“What took you so long?”
That was the general mood at the “Suits” reunion panel Sunday afternoon, where stars Patrick J. Adams, Sarah Rafferty, Dulé Hill, Amanda Schull and director Jeff Wachtel gathered to discuss the legal drama that aired during nine seasons on USA Network but gained a wider audience when it arrived on Netflix in June 2023.
“The people in this room know that it is difficult to make television, and it is very difficult to make good television, let alone good television,” Wachtel said. “But in a way, when people ask me if I was surprised (by the resurgence on Netflix), I ask myself: What took you so long?”
Wachtel, who was head of programming at USA Network when “Suits” premiered, praised the cast as well as the casting director who brought them together, Bonnie Zane, who watched from the audience.
“We knew how great this show was and it was a big hit on USA Network,” he said. “It didn’t land in the cultural conversation the way we thought it deserved, and now that it’s sort of coming back, it’s for a whole host of reasons, but mostly because of its quality.”
Wachtel also credited the large number of episodes “Suits” was able to produce (134 over nine seasons), as well as its extensive original run as a weekly cable show.
“Maybe we fall in love with the characters over time,” he said. “It’s one of the secrets of his success. These are great binging series – especially the ones (with only) six episodes, those can be great – but there’s just something about a series that you learn to appreciate over time.
Rafferty then asked if he thought Hollywood would “go back to that one way or another” and start releasing longer seasons, spanning weeks and months, instead of shorter seasons that span suddenly interrupt.
“I feel like it’s happening like that, just a little bit,” he said. “It’s wonderful when something new appears. You’re like, “Oh my God. I have to watch this new miniseries with Nicole Kidman. But how many miniseries can Nicole Kidman direct? (…) One of the strengths that television offers, more than any other medium, is falling in love with something over time – experiencing characters over time. (…) It would be good to see some of it come back.”
In addition to its journey from cable to streaming, “Suits” has a long history at the ATX TV Festival. During her introduction, co-founder Caitlin McFarland said the series was the festival’s first opening night screening (in 2012). He returned two years later and again for his final season, when there was a script reading and discussion, before his five-year reunion on Sunday.
Perhaps this helps explain why, when asked how many viewers discovered “Suits” on USA Network or Netflix, the majority of the crowd cheered for the former, meaning they had been watching all along .
Regardless of where most audiences found it, “Suits” was an undeniable success story for the streamer. Before the start of the final panel of the 2024 ATX TV Festival, Netflix announced that the final season of “Suits,” Season 9, would debut on the streaming service on July 1.
Outside of Netflix, “Suits” is gearing up for its second spinoff series, “Suits: LA” (the first spinoff series, “Pearson,” premiered in 2019 and was canceled after one season.) NBC has ordered a pilot in February 2024, but no news about the series — which comes from “Suits” creator Aaron Korsh and features a new cast — was shared during the Netflix-sponsored reunion panel. (Meghan Markle, who was a series regular for the first seven seasons, also did not appear in the moderated conversation.)
Separately, Adams and Rafferty announced they are developing a “Suits” rewatch podcast, called “Sidebar.”
“But we call it a ‘must-watch podcast,’ because we’ve never actually watched the show before,” Adams said.
There’s no release date yet, but Adams said, “We’re super excited and it’s coming to you soon.”
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News Source : www.indiewire.com
