New TV shows are fun, but have you ever tried watching a USA Network legal drama from 2011 instead?
That's what many millions of Netflix subscribers have decided, as "Suits," a slightly silly drama about corporate lawyers that starred Meghan Markle before she became a duchess, has climbed to the top of the streamer's charts. Despite airing its last episodes on USA in 2019, and being available to stream on other platforms like Hulu and Amazon Prime before this, “Suits” is suddenly at the top of everyone’s queues.
So why is this particular show, about a genius pretending to be a lawyer and the hoity-toity New York law firm he works for, suddenly trending? We explain.
“Suits” follows Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a chronic underachiever with a photographic memory who so impresses big-shot lawyer Harvey Spector (Gabriel Macht), that Harvey takes Mike on as an associate at his firm, in spite of the fact that Mike has never been to law school. Mike ends up being shockingly effective as a fake lawyer, and he and Harvey take on cases while trying to keep their deception a secret.
At the elite law firm of Pearson Hardman, Harvey and Mike are helped by Donna (Sarah Rafferty), Harvey’s legal secretary and close friend (maybe more than that) and paralegal Rachel (Meghan Markle, now Duchess Meghan), who becomes Mike’s friend, confidante and maybe something more. They are all watched over by the firm’s no-nonsense boss Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres). After Duchess Meghan left the show in 2018 (she left her acting career to marry Prince Harry) Katherine Heigl joined.
Although “Suits” has been available to stream on other platforms before and now it’s also on Peacock, it joined Netflix’s roster this summer and quickly caught on in popularity. It has now broken its own record for most watched minutes on an “acquired” TV show (not one debuted by a streamer), with 3.1 billion minutes viewed in a single week this July, according to Nielsen.
Call it the Netflix effect. Many shows that debuted elsewhere have found new life and popularity on the platform before, including “You,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Breaking Bad” and “Schitt’s Creek.” Netflix is the biggest streamer, and a series that might get buried somewhere else can shine when the algorithm puts them in front of hundreds of millions of users.
But it’s not just that. We are in the middle of an historic summer for the entertainment industry as the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild are both on strike. The writers have been striking for three months, which has slowed the pipeline of new shows premiering on streaming and broadcast TV. The fewer new shows Netflix’s algorithm has to serve to its audience, the more likely something like “Suits” can break out big.
It doesn’t hurt that “Suits” has 134 episodes to binge-watch (most new Netflix series have far fewer) and has always been a rollicking good time of a TV series. The appeal of “Suits” is in the ease of watching. The dialogue is fast and pleasing to the ear, the plots are engaging without being too complex and the people are pretty and they have pretty people problems. Can Mike keep his secret? Can Rachel fulfill her dreams of becoming a lawyer? Will Harvey and Donna ever tell each other how they really feel? Will the law firm survive?
“Suits” is from an era of USA when the network invested in so-called “blue sky” programming, the kind of easy-going, lightweight TV shows that you can watch while folding laundry. Think “Royal Pains,” “Monk” and “In Plain Sight.” There’s a little comedy, a little drama, a little mystery, a little heartbreak, a little joy, but never too much of any one thing.
And don’t underestimate the royal elephant in the room. She may not have been a duchess while filming “Suits,” but her renown and celebrity is probably a factor in some people clicking play when they see her photo above the show’s logo.
Old TV shows bounce around streaming services all the time, and sometimes different seasons are on different platforms because of licensing agreements between the streamers and the studios that own the TV shows. “Suits” Season 9 isn’t on Netflix, but you can watch it on both Amazon Prime Video and Peacock.
So you’ve binged through all of Harvey Spector’s shenanigans but you’re craving more legal drama with a hefty suspension of disbelief? Don’t worry, there’s a “Suits” spinoff about Torres’ Jessica Pearson, aptly called “Pearson.” However, it only ran for one 10-episode season and isn’t available to stream for free, only to purchase digitally.
But check out these shows if you want more of the fun, addictive, case-of-the-week high jinks that “Suits” delivered:
