Why was ‘Suits’ cancelled?

Suits has surged in popularity in recent months after the show was made available on Netflix.

Created by Aaron Korsh, the legal drama follows the exploits of Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) at a fictional corporate law firm in New York City. Other cast members include Rick Hoffman as junior partner Louis Marlowe Litt and Meghan Markle as attorney Rachel Zane.

The show, which originally aired on USA Network, ran for nine seasons between 2011 and 2019. A spin-off centred on the character Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) was cancelled after one season in October 2019.

Why was Suits cancelled?

In an interview with Deadline from 2019, show creator Aaron Korsh explained they originally planned for nine seasons – which became a fitting length for the show following the unexpected departures of Meghan Markle and Patrick J. Adams in season seven.

“During the course of season seven, as they were negotiating the cast’s contracts for two years, an unforeseen thing happened,” Korsh said. “You can never know that one of your stars is going to marry the Prince of England, and Patrick decided not to return, so we had a choice whether to keep going after season seven.

“We decided that the original plan was 16-episode season eight and a 10-episode season nine, let’s see if we can do that. And dovetailing that, Katherine Heigl called and she wanted to be involved in the show, and we thought it was a perfect way to help extend the franchise and make it to that end of season nine.”

Is a reboot on the cards?

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in August 2023, Korsh explained that he would be hesitant to bring back the show after being “satisfied” with the conclusion.

“When it was over, I was very satisfied with it,” Korsh said. “I managed not to be ashamed of any of the episodes we did. And so, I’d be afraid [to do it again]. It’s not like I can think of a ton of shows that have been rebooted that I’ve watched, where I was like, ‘Yeah, that was great.’ Usually, I’m not even interested in watching them.

“So, again, if someone reached out and the cast was into it, I would consider it, if I could come up with something that excited me.”

One idea Korsh cites is a prequel spin-off centred around Rachel’s father Robert Zane, who was played by Wendell Pierce in Suits.

“But if I could wave a magic wand and get another show on the air, it wouldn’t be a continuation of Suits,” Korsh added. “Now, I know I’ve mentioned the [Robert] Zane prequel idea, I would do that in the second. I was really excited about that.”

All nine seasons of Suits are available to stream on Netflix UK.

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