2011 saw the birth of “Suits,” the USA Network legal drama that went on to enjoy explosive popularity over nine seasons. As such, the show sparked a lot of discourse when it ended in 2019, including why “Suits” was canceled and whether it would come back in some shape or form. The answer may seem obvious in an era of spin-offs and reboots, but the continuation of the “Suits” legacy only came about when the original show experienced a massive resurgence in viewership on streaming platforms. 

This led to NBC’s spin-off series “Suits LA,” with Stephen Amell (“Arrow”) starring as Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor who switches careers and becomes an entertainment lawyer. Unfortunately, “Suits LA” was canceled by NBC after only one season, failing to replicate what made its predecessor so compelling.

While appearing recently on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast “Inside of You,” Amell shared his thoughts about the fate that befell “Suits LA.” And while he acknowledged the show had “issues,” he ultimately blamed himself for its swift demise. As he put it:

“Look, ultimately, I think that the blame rests with me because whatever problem you have with the show, because I think that there were issues, but it’s my job to solve those, to smooth them over, to gloss them up with some type of performance or something, tangible or otherwise, that covers up those mistakes. Because you do something that is magnetic, that is charismatic, that fixes those problems. And I didn’t do that. I didn’t find anything ultimately with Ted Black, that character, that translated, that smoothed those things over that gave us a chance to keep going.”

Still, while Amell may feel that his portrayal of Ted wasn’t up to snuff, the problems that plagued “Suits LA” extended well beyond a lackluster lead. 

The original “Suits” is the definition of anti-prestige television. There are many convoluted arcs stretching across nine seasons, but they’re hardly complex in their approach to the legal drama genre. This formula gets repetitive at times, but “Suits” is always glamorous. It’s a show that oozes charm; even the worst-received season of “Suits” has its redeeming qualities. In stark contrast, though, “Suits LA” pulls you in with its seemingly glossy worldbuilding, but its lack of depth becomes apparent right away.

During his podcast appearance, Stephen Amell went on to admit that “Suits” and “Suits LA” creator Aaron Korsch had some misgivings while editing the pilot for the spin-off. The actor hinted at possible creative differences between Korsch and NBC and deduced that it might’ve affected the quality of the show’s narrative (and how it was handled):

“When I saw the pilot of ‘Suits LA’, and this goes back to about a month after we finished shooting, I sat down with Aaron Korsch, who created ‘Suits’ and ‘Suits LA’, and he was editing the pilot, and he was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to work.’ And a lot of what he wanted to do seemed to run up against what the network wanted. […] I don’t want to say they battled because I wasn’t a part of those conversations, so I’m not going to speculate, but it just seemed like what he wanted to do and what they wanted to do were different.”

This is quite unfortunate, if true. “Suits LA” doesn’t work as a “Suits” spin-off on any level, so it’s probably best to stick with the original show’s glorious run and the dramatic surprises it has to offer.