Wendell Pierce on ‘Suits’ Spinoff Cameo Hopes & Streaming Success
Thanks to Netflix, Suits has not only gained new fans but also made news quite a bit four years after it ended its nine-season run on USA (2011-2019). And now, a spinoff, Suits: LA, has gotten a pilot order at NBC.
Suits began making headlines in July 2023, after it became a hit once again when the first eight seasons became available on Netflix (all nine were already up on Peacock). And it ended up beating the previous record for a number of minutes watched in a single year with 57.7 billion in 2023, beating The Office‘s 57.1 billion in 2020. (It should be noted, however, that there are more total hours of Suits than The Office.)
“It is a wonderful surprise. We’ve talked on a thread saying, who would’ve thunk it? Who are you people? So it’s really fun to have this happen,” Wendell Pierce, who played Robert Zane (father to Meghan Markle’s Rachel) in episodes in every season except the first, told TV Insider. “I wish it on everyone to experience something like this. It’s a unique way of showing appreciation for your work that years later, someone discovers it anew. It’s great.”
As for that offshoot, talk began in October 2023 about one being in development with original series creator Aaron Korsh. At the time, it was said the focus would be on new characters in a different location. Then, in November, more details began to emerge, with Universal International Studios and UCP president Beatrice Springborn saying it would take place in “the same timeframe” as Suits at an industry conference. Then, in January, Suits stars Patrick J. Adams, Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty, and Gina Torres reunited at the 2024 Golden Globes. On February 1, NBC officially ordered a pilot of Suits: LA.
“I would love to come back,” Pierce (who stars on CBS‘ new drama Elsbeth, premiering February 29) said just one day before that news broke, noting that he had not yet reached out to anyone. “I wish the spinoff to be a great success. And our returns or little cameos or whatever, hopefully, they’ll be a part of the little Easter eggs that they throw in there with the show.”
Per the logline of the Suits: LA pilot, “Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive, he must embrace a role he [has] held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted 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 that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.”
If this makes it to series, something tells us these new characters could only be helped by visits from some familiar Suits faces.
