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Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why 'Suits LA' got disbarred
Witty banter, appealing characters, likable relationships and entertaining cases: Suits had it all. The beloved USA Network legal drama that ran for nine seasons before going off the air in September 2019 managed to do what some television shows only dream of achieving in a relatively short period of time: Find a whole new audience on streaming mere years after its finale. After a resurgence on Netflix and Peacock made Suits 2023's most-streamed show, NBC greenlit a spin-off, Suits LA, in February 2024 to capitalize on the original series' renewed popularity. The network bet big that Suits LA would recapture the magic that made Suits — starring Gabriel Macht as hotshot attorney Harvey Specter, and Patrick J. Adams as his protégé, Mike Ross — a fan favorite. For outsiders looking in, it seemed like a surefire hit. However, the Los Angeles-set offshoot, which starred Stephen Amell (Arrow, Heels) as prosecutor turned defense attorney Ted Black, struggled to live up to expectations — both creatively and in the ratings. The series, which premiered Feb. 23, got axed on May 9 by NBC before it even reached its Season 1 finale. The final episode, which aired May 18, ended on a whimper. With so much going for it at the outset — fans wanting to return to the law offices of Pearson Hardman, the promise of new stories and the specter of Meghan Markle looming large — why did the series fail to land with viewers? Turns out, there may have been multiple factors that contributed to its short shelf life. On paper, Suits LA seemed to have similarities to the original Suits. Both shows were set at prestigious law firms, both featured intelligent lawyers and both used the same theme song ('Greenback Boogie' by Ima Robot). The spin-off even brought back Suits creator Aaron Korsh and saw the return of original stars Macht and Rick Hoffman's Louis Litt. But that's where the commonalities ended. Where Suits focused on the 'bromance' between Harvey and Mike and created dramatic tension by keeping alive the threat of Mike's secret (that he didn't have a real degree but practiced law anyway), Suits LA took a creative left turn. It centered instead on Ted's demons and traumatic family past, and introduced an internal coup in the first episode that set up an antagonistic dynamic between Ted and his best friend for the rest of the series. Abandoning the signature charms that made Suits a bona fide hit proved to be a death knell for Suits LA. 'People went back, and they wanted the old Suits,' Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and trustee professor of television, radio and film at Syracuse University, told Yahoo Entertainment. 'We want new episodes of the exact show that we loved so much back then.' Lauren Piester, a freelance entertainment journalist who's covered Suits and Suits LA for various publications, said the spin-off failed to identify what made Suits thrive in the first place. 'I don't think Suits LA had any idea what people liked about Suits,' she told Yahoo Entertainment. 'Suits LA started the first episode by destroying all of the relationships it didn't have time to [build].' 'It was trying to be four shows at once — and none of them were like Suits,' Piester said. Daniel Herbert, a professor in the Department of Film, Television and Media at the University of Michigan, echoed a similar sentiment. 'Maybe [for] most fans it was about this particular kind of relationship [between Harvey and Mike] and this particular kind of dramatic tension — will [Mike] be found out or not?' he said. 'If that's the draw and they don't have that same draw in the reboot, then it's by comparison not going to work. They changed the wrong thing.' He acknowledged that 'it's a really tricky thing' revisiting a familiar universe that's already experienced success. And it's not an exact science, even if you think you got everything right. Viewers will naturally compare the new version of a show to what they liked about the previous one — for better or for worse. 'But a lot of times, the reason people are watching reboots is because they like the original,' Herbert said. 'And if you're not as good as the original' — as was the case with Suits LA — 'then you're kind of stuck.' Days after NBC gave Suits LA the axe, a top network executive cited disappointing numbers on linear and streaming as to why the Suits spin-off wouldn't live beyond 13 episodes. Since it debuted in February, Suits LA consistently underwhelmed in the ratings, hovering around 1.5 million viewers for NBC on Sunday evenings despite welcoming back memorable characters from its past. (For comparison's sake, the CBS Sunday drama Tracker ended its second season May 11 with 8.3 million viewers.) 'Suits [LA] has had a very short run, but it really just has not resonated the way we thought it would,' Jeff Bader, president of programming strategy at NBC, said during a conference call with reporters on why the show wouldn't return for a second season. 'There can be many, many reasons — 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.' Ultimately there was no 'growth potential' for Suits LA, Bader said. Herbert believes executives may have taken the wrong lesson from the streaming success of Suits. 'A studio will get a false sense of the popularity of a show because it surges on Netflix,' he told Yahoo Entertainment. 