's Angels Memorial Hospital vs. Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital?

Seriously, if you're hoping for more McDreamys and Steamys in this fictional hospital, you will be sorely disappointed. That's not to say there aren't attractive men and women in the show, Homeland's Raza Jaffrey plays attending doctor Neal Hudson on the series. But, the show doesn't focus as much on the characters' love lives and the drama that ensues from that as much as Grey's Anatomy. That's not to say that one show is better than the other, it's just not fair to expect them to be similar. Here's how they stack up.

1. No Elevator Love Scenes

Sorry guys. If you're hoping to see Dr. Hudson romance a first-year medical resident in an elevator or see some steamy action between a nurse and a doctor, you're out of luck. Angels Memorial is much more focused on business than pleasure, and at the moment it's kind of a relief. Now we get to focus on every single detail of a case and how the doctors save a life or lose one. That's not to say there won't be any romance, even ER had plenty, but it won't be front and center episode after episode.

2. More Chaos

As you may notice from the trailer alone, Angels Memorial is much more chaotic than Grey Sloan. Once again, that doesn't mean that Grey Sloan doesn't get exciting cases or doesn't get bogged down with too many people in the hospital. All it means is that at Angels, we see more hands on deck because resources seem to be fewer. There are more people circling patients, especially in trauma, and there are more doctors trying to work together to save lives.

3. Tension Among Authority

Dr. Hudson and Dr. Rorish tend to butt heads at Angels in Code Black which is actually quite similar to many characters at Grey Sloan, like Bailey and Webber for example. There will always be tension among authority figures in these shows and at these hospitals. Whether it's like that in real life is a question for the documentary vs. the fictional TV show.

4. More Nurse Involvement

Luis Guzman gets a huge role as Senior Nurse Jesse Salander at Angels Memorial. Jesse manages and at times mentors the new residents, a role that was first given to Bailey at Grey Sloan, and has been passed off many seasons after that. We don't get to see as much interaction with the nurses at Grey Sloan as compared to Angels Memorial.

5. Similar Cases

In Wednesday night's episode of Code Black, we will see the doctors ordered to treat a murderer as one of their patients. What he has done is not quite clear in the promos aside from the fact that he is a killer. But, this case at Angels Memorial is incredibly similar to when the doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial, Meredith in particular, had to treat the serial killer William Dunn in the Season 5 episode, "Sympathy for the Devil." It is inevitable that both hospitals will end up having many of the same cases. Considering Grey's Anatomy has been on the air for 12 seasons already, Code Black can't help but have similar storylines with patients.

So, how else are Angels Memorial and Grey Sloan Memorial hospitals similar or different? Only time, aka more episodes of Code Black, will tell.

Image: Cliff Lipson/CBS