While the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes crippled Hollywood, some TV shows found new life and new audiences on streaming services years after they finished airing new episodes. One such beneficiary wasSuits, a series set in a fictional New York City law firm that ran for 134 episodes over nine seasons on USA Network from 2011-2019. From the creative mind of Aaron Korsh,Suitspremiered on Netflix in mid 2023, and its quality and the availability of numerous episodes for new viewers to binge led toSuitsquickly becoming a ratings' sensation, second only to the streamer’s original horror seriesStranger Thingsin numbers over an eight-week period, with 26.5 billion minutes watched.
At a TCA panel promoting her new NBC series,Extended Family(with John Cryer and Donald Faison), actressAbigail Spencerwas asked about her thoughts on the resurgence of a series that ended its tenure three years ago. Spencer (who was also stunning in the great series,Rectify) portrayed attorney Dana Scott on the series in 15 episodes from seasons one through eight, and had this to say:
So, I was on a show called Suits for nine years, and three years later, we’re having this renaissance moment, and it really goes to show that when you make something, [it] can live on forever, and people will find it. I think if it’s good, people will find it. I’m very grateful to streaming for that.
Spencer continued:
“I’m on a group text, and it was also during the strike, and [I] woke up to, I think at the time, maybe 17 billion minutes had been downloaded. It’s obviously surpassed that now, but it was a very interesting moment to be recognized for doing nothing. Like, I had no new projects… we were on strike […] and people are like, Abigail Spencer! And it was just so new for me, too, to know both of my names.
It brought us all closer together because it’s like, wow, we really did something special. And it’s curious to revisit something that you finished three years ago. I think Aaron Korsh, the creator of that show, is now going to be able to make more and more stuff. The cast were very close. So, it’s been wild to experience, but I think it goes to show all of us that everything’s shifting and changing. And so, try and make something that’s good and that you believe in, and leave the rest to streaming.”
Related:Where the Suits Cast Is Today
Suits Lives on in New Series from Creator, Suits: LA
As streaming numbers forSuitsgrew, talk quickly moved to the possibility of a new series from original creator and EP Korsh, with official confirmation of the series coming in October 2023, and filming due to begin this March.
The official synopsis of the new series from NBC reads as follows::
Suits: L.A.is centered on Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, who has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and 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 him 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, leading Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Black would beplayed by formerArrowstar, Stephen Amell. The new series is not a reboot of the original but takes place in the same universe. While there has been no announcement of the original series stars returning forSuits: L.A., it is likely that familiar faces may make an appearance if it is successful. In the meantime, you’re able to streamSuitson Netflix below.
Watch on Netflix
Suitsis also streaming on Peacock.
Watch on Peacock