'And this backlog demand suddenly makes … it look like, oh, this is a hot item. But it's not a reliable indicator of demand for a new product. It just means that audiences are finding this reservoir of existing programming that wasn't on Netflix previously and engaging with it.' Some Suits LA cast members took the cancellation in stride. Bryan Greenberg, who played lawyer Rick Dodson, cheekily wrote on Instagram ahead of the May 18 finale 'Turns out Suits LA was a limited series all along,' alongside a laughing emoji. 'Thanks to everyone who watched and supported. We had a blast making this. It was fun to dance in Rick Dodson's goofy shoes for a season.' His costar Lex Scott Davis who portrayed Ted's law firm partner Erica Rollins, reflected on her brief Suits LA journey in an Instagram post on May 18. 'What an honor it was to show up every day for the past year or so, playing make-believe, with your faces to greet me with a smile & a hug,' Davis wrote, along with various on-set photos. Her post ended with a wistful statement: 'Oh how I wish we could continue … but I know we'll all cross paths again someday soon.' Piester thinks Suits LA could have worked if it took on a breezier approach, more in line with what USA Network captured so well in its heyday of 'blue skies' programming. 'A law firm in L.A. with a really smart guy running it. Maybe they could do a twist on it where at one point he was doing law without a law degree, but now [he] has one,' she said. 'He has misfits in his law firm, everyone likes each other and everyone's having a good time. That is what I would want from a Suits spin-off, and I didn't think it was a difficult thing to ask for.' 'The show wasn't executed as well as the one that it was spun off from,' Thompson said. 'It wasn't as interesting. It wasn't part of the cultural moment.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why 'Suits LA' got disbarred
Witty banter, appealing characters, likable relationships and entertaining cases: Suits had it all. The beloved USA Network legal drama that ran for nine seasons before going off the air in September 2019 managed to do what some television shows only dream of achieving in a relatively short period of time: Find a whole new audience on streaming mere years after its finale. After a resurgence on Netflix and Peacock made Suits 2023's most-streamed show, NBC greenlit a spin-off, Suits LA, in February 2024 to capitalize on the original series' renewed popularity. The network bet big that Suits LA would recapture the magic that made Suits — starring Gabriel Macht as hotshot attorney Harvey Specter, and Patrick J. Adams as his protégé, Mike Ross — a fan favorite. For outsiders looking in, it seemed like a surefire hit. However, the Los Angeles-set offshoot, which starred Stephen Amell (Arrow, Heels) as prosecutor turned defense attorney Ted Black, struggled to live up to expectations — both creatively and in the ratings. The series, which premiered Feb. 23, got axed on May 9 by NBC before it even reached its Season 1 finale. The final episode, which aired May 18, ended on a whimper. With so much going for it at the outset — fans wanting to return to the law offices of Pearson Hardman, the promise of new stories and the specter of Meghan Markle looming large — why did the series fail to land with viewers? Turns out, there may have been multiple factors that contributed to its short shelf life. On paper, Suits LA seemed to have similarities to the original Suits. Both shows were set at prestigious law firms, both featured intelligent lawyers and both used the same theme song ('Greenback Boogie' by Ima Robot). The spin-off even brought back Suits creator Aaron Korsh and saw the return of original stars Macht and Rick Hoffman's Louis Litt. But that's where the commonalities ended. Where Suits focused on the 'bromance' between Harvey and Mike and created dramatic tension by keeping alive the threat of Mike's secret (that he didn't have a real degree but practiced law anyway), Suits LA took a creative left turn. It centered instead on Ted's demons and traumatic family past, and introduced an internal coup in the first episode that set up an antagonistic dynamic between Ted and his best friend for the rest of the series. Abandoning the signature charms that made Suits a bona fide hit proved to be a death knell for Suits LA. 'People went back, and they wanted the old Suits,' Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and trustee professor of television, radio and film at Syracuse University, told Yahoo Entertainment. 'We want new episodes of the exact show that we loved so much back then.' Lauren Piester, a freelance entertainment journalist who's covered Suits and Suits LA for various publications, said the spin-off failed to identify what made Suits thrive in the first place. 'I don't think Suits LA had any idea what people liked about Suits,' she told Yahoo Entertainment. 'Suits LA started the first episode by destroying all of the relationships it didn't have time to [build].' 'It was trying to be four shows at once — and none of them were like Suits,' Piester said. Daniel Herbert, a professor in the Department of Film, Television and Media at the University of Michigan, echoed a similar sentiment. 'Maybe [for] most fans it was about this particular kind of relationship [between Harvey and Mike] and this particular kind of dramatic tension — will [Mike] be found out or not?' he said. 