We’ve known for months that the 2024 fall TV premieres would bring us lots of new shows, but there was a time when no one would have expected that Suits L.A., starring Arrow alum Stephen Amell, would be one of them. It’s not often that a series wraps up its final season after a long run, and then becomes way more popular a whole four years after that finale, but that’s exactly what happened in the summer of 2023 when the USA drama Suits debuted for everyone with a Netflix subscription.
Though the legal show (which starred Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty, Meghan Markle, Patrick J. Adams, Gina Torres and more) definitely had fans and ran for nine seasons, it eventually became the streaming success of 2023. Even better, those huge streaming numbers led to talk of a Suits spinoff in October 2023, and a new show set in the same world, Suits L.A., has now been ordered to series after quickly entering production in the spring of 2024. Here’s everything we know so far about Suits L.A.!
What Is The Suits L.A. Premiere Date?
Suits L.A. obviously got some pretty good news after filming a pilot, but as of late August 2024, there is no premiere date yet. However, there is good news regarding when it will hit the small screen, as The Hollywood Reporter noted in late February that the plan is to have the series ready to premiere during the 2024-2025 television season. This one definitely moved along quickly, folks. Yay!
What Is Suits L.A. About?
Even though what fans new and old would probably like is to catch up with Donna, Harvey, Mike, Rachel and the other legal aces they know and love, this spinoff will not focus on any previously established characters from O.G. Suits. Instead, the new drama is simply set in the same world, and will follow a brand new character named Ted Black in Los Angeles, and the assorted other “amazing looking people in great clothes” he's acquainted with.
Though we did get a synopsis early in the year for the upcoming show, when the spinoff was ordered to series in July 2024, we got another official report from NBC that tells us important details about Mr. Black, a former federal prosecutor who’s relocated from New York and now works for incredibly influential clients at his firm, which specializes in both entertainment and criminal law, and his West Coast story:
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 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 Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives.
We’ve already got everything we need here. A somewhat haunted/troubled lead dealing with a big current problem, while being surrounded by colleagues who “mix their personal and professional lives.” Gimmie it!
The Suits L.A. Cast
Let’s take a look at who we know will populate the Suits L.A. cast when it finally hits the small screen:
Stephen Amell As Ted Black
February 2024 saw Suits L.A. nab its first official cast member, in the form of former Arrow and Heels lead Stephen Amell, who’ll bring Ted Black to life. TV Line offered up additional details about the character when announcing the news, and said that Ted is known as a “charismatic force of nature who puts his own needs above others,” something that the Oliver Queen actor definitely knows how to play.
Josh McDermitt as Stuart Lane
Shortly after Amell was announced as the lead, the network revealed that actor Josh McDermitt would take on the role of Stuart Lane, Ted’s old friend who formed the firm Black Lane Law with him 15 years before the start of the series. Stuart is described as being “energetic, powerful, focused and self-absorbed,” but we don’t know how he’ll fit into the overall story just yet.
If Josh McDermitt’s name sounds familiar to you, it’s likely because you’ll recognize him from his time as one of The Walking Dead cast members who was in the most episodes, as eventually-capable survivor, Eugene.
Lex Scott Davis as Erica Rollins
Another cast member and their character was announced a few days after McDermitt and his Stuart, and that is Lex Scott Davis as attorney Erica Rollins. According to NBC, Rollins is billed as a “savvy and strong-willed rising star at the firm who is shrewd enough to test the loyalty of her associates only to admire some of them for not having any.” It absolutely sounds like she’ll be a force to be reckoned with!
Davis has been in a number of shows and movies, including the Training Day series, The First Purge, The L Word: Generation Q, Rebel, Florida Man and Ricky Stanicky.
Other cast members who’ve been announced are Bryan Greenberg (One Tree Hill, The Mindy Project), Troy Winbush (The Goldbergs, Chicago Fire), and Alice Lee (My Adventures with Superman, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), but their characters haven’t been revealed just yet.
How Many Episodes Will There Be In Suits L.A. Season 1?
OK, this one is an unfortunate unknown right now, because no information on how many episodes we’ll get in the first season have been released. On top of that, it’s hard to make a good guess, as while network series tend to get seasons of about 22 episodes, it’s not uncommon for the first season, at least, to be given more like 12-13 episodes to see if it really connects with viewers.
The good news is, if the drama starts on the lower end of that scale, NBC can up the episode count during Season 1 if it proves to be a Suits-on-Netflix level smash hit. We’ll just have to see what the future brings.
Suits Creator Aaron Korsh Is A Writer And Executive Producer On The Spinoff
When the potential spinoff went into development in October 2023, Deadline reported that Aaron Korsh, the man who created Suits, would be the one bringing us this new story. Not only did he executive produce (alongside fellow Suits EPs Doug Liman, Dave Bartis and Gene Klein), and also write the pilot, but he’s also listed as the creator, and a writer/EP of the series overall. So, fans should be comforted to know that even though they’ll be treated to new characters and a different setting, the story will still feel like the one they already love.
Filming Moved From Vancouver To Los Angeles In August 2024
Per The Hollywood Reporter article above, Suits L.A. filmed its pilot in March 2024 in Vancouver, British Columbia, which sent star Stephen Amell on a trip down Arrow memory lane. However, Variety reported at the beginning of August that the production moved to the city of its title as it began filming episodes for the series that month.
There Aren’t Confirmed Plans For Original Cast Members To Appear, But Many Of Them Are Open To It
If you’re hoping to see some of the original characters and cast members pop up on Suits L.A., know that there aren’t any confirmed plans for that just yet. But, several of the actors from the parent show have said that they’d be down to bring their characters back for some more action, if asked.
People caught up with Gina Torres (Jessica Pearson), Rick Hoffman (Louis Litt), and Sarah Rafferty as they filmed a 2024 Super Bowl commercial, and Rafferty said of the pilot filming:
I mean, if they need Donna and I'm assuming if they need — I'm just gonna speak for my friends here — Jessica or Louis, we'll all put on our high heels and we'll march on up to Vancouver!
Additional stars Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht have done things recently like present at the Golden Globe Awards and also filmed a funny spot for a different Super Bowl commercial and joked about advice they’d give the new cast, so it seems likely that, if asked, they’d be willing to bring Mike and Harvey (respectively) to Los Angeles.
To top it off, Wendell Pierce, who portrayed Rachel’s dad, Robert Zane, recently said he’d “love to come back,” so if the spinoff becomes a series and does well on NBC, it sounds like there’s hope for future appearances from the original gang of legal eagles!
There’s still more to learn about Suits L.A., so be sure to bookmark this article to get updates as they become available!
