Marcia Gay Harden OF ‘CODE BLACK’ ON CBS

As its third season continues, what do you see as the difference of “Code Black” in relation to other medical shows?

(The setting) serves a different community because it’s a county hospital, and that’s what makes the show so incredibly resonant for me ... that (a character) can come in and be the voice for something like affordable health care. A lot of the time, the reason doctors go into the practice is to care for the community, and that makes this less of a technical show. Every time you turn around, there’s another doctor show on the air, and I think what marks this one as different is that we keep that community voice in the writing. I love that.

“Code Black” got a very late start on its season by returning in April. Are you satisfied with the scheduling?

What I’ve learned from being in the business is that there’s a certain element of television where you just throw up your hands and say, “It’s out of my control.” It’s like that serenity prayer, really ... “Accept the things you can’t change, and change the things you can.” My hope is that the audience continues to respond to the show. It would be nice to have a slam-dunk hit, but that’s almost impossible – or, at least, really very hard – in this day and age, with the competition from cable. My eyes are wide open.

You recently became an author with “The Seasons of My Mother: A Memoir of Love, Family and Flowers,” which deals with your relationship with your mother and her struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. How did you find doing it?

I’d be editing the book left, right and center if I could ... but at some point, you have to stop and say, “This is it.” It was a great process. I just wish my mom had been alongside me during it.