'If that's the draw and they don't have that same draw in the reboot, then it's by comparison not going to work. They changed the wrong thing.' He acknowledged that 'it's a really tricky thing' revisiting a familiar universe that's already experienced success. And it's not an exact science, even if you think you got everything right. Viewers will naturally compare the new version of a show to what they liked about the previous one — for better or for worse. 'But a lot of times, the reason people are watching reboots is because they like the original,' Herbert said. 'And if you're not as good as the original' — as was the case with Suits LA — 'then you're kind of stuck.' Days after NBC gave Suits LA the axe, a top network executive cited disappointing numbers on linear and streaming as to why the Suits spin-off wouldn't live beyond 13 episodes. Since it debuted in February, Suits LA consistently underwhelmed in the ratings, hovering around 1.5 million viewers for NBC on Sunday evenings despite welcoming back memorable characters from its past. (For comparison's sake, the CBS Sunday drama Tracker ended its second season May 11 with 8.3 million viewers.) 'Suits [LA] has had a very short run, but it really just has not resonated the way we thought it would,' Jeff Bader, president of programming strategy at NBC, said during a conference call with reporters on why the show wouldn't return for a second season. 'There can be many, many reasons — 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.' Ultimately there was no 'growth potential' for Suits LA, Bader said. Herbert believes executives may have taken the wrong lesson from the streaming success of Suits. 'A studio will get a false sense of the popularity of a show because it surges on Netflix,' he told Yahoo Entertainment. 'And this backlog demand suddenly makes … it look like, oh, this is a hot item. But it's not a reliable indicator of demand for a new product. It just means that audiences are finding this reservoir of existing programming that wasn't on Netflix previously and engaging with it.' Some Suits LA cast members took the cancellation in stride. Bryan Greenberg, who played lawyer Rick Dodson, cheekily wrote on Instagram ahead of the May 18 finale 'Turns out Suits LA was a limited series all along,' alongside a laughing emoji. 'Thanks to everyone who watched and supported. We had a blast making this. It was fun to dance in Rick Dodson's goofy shoes for a season.' His costar Lex Scott Davis who portrayed Ted's law firm partner Erica Rollins, reflected on her brief Suits LA journey in an Instagram post on May 18. 'What an honor it was to show up every day for the past year or so, playing make-believe, with your faces to greet me with a smile & a hug,' Davis wrote, along with various on-set photos. Her post ended with a wistful statement: 'Oh how I wish we could continue … but I know we'll all cross paths again someday soon.' Piester thinks Suits LA could have worked if it took on a breezier approach, more in line with what USA Network captured so well in its heyday of 'blue skies' programming. 'A law firm in L.A. with a really smart guy running it. Maybe they could do a twist on it where at one point he was doing law without a law degree, but now [he] has one,' she said. 'He has misfits in his law firm, everyone likes each other and everyone's having a good time. That is what I would want from a Suits spin-off, and I didn't think it was a difficult thing to ask for.' 'The show wasn't executed as well as the one that it was spun off from,' Thompson said. 'It wasn't as interesting. It wasn't part of the cultural moment.'
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Better call Harvey Specter? Gabriel Macht answers the call for 'Suits LA'
Not all heroes wear capes. This one is an impeccably dressed lawyer who is often armed with a tumbler of whiskey. And the new "Suits" spin-off has called him back for duty. When NBC announced that it was capitalizing on the success of the glossy legal drama — which concluded its USA Network run nearly six years ago but became the most streamed show of 2023 with its arrival on Netflix — with "Suits LA," a Los Angeles-set spin-off revolving around a new group of ambitious lawyers and their dealings within the entertainment industry, creator and showrunnner Aaron Korsh kept any plans for appearances by characters from the original series more tightly under wraps than the logistics of the mysterious can opener ritual. Rather than play the odds, he played the man and got Gabriel Macht to play Harvey Specter again. Across nine seasons and 134 episodes, Macht took viewers on the smug but charming corporate attorney's journey of emotional and personal maturation as he teamed up with — for more most of the show's run — wayward genius Mike (Patrick J. Adams), whom he hired to be his associate even though the young man had never attended law school. Between cases, Harvey confronted his demons and by the series' 2019 finale was a married man headed to Seattle to reunite with his sidekick to do some legal good for the little guys. (Macht, meanwhile, intentionally stepped away from acting to focus on his family once the series wrapped.) Read more: No one has higher expectations for 'Suits LA' than the creator of the 'Suits' universe Now, it's early March and Macht's on the set of "Suits LA" on the NBCUniversal lot putting the finishing touches on his three-episode arc, which was crammed into roughly a week of filming: "I really thought I was shutting the door on this character at the end of the original," says Macht, with a set of dark-framed glasses the only thing distinguishing him from