PASADENA, Calif. — On Sunday's special post-Super Bowl episode of "Grey's Anatomy" (approx. 8:30 p.m., Ch. 4), the staff faces the dreaded Code Black, which (apparently) threatens the hospital.
What's a Code Black, you ask? Excellent question.
"It's bad. It's real bad," said Kate Walsh, who co-stars as Dr. Addison Shepherd.
"It's a code and it's also black," obfuscated executive producer Betsy Beers.
OK, that was enlightening. Is a Code Black something you made up? Is it something we could go look up someplace?
"You could," said creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes. "And I think it says that's bad and it's black and it's a code, honestly."
"And we should all hold hands and pray that it doesn't happen here," joked Ellen Pompeo, who stars as Meredith Grey.
If that all seems like just a little bit too much in the way of secrecy, well, it's standard operating procedure for Rhimes. And, quite frankly, it's sort of refreshing that — in a age when TV and movie promotions seem to give away most of the plot — they're trying to keep a few things secret.
It's something that Rhimes has become famous for. Or perhaps infamous. All the members of the show's large cast instantly clam up whenever they're asked about anything that might be happening on upcoming episodes and won't even hint in the vaguest of ways.
"I grew up watching a lot of television," Rhimes said. "One of the things I feel really strongly about is knowing what's going to happen on an episode of television before you see it. It just seems like a waste. It's crazy — like, why tell people what's going to happen instead of getting them to watch it to see for themselves?
"So to me, the show is more interesting because nobody knows what's going to happen next. A lot of times (the actors) don't necessarily know what's going to happen next until they read the script. So if we can keep that surprise, if we can just keep it interesting in that way, I think it's important."
She said "It freaks me out" to see storylines on the Internet or hear people talking about what's coming in future episodes. "So we all made an agreement that we're going to keep our mouths shut and just keeping on the show and having you guys enjoy it. That's the plan.
"And I'm not that scary."
Getting the post-Super Bowl slot is a huge deal for "Grey's Anatomy." The show is already a hit, but the thinking at ABC is that, by giving it a lead-in of the biggest TV audience of the year, it can become a bigger hit.
"We chose it because it's one of the best shows on television, and it's gaining momentum," said ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson. "It's doing some of the most amazing work in drama that I think is being done anywhere right now. We feel like it's an asset that is only growing, and we wanted to expose it to a larger audience and keep that momentum growing."
Which, of course, also means some added pressure. And, perhaps, the idea of ramping up the drama for a "special" episode, which is actually the first of a two-parter and features a guest appearance by Christina Ricci.
"I planned the episode knowing that it was possible that it could be the Super Bowl episode, but also knowing that we would do the episode whether or not it was on Super Bowl Sunday," Rhimes insisted.
And she's hoping to welcome newcomers to the show, which has already developed some rather involved storylines revolving around the relationships between doctors in a Seattle hospital.
"If you haven't seen the show, it's very easy to figure out what's going on. . . . The relationships that are there are very clear," Rhimes said.
And any resemblance to that other medical show (you know, the one on NBC on Thursday nights with the initials E. and R. that likes to do the occasional big event like crashing helicopters, floods and plane crashes) is purely superficial.
"It's still definitely 'Grey's Anatomy.' I don't think it's anything like that other show," Rhimes said. "We do surgeries. It's about surgery. It's our show sort of on speed, I guess."
"And with a Code Black," Pompeo added.
Of course.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com