NBC Exec Reveals Why They Canceled Suits LA: 'We Had To Make Some Hard Decisions'

"Suits," the beloved legal drama that first aired on USA in 2011, has captivated fans for nearly 15 years. The show experienced a significant revival after becoming available on Netflix, sparking countless binge-watching sessions. However, the recent spin-off, "Suits LA," did not fare as well and was canceled after just one season, as announced in NBC's fall schedule. Jeff Bader, the president of program planning strategy at the network, shed light on the decision to end the series.

“It’s so hard to talk about shows and which ones you bring back, and Suits had a very short run, but it really just has not resonated the way we thought it would,” Bader explained to Variety following the public release of the fall schedule. “There can be many, many reasons why, people are speculating why it hasn’t resonated, but it’s just not really showing the potential to grow for us in the future, unfortunately.”

The executive elaborated on the decision-making process: “And it’s those decisions we had to make. We had to look at the performance of the shows, both on linear and on digital. We had to see the ones that looked like they had growth potential in the future. So we’re looking at how stable they are on their linear performance, how stable they are on digital, which ones are growing and which ones are declining. And we had to make some hard decisions.”

Bader also noted that NBCUniversal considers moving canceled network shows to Peacock, but "Suits LA" did not receive approval for such a transition. He further discussed the criteria for keeping shows on the schedule, especially with the need to accommodate more sports programming, such as the NBA taking over Tuesday nights.

“We looked at what their performance was week-to-week, episode-to-episode, on both linear and digital, to just try and glean which ones we thought had the best ratings story,” Bader said. “And then on the creative side, the creative teams did the same thing. Which ones have the most potential, or the best potential, to capture a new audience? And these were the two shows that made their way to the top.”

Originally running for nine seasons from 2011 to 2019, "Suits" saw a revival with "Suits LA," which premiered in February and starred Stephen Amell, Lex Scott Davis, Josh McDermitt, and Bryan Greenberg. The spin-off also featured appearances from original "Suits" cast members like Rick Hoffman, David Costabile, and Gabriel Macht. Aaron Korsh, the creator of the original series, served as the creator and executive producer of "Suits LA," which aired its final episode on May 11, 2025.