his character during a break. Harvey's arc primarily occurs in flashbacks circa 2010, establishing his friendship with "Suits LA" frontman Ted Black (Stephen Amell) around the time the latter was wrapped up in a case involving notorious mobster John Pellegrini (Anthony Azizi) that ultimately triggered his move to the West Coast. Ted was prosecuting federal cases for the U.S. attorney's office in New York City and on a mission to put the mafioso — who used various intimidation tactics on Ted, including extorting Ted's corrupt father (Matt Letscher) and inadvertently having Ted's brother (Carson A. Egan) killed — behind bars; Harvey worked in the district attorney's office. Later, when the murder case fell apart, Harvey, who by this time was working in the corporate sector, clandestinely helped Ted convict Pellegrini on racketeering charges. But with the criminal set to be released from prison in the present day, Harvey makes a trip to L.A. to rally Ted so they can get Pellegrini back behind bars. The arc concluded with Sunday's episode, titled "Bat Signal," which finds the dynamic duo in New York City to (successfully) execute their plan. But is this the last viewers will see of Harvey Specter? Macht has learned not to say no to anything. "Look, if everything fails in my life, I think I can go to Times Square, put on the suit and just pose for pictures, maybe?" he says with a wide smile as he ambles his way back to shoot a scene in the present-day timeline. Like the Naked Cowboy? "Yeah, I'll be right next to him." The Times checked in with Macht a few weeks later over a video call to discuss the reprising of his character. Here are excerpts from the conversation. Since the resurgence of "Suits," you've been asked about reprising your role for a revival or even a movie of the OG series. You've largely had some playful responses quashing the likelihood of that happening. What was the initial reluctance and how did this way become appealing for you? When I was finished with "Suits," I was ready to be done. I feel like we told those stories and we really stuck the landing. We left with integrity. At that time in my personal life, I was ready to be done and move on and focus on different things. I wanted to travel the world, and I wanted to fill up the daddy well, and, you know, really spend time with my kids and make up for lost time. That was really the focus. That's where maybe those responses [came from]. Jump a few years, when Netflix picked it up, it dominated the viewership in so many ways that it just felt like it was sort of bigger than anyone could really understand and imagine. I'm seeing that there's a new generation. Who knows, there might be a "Suits: The Musical" on Broadway in 20 years. It created a bunch of opportunities for a lot of the players from the original show. And when Aaron [Korsh, the creator and showrunner of both series] came to me and said [mimics Korsh's pitchy voice], "Hey, I know you haven't wanted to get back in this … ," I said, "What is it? What's the story?" All I was interested in was how he was doing and how's the show going and support the show. He said, "Look, there's a character that might have been friends with Ted, and I can make his name in the script Harvey, if you'd be willing to consider ..." And over the next days, I started to think about the fans and how much the fans are really so committed to this show. That was my first instinct ... if they can make it happen, I want to do it for the fans. Did it take some time for you to feel like you were locked in? We don't see Harvey in a suit right away and I would imagine that's what helps you get there. It kind of was like riding a bike, especially when you put the suit on. Aaron has this way of writing where he's got a lot of double negatives. They gave me one or two speeches where I had to get into that dynamic and I was like, "Oh, my God, I'm gonna have a panic attack. This is not why I came back." On set you mentioned that the baseball scenes were shot at Rancho Park, which is where you used to practice for your high school baseball team. That must have felt like a surreal, full-circle moment to be coming back to this seminal character in your career while returning to a place that had meaning in real life. It was nostalgic in so many ways. I played up until my freshman year of high school. They put me on the bench. I didn't really play that much. I loved baseball and I still love baseball, but I was like, "Oh, God, I should really be thinking about my future. Maybe I should go into the drama class or something." They happened at the same time, so I can either do baseball every day or do drama and acting. Going back to Rancho Park and being in a uniform, playing shortstop, and actually seeing my dad [actor Stephen Macht, who had a recurring role in "Suits"] come out was nice. I said, "Dad, I'm shooting at Rancho, if you want to come and visit." He comes out and he's sitting in the stands; apparently he asked them, "Where's Gabriel?" And someone was like, "Who are you?" And he's like, "I'm his father!" It brought him right back to when I was in high school or little league. And they're like, "Oh, he's playing shortstop." He's been in the business 50 years. And he was like, "Well, when's the game starting?" It was a real moment for me to see him in the stands. During one of the takes, I was like, "Dad, you're sitting with background, you're like an extra right now. Go behind video village! You can watch the scene there." It was a full-circle moment