If you’re super dialed into what’s going on with TV and digital streaming these days, then you’ll probably know exactly what “Suits is the new Office” means.
For more casual fans, this refers to the fact that Suits has replaced The Office (now available over on the Peacock streaming service) as the most popular show on Netflix, even though its last episode aired in 2019 (via Variety, Suits “has surpassed 45 billion minutes streamed on Nextflix and Peacock combined”).
Why Suits is now so popular is a subject that is being much discussed among TV critics and media talking heads. Future royal princess/Dutchess Meghan Markle’s participation as Rachel Zane may be a factor, but I’d say that it’s more likely that Suits has that lightning-in-a-bottle quality of being a high quality, well written show that ran for many seasons which was well known enough yet still poised to reach a massive new audience that missed its original run on the USA network.
The “many seasons” part – nine in total – is important because Suits is a show that people can dive into and spend a long time either binge watching or bucketing at an episode or two per Netflix and chill session. Also important: USA’s “blue sky” strategy runs strong with Suits, which is “…marked by a focus on comedic and ‘optimistic’ action and drama.”
Suits is a “light drama,” filled with incredibly attractive people saying charming, funny, and pop culture-drenched things while (usually) solving the crisis of the week. And it moves overarching stories along well enough –especially in the early seasons: Mike Ross’ (Patrick J. Adams) “big secret,” the general fate of the law firm, whether Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) will make partner as examples – to keep you clicking “next episode” when the end credits roll.
So when you have an IP franchise, as they say in the biz, that’s that enduring and lucrative, it makes sense to jam out a spin-off and see what happens. And thus we’re getting Suits: LA, which will take place in Los Angeles as opposed to the New York City-centric Suits mothership.
Suits: LA is helmed by the same team that brought us Suits, and will center around “Ted Black, a former New York prosecutor who built an L.A. law firm that specializes in criminal and entertainment law.”
The latest news is that Black will be played by Stephen Amell, heretofore best known for his role as the Green Arrow on 169 episodes of Arrow ( a show that I have not watched 169, or any, seconds of to date).
Amell also appeared in 10 episodes of the HBO series, Hung, playing a character named Jason. I want to say that Jason was like either a protégé or competitor to Thomas Jane’s character, the gigolo Ray Drecker, though my memory of that rather good show is admittedly a bit hazy.
In any event, Suits: LA has a lot to live up to both with regard to the success of Suits the original, in addition to the gold standard set by another legal drama from decades ago that just so happened to have the word “LA” in its series title*.
* That’d be LA Law, of course.