Summary

  • Suits' streaming success on Netflix follows a trend of completed shows finding new life on streaming platforms, as seen with Friends and The Office.
  • The popularity of Suits has led to the announcement of another spinoff set in the same universe but with different characters.
  • Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos predicts a surge in lawyer shows in 2024 due to Suits' streaming success, similar to the resurgence of The Karate Kid with Cobra Kai.

Suits will inspire a new generation of legal dramas, says Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. The series, which originally aired on the USA Network, debuted in 2011 and ran for 9 seasons until its conclusion in 2019. Created by Aaron Korsh, Suits stars Gabriel Macht as accomplished lawyer Harvey Specter and Patrick J. Adams as his college dropout turned protégé, Mike Ross. The show was a hit throughout its run, prompting the creation of a short-lived spinoff, the Gina Torres-led Pearson, in 2019.

The series' popularity has reached new heights in 2023, finding huge streaming success since its Netflix release in June, leading to new spinoff talks from Korsh. While speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communication Conference (via The Hollywood Reporter), Sarandos predicted that Suits' streaming success will lead to the creation of more legal dramas outside the realm of the series in 2024, citing the resurgence of The Karate Kid due to the popularity of Cobra Kai. See what he had to say below:

"I would argue next year you’ll probably see a bunch of lawyer shows... Sony is making a movie of Cobra Kai. Why are they doing that? Because Cobra Kai was a monster on Netflix."

Suits' Streaming Success is Part of a Larger Trend

Mike and Rachel at a fancy event in Suits.

The streaming success found by Suits is part of a much larger trend of completed shows finding new life on streaming, especially Netflix, with other examples including sitcoms Friends and The Office. Due to the often rapid consumption encouraged by the binge model made possible by streaming, viewers are often left wanting more after finishing shows that originally aired over several years in the span of a few months. This has led to plenty of calls for reboots, remakes, and continuations of popular shows, which sometimes prove effective, as in the case of Suits.

As mentioned above, the show's newfound popularity resulted in the official announcement of another Suits spinoff from NBCUniversal in October of this year, set in the same universe as the original series but not following the same characters. Still, it's possible that cameos from beloved Suits characters could occur in the new series, as was the case with Pearson. Despite there being no current plans to continue the popular show's story or revisit the characters, news of another legal drama by Korsh has been met with high anticipation, indicating plenty of continued interest in the legal genre.

The Suits spinoff will reportedly take place in Los Angeles, California, a departure from the original's New York setting.

Sarandos' comments predict either high demand from viewers for more Suits-style series, an eagerness from creators to emulate Suits' success, or a combination of the two. The series' explosive success certainly indicates a wide and eager audience for legal dramas like Suits. Of course, the "lawyer shows" predicted by Sarandos will have a greater chance of success if they are able to strike the delicate balance between levity, drama, and legal proceedings achieved by Suits, but his predictions for the 2024 television landscape are no doubt exciting for irers of the legal genre.

Source: THR