for us. When it was announced that you were returning, it quickly became clear that one of the key cameos fans were anticipating with your return is Harvey's wedding band. The Darvey shippers, myself included, wanted some assurance that Aaron did not mess with their favorite TV couple. Did you see some of that? And were you curious where Harvey would be at in life? Yes, I was curious to see what it was and what was going to happen and what the storyline is; it could have gone in so many different directions. There's no reference that they're married and still together, but there is a reference that there's a child. I was moved by that moment. I was moved when I read it, I was like, "Oh, that's cool." I said "Guys, in the flashbacks, obviously I don't have a ring, but I think I should have a ring for the present time." And they were like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." So, that's how we basically said that this [Harvey-Donna] relationship is still continuing. It was a nice moment. It was a really nice moment. Now why we never mentioned anyone with the name Ted in 134 episodes [of "Suits"], but these guys are really great friends and he names his son after him ... Wait. Do you think he really named their son after him? I thought he was just teasing. I think he [Harvey] was just playing with him [Ted]. But you never know with Harvey; he keeps so many things close to the chest. He could have really connected with him years ago. With television, with characters, you don't know. I have to say, I always thought Harvey would be a girl dad. Maybe they have a daughter who just can't text yet. My niece loves doing the voice to text on other people's devices. That's very possible. Maybe he has a girl who's of the age of texting but doesn't have a phone? We don't give our daughter a phone. Read more: In 'Suits LA,' John Amos gets his flowers — and a moving episode inspired by his legacy Fans on the show know that Harvey lost both his parents. With his appearance on "Suits LA," we learn his only sibling, Marcus, has passed in the time since. [Actor Billy Miller, who portrayed Marcus, died in 2023.] Have you asked Aaron why he has made Harvey endure so much pain and loss? Can we have some assurance that Harvey is at least going to the doctor and getting himself checked out? That's a good question. How do I answer this? The human in me says, look, there's tons of loss in in our lives and humans go through loss every day. There's always been a real sense of abandonment issues that Harvey has had throughout his life, and I think that that has been a dramatic tool that has been helped by writing for that. I don't think Harvey really plays a victim, but I think it's a way to feel for him. If you look at any Disney movie, the parents die within five seconds and that's to get you on the hook of feeling like you gotta feel for this character. I know it was brief and we don't get too much of present-day Harvey, but what was it like playing Harvey at this stage of his life and this stage in your life? It was fun. He's a little bit more settled. He's a little bit more in touch with himself. He likes to still take the piss out of his friends and the people that are close to him. But what we love about Harvey is his sense of what's right and making things right and his loyalty and his heart. There's plenty of times he's playing with the system. I think he's doing what's best. That was nice to play and just to be in in touch with that. It's interesting because there's many versions of Harvey that I'm not a fan of and that I'm not crazy about and that I don't like to engage in or support. I don't like supporting the narcissistic elements of him. I don't like supporting the aggressive, toxic masculinity that Harvey has in his toolbox. In these last six years, I have done a lot of work on myself and just seeing, what are the behaviors of Harvey that do align with me? There's elements of behavior where, as the actor and as the character, you're having to beat people down and manipulate and use so many negative behaviors that don't align with me, or more so, align with the child in me, that I have been keenly aware that I need tend to. What worked well for Harvey was my [inner] child. So, to be able to dismantle that or observe all the behaviors of the child — digging his heels in and saying, "This is what I need! This is how to do it!" — that selfish, sort of narcissistic coping mechanisms that you make as a kid, that's the work to be done [on myself] to move away from him. I'd love to see a documentary where somebody takes characters where the actors have really lived in their shoes for so long that they become them in different ways, and how do they shake them at the end of the day and come back to themselves? I think it'd be really interesting Could you see a day when you consider doing another TV series or returning to the screen? I'm way more interested right now in this partnership that I'm doing with Bear Fight Whiskey. The small narrative stories where I can be creative are where my heart is right now. A television show is a big commitment. You're basically owned by the show and the network and the stories and you really have to give up so much of your life. Maybe when my kids go to college or whatever, and there's more time in my life that I can devote to that. Read more: Will Sarah Rafferty reprise her 'Suits' role? For now, she's savoring 'My Life With the Walter Boys' Your friends and "Suits" co-stars, Sarah Rafferty and Patrick