Court Is in Session! Suits L.A. Releases First Look of New Spinoff
Get ready to go back to court because the Suits spinoff, Suits L.A., is confirmed and more than one familiar face is set to return for the legal drama. Suits was USA Network’s legal drama following the employees at the fictional New York City law firm Pearson Hardman.
The series was led by Mike Ross, an associate with a photographic memory, and Harvey Specter, a successful attorney who hires Mike at the firm. The series — which also starred Meghan Markle, Sarah Rafferty,and Gina Torres — ran for nine seasons from 2011 to 2019.
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Years after its finale, Suits saw a resurgence in popularity after it was made available to stream on Netflix and became one of the service’s highest-rated series ever with 1.79 billion minutes viewed, according to Nielsen’s weekly ratings. After the streaming success of Suits, news broke in October 2023 that NBC Universal, which owns USA Today, was considering a reboot of the series titled Suits: L.A.
Months later, a pilot for that reboot was confirmed. So what is the Suits L.A. reboot about and who’s in the cast? Read on for what we know about the Suits L.A. reboot so far and which familiar faces are returning for the spinoff.
Is the Suits: L.A. spinoff confirmed?
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the Suits: L.A. spinoff was given a pilot order by NBC in February 2024. Suits: L.A. — which is from Aaron Korsh, the creator behind the original series — will be set in the same world of the original Suits but follow a new group of characters. NBCUniversal also announced on July 19, 2024, that the series had picked up for a series order by NBC. The network also released its first photo of lead star Stephen Amell as protagonist Ted Black.
Suits: L.A. will center on Ted Black, a former New York federal prosecutor who has reinvented himself while representing powerful clients in Los Angeles. “His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career,” the series’ description reads, per to The Hollywood Reporter. “Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.”
Korsh and Universal Studio Group’s UCP, which also produced the original Suits, started developing the project in October 2023 following the streaming success of Suits on Netflix.
Who’s in the Suits: L.A. spinoff cast?
Stephen Amell was announced as the first cast member of Suits: L.A. on Feb. 13, 2024. Amell, who is the lead of Suits: L.A., will play Ted Black, a “a charismatic force of nature who puts his own needs above others,” according to Variety. “Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved,” the full logline reads.
In an interview with People at the time he was cast, Amell explained why his Suits spinoff role is so different than past characters he’s played. “I’m very excited. It’s something very new and different for me — talky-talky, not punchy-punchy,” he said.
Amell is best known for playing Oliver Queen, also known as the Green Arrow, in The CW’s Arrow from 2012 to 2020. He’s also had guest star roles in primetime shows like CSI: Miami, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Vampire Diaries, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, 90210, and Private Practice. For Hallmark fans, Amell also starred as Wynn Delaney, a North-West Mounted Police Officer, in the 2013 When Calls the Heart movie, which followed the same plot as and preceded Hallmark Channel’s TV show of the same name.
Joining Amell is Lex Scott Davis, who will star opposite him as Erica Rollins, a savvy and strong-willed rising star at the firm who is shrewd enough to test the loyalty of her associates only to admire some of them for not having any. Scott Davis is best known for portraying Toni Braxton in the 2016 Lifetime biopic Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart. Her other credits include Florida Man, All Rise and The L Word: Generation Q.
While no original cast members from the USA Today series are confirmed to return, several faces behind-the-scenes will be working on the reboot. Along with Korsh, who will write Suits: L.A., Dave Bartis, Doug Liman, and Gene Klein, who wer all executive producers on the original series, will return to EP the spinoff. Victoria Mahoney, who has worked on primetime shows like Grey’s Anatomy, will also executive produce and direct the pilot.
Patrick J. Adams, who played Michael James Ross in the original series, told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2024 that he would be open to returning for the spinoff if the creators asked him. “If I got the phone call, I’m ready to suit up again,” he said. “I love the show, I love the character and I loved working with all these people.”
Gabriel Mact, who played Harvey Reginald Specter, for his part, reacted to the resurgence of Suits‘ popularity. “You know, it’s an amazing thing,” Macht said. “We had some great success when the show was on and all over the world, there were people downloading it, pirate downloading it. And then at a certain point, Netflix came in and said, ‘Why don’t we put this out there?’ And it’s just got incredible eyes and we’re very grateful for it.”
Meghan Markle, who Rachel Elizabeth Zane from Seasons 1 to 7, also reacted to the success of Suits on Netflix in an interview with Variety in November 2023. “Isn’t that wild?” she said. “It was great to work on, such a great cast and crew. We had a really fun time. I was on it for seven seasons, so quite a bit. But it’s hard to find a show you can binge-watch that many episodes of these days, so that could have something to do with it. But good shows are everlasting.”
A source told Express in January 2024 that Suits creators were interested in bringing back Markle for the reboot and claimed that there were contract talks between NBC and Markle’s agency, WME. “This is shaping up to be one of the biggest TV deals of the year,” the insider said. “Meghan is in a commanding position. They want to expand a successful franchise in which she has a ready-made fan base of millions worldwide. They want her back and they are prepared to pay what it takes to get her.”
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