Few shows remain relevant following the end of their run, but Suits staged a big comeback last year when the first eight seasons landed on Netflix.
The former USA Network legal drama broke countless streaming records and reignited interest in the franchise.
Recognizing an opening to restart the franchise, NBC put a spinoff — Suits: L.A. — into development.
Despite being billed as a shoo-in for a pickup for the 2024-2025 TV season, it was absent from the recent wave of NBC series orders and the network’s fall 2024 schedule.
Thankfully, the lack of pickup isn’t bad news because NBC has yet to watch the Suits L.A. pilot.
“We’re excited about this. It’s a pilot and we’ll be screening it in June … Assuming that it gets picked up it would be for midseason next year,” NBCUniversal boss Jeff Bader shared this week, according to The Wrap.
NBC is playing it safe with Suits L.A.
Franchises with such massive followings tend to get straight-to-series pickups, but it seems the network is cautiously expanding the Suits franchise.
Pearson, a spinoff featuring Gina Torres’ iconic Jessica Pearson, was canceled after its freshman season, so the last thing NBCUniversal will want is for the next entry in the franchise to be a dud.
As Monsters and Critics previously reported, Arrow and Heels alum Stephen Amell will lead the cast of Suits L.A.
The potential series focuses on Ted Black (Amell), a “former federal prosecutor from New York, who has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles,” according to the official description.
Suits L.A. will kick off with his firm at a “crisis point,” forcing Ted to “embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career.”
Who will star in the Suits spinoff?
The series focuses on his team, “who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives.”
While that’s happening, Ted is haunted by the past as his actions from years before slowly unravel.
Josh McDermitt (The Walking Dead), Troy Winbush (The Wilds), Bryan Greenberg (One Tree Hill), Lex Scott Davis (Ricky Stanicky), Alice Lee (My Adventures with Superman), and Victoria Justice (Eye Candy) are all lined up to appear in the pilot.
Suits L.A. will be set in the Suits universe, so it could welcome back some original stars for cameos or longer arcs.
The aim, it seems, is to launch the show to ensure it can stand on its own two feet without relying on comebacks, or it wouldn’t be good for the show’s future.
The original Suits can be streamed on Peacock and Netflix.