J. Adams, recently wrapped re-watching the first season on their podcast. They're on hiatus now, but do you think you'll ever stop by as a guest? I need you on this podcast. At some point, yeah. I don't know when. The stars have to align. I think they're doing great and I think they're really enjoying it. I don't know how I would go on there and talk — I have a bad memory as it is. I do not know if I would come in with much substance. I've seen clips [of "Suits"] here and there and I'm like, "I said that? I have no idea! I have no recollection of that!" I do feel like Harvey has some explaining to do with Mike for using the whole Batman thing with Ted. I think you're right. You have to go after Aaron. He thought it was a little too meta and too much of a wink to the audience, but I'll tell you, we said "Green Arrow" and "The Spirit." [Amell played Oliver Queen in the CW's "Arrow" and Macht portrayed the title character in Frank Miller's 2008 film adaptation of Will Eisner's "The Spirit."] There's a version of that that would have been gold, but [Aaron's] a Batman guy, so you got to just say what's on the page sometimes. You grew up here. What's the L.A. spot Gabriel would tell Harvey to visit? Marty's. I'm telling you, Marty's burgers — it's right near Rancho Park. It's a greasy spoon. It's the home of the combo. It's where I used to eat all the time. I'm a vegetarian now, so I can't go back there and eat there, but Harvey could. Sign up for Screen Gab, a free newsletter about the TV and movies everyone's talking about from the L.A. Times. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Better call Harvey Specter? Gabriel Macht answers the call for ‘Suits LA'
Not all heroes wear capes. This one is an impeccably dressed lawyer who is often armed with a tumbler of whiskey. And the new 'Suits' spin-off has called him back for duty. When NBC announced that it was capitalizing on the success of the glossy legal drama — which concluded its USA Network run nearly six years ago but became the most streamed show of 2023 with its arrival on Netflix — with 'Suits LA,' a Los Angeles-set spin-off revolving around a new group of ambitious lawyers and their dealings within the entertainment industry, creator and showrunnner Aaron Korsh kept any plans for appearances by characters from the original series more tightly under wraps than the logistics of the mysterious can opener ritual. Rather than play the odds, he played the man and got Gabriel Macht to play Harvey Specter again. Across nine seasons and 134 episodes, Macht took viewers on the smug but charming corporate attorney's journey of emotional and personal maturation as he teamed up with — for more most of the show's run — wayward genius Mike (Patrick J. Adams), whom he hired to be his associate even though the young man had never attended law school. Between cases, Harvey confronted his demons and by the series' 2019 finale was a married man headed to Seattle to reunite with his sidekick to do some legal good for the little guys. (Macht, meanwhile, intentionally stepped away from acting to focus on his family once the series wrapped.) Now, it's early March and Macht's on the set of 'Suits LA' on the NBCUniversal lot putting the finishing touches on his three-episode arc, which was crammed into roughly a week of filming: 'I really thought I was shutting the door on this character at the end of the original,' says Macht, with a set of dark-framed glasses the only thing distinguishing him from his character during a break. Harvey's arc primarily occurs in flashbacks circa 2010, establishing his friendship with 'Suits LA' frontman Ted Black (Stephen Amell) around the time the latter was wrapped up in a case involving notorious mobster John Pellegrini (Anthony Azizi) that ultimately triggered his move to the West Coast. Ted was prosecuting federal cases for the U.S. attorney's office in New York City and on a mission to put the mafioso — who used various intimidation tactics on Ted, including extorting Ted's corrupt father (Matt Letscher) and inadvertently having Ted's brother (Carson A. Egan) killed — behind bars; Harvey worked in the district attorney's office. Later, when the murder case fell apart, Harvey, who by this time was working in the corporate sector, clandestinely helped Ted convict Pellegrini on racketeering charges. But with the criminal set to be released from prison in the present day, Harvey makes a trip to L.A. to rally Ted so they can get Pellegrini back behind bars. The arc concluded with Sunday's episode, titled 'Bat Signal,' which finds the dynamic duo in New York City to (successfully) execute their plan. But is this the last viewers will see of Harvey Specter? Macht has learned not to say no to anything. 'Look, if everything fails in my life, I think I can go to Times Square, put on the suit and just pose for pictures, maybe?' he says with a wide smile as he ambles his way back to shoot a scene in the present-day timeline. Like the Naked Cowboy? 'Yeah, I'll be right next to him.' The Times checked in with Macht a few weeks later over a video call to discuss the reprising of his character. Here are excerpts from the conversation. Since the resurgence of 'Suits,' you've been asked about reprising your role for a revival or even a movie of the OG series. You've largely had some playful responses quashing the likelihood of that happening. What was the initial reluctance and how did this way become appealing for you? When I was finished with 'Suits,' I was ready to be done. I feel like we told those stories and we really stuck the landing. We left with integrity. At that time in my personal life, I was ready to be done and move on and focus on different things. I wanted to travel the world, and I wanted to fill up the daddy well, and, you know, really spend time with my kids and make up for lost time. That was really the focus. That's where maybe those responses [came from]. Jump a few years, when Netflix picked it up, it dominated the viewership in so many ways that it just felt like it was sort of bigger than anyone could really understand and imagine. I'm seeing that there's a new generation. Who knows, there might be a 'Suits: The Musical' on Broadway in 20 years. It created a bunch of opportunities for a lot of the players from the original show. And when Aaron [Korsh, the creator and showrunner of both series] came to me and said [mimics Korsh's pitchy voice], 'Hey, I know you haven't wanted to get back in this … ,' I said, 'What is it? What's the story?' All I was interested in was how he was doing and how's the show going and support the show. He said, 'Look, there's a character that might have been friends with Ted, and I can make his name in the script Harvey, if you'd be willing to consider ...' And over the next days, I started to think about the fans and how much the fans are really so committed to this show. That was my first instinct ... if they can make it happen, I want to do it for the fans. Did it take some time for you to feel like you were locked in? We don't see Harvey in a suit right away and I would imagine that's what helps you get there. It kind of was like riding a bike, especially when you put the suit on. Aaron has this way of writing where he's got a lot of double negatives. They gave me one or two speeches where I had to get into that dynamic and I was like, 'Oh, my God, I'm gonna have a panic attack. This is not why I came back.' On set you mentioned that the baseball scenes were shot at Rancho Park, which is where you used to practice for your high school baseball team. That must have felt like a surreal, full-circle moment to be coming back to this seminal character in your career while returning to a place that had meaning in real life. It was nostalgic in so many ways. I played up until my freshman year of high school. They put me on the bench. I didn't really play that much. I loved baseball and I still love baseball, but I was like, 'Oh, God, I should really be thinking about my future. Maybe I should go into the drama class or something.' They happened at the same time, so I can either do baseball every day or do drama and acting. Going back to Rancho Park and being in a uniform, playing shortstop, and actually seeing my dad [actor Stephen Macht, who had a recurring role in 'Suits'] come out was nice. I said, 'Dad, I'm shooting at Rancho, if you want to come and visit.' He comes out and he's sitting in the stands; apparently he asked them, 'Where's Gabriel?' And someone was like, 'Who are you?' And he's like, 'I'm his father!' It brought him right back to when I was in high school or little league. And they're like, 'Oh, he's playing shortstop.' He's been in the business 50 years. And he was like, 'Well, when's the game starting?' It was a real moment for me to see him in the stands. During one of the takes, I was like, 'Dad, you're sitting with background, you're like an extra right now. Go behind video village! You can watch the scene there.' It was a full-circle moment for us. When it was announced that you were returning, it quickly became clear that one of the key cameos fans were anticipating with your return is Harvey's wedding band. The Darvey shippers, myself included, wanted some assurance that Aaron did not mess with their favorite TV couple. Did you see some of that? And were you curious where Harvey would be at in life? Yes, I was curious to see what it was and what was going to happen and what the storyline is; it could have gone in so many different directions. There's no reference that they're married and still together, but there is a reference that there's a child. I was moved by that moment. I was moved when I read it, I was like, 'Oh, that's cool.' I said 'Guys, in the flashbacks, obviously I don't have a ring, but I think I should have a ring for the present time.' And they were like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' So, that's how we basically said that this [Harvey-Donna] relationship is still continuing. It was a nice moment. It was a really nice moment. Now why we never mentioned anyone with the name Ted in 134 episodes [of 'Suits'], but these guys are really great friends and he names his son after him ... Wait. Do you think he really named their son after him? I thought he was just teasing. I think he [Harvey] was just playing with him [Ted]. But you never know with Harvey; he keeps so many things close to the chest. He could have really connected with him years ago. With television, with characters, you don't know. I have to say, I always thought Harvey would be a girl dad. Maybe they have a daughter who just can't text yet. My niece loves doing the voice to text on other people's devices. That's very possible. Maybe he has a girl who's of the age of texting but doesn't have a phone? We don't give our daughter a phone. Fans on the show know that Harvey lost both his parents. With his appearance on 'Suits LA,' we learn his only sibling, Marcus, has passed in the time since. [Actor Billy Miller, who portrayed Marcus, died in 2023.]Have you asked Aaron why he has made Harvey endure so much pain and loss? Can we have some assurance that Harvey is at least going to the doctor and getting himself checked out? That's a good question. How do I answer this? The human in me says, look, there's tons of loss in in our lives and humans go through loss every day. There's always been a real sense of abandonment issues that Harvey has had throughout his life, and I think that that has been a dramatic tool that has been helped by writing for that. I don't think Harvey really plays a victim, but I think it's a way to feel for him. If you look at any Disney movie, the parents die within five seconds and that's to get you on the hook of feeling like you gotta feel for this character. I know it was brief and we don't get too much of present-day Harvey, but what was it like playing Harvey at this stage of his life and this stage in your life? It was fun. He's a little bit more settled. He's a little bit more in touch with himself. He likes to still take the piss out of his friends and the people that are close to him. But what we love about Harvey is his sense of what's right and making things right and his loyalty and his heart. There's plenty of times he's playing with the system. I think he's doing what's best. That was nice to play and just to be in in touch with that. It's interesting because there's many versions of Harvey that I'm not a fan of and that I'm not crazy about and that I don't like to engage in or support. I don't like supporting the narcissistic elements of him. I don't like supporting the aggressive, toxic masculinity that Harvey has in his toolbox. In these last six years, I have done a lot of work on myself and just seeing, what are the behaviors of Harvey that do align with me? There's elements of behavior where, as the actor and as the character, you're having to beat people down and manipulate and use so many negative behaviors that don't align with me, or more so, align with the child in me, that I have been keenly aware that I need tend to. What worked well for Harvey was my [inner] child. So, to be able to dismantle that or observe all the behaviors of the child — digging his heels in and saying, 'This is what I need! This is how to do it!' — that selfish, sort of narcissistic coping mechanisms that you make as a kid, that's the work to be done [on myself] to move away from him. I'd love to see a documentary where somebody takes characters where the actors have really lived in their shoes for so long that they become them in different ways, and how do they shake them at the end of the day and come back to themselves? I think it'd be really interesting Could you see a day when you consider doing another TV series or returning to the screen? I'm way more interested right now in this partnership that I'm doing with Bear Fight Whiskey. The small narrative stories where I can be creative are where my heart is right now. A television show is a big commitment. You're basically owned by the show and the network and the stories and you really have to give up so much of your life. Maybe when my kids go to college or whatever, and there's more time in my life that I can devote to that. Your friends and 'Suits' co-stars, Sarah Rafferty and Patrick J. Adams, recently wrapped re-watching the first season on their podcast. They're on hiatus now, but do you think you'll ever stop by as a guest? I need you on this podcast. At some point, yeah. I don't know when. The stars have to align. I think they're doing great and I think they're really enjoying it. I don't know how I would go on there and talk — I have a bad memory as it is. I do not know if I would come in with much substance. I've seen clips [of 'Suits'] here and there and I'm like, 'I said that? I have no idea! I have no recollection of that!' I do feel like Harvey has some explaining to do with Mike for using the whole Batman thing with Ted. I think you're right. You have to go after Aaron. He thought it was a little too meta and too much of a wink to the audience, but I'll tell you, we said 'Green Arrow' and 'The Spirit.' [Amell played Oliver Queen in the CW's 'Arrow' and Macht portrayed the title character in Frank Miller's 2008 film adaptation of Will Eisner's 'The Spirit.'] There's a version of that that would have been gold, but [Aaron's] a Batman guy, so you got to just say what's on the page sometimes. You grew up here. What's the L.A. spot Gabriel would tell Harvey to visit? Marty's. I'm telling you, Marty's burgers — it's right near Rancho Park. It's a greasy spoon. It's the home of the combo. It's where I used to eat all the time. I'm a vegetarian now, so I can't go back there and eat there, but Harvey could.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Suits LA' Had to Limit ‘the Iconic Goddamns' for NBC
Note: This story contains spoilers from 'Suits LA' Episode 1. 'Suits LA' made its NBC debut Sunday night, marking the celebrated cable franchise turned streaming hit show's next chapter. Only this time, it's on broadcast television. Aaron Korsh, creator of the original 'Suits' as well as spinoffs 'Pearson' and 'Suits LA,' knew that this new iteration not only had to surpass sky-high expectations from fans, it also faced adjusting its tone and storytelling approach for its new home at NBC. 'Broadcast is a different approach to making television. It definitely has some advantages in that you get a wider audience,' the showrunner told TheWrap. 'The cons are that we can't use the language that we used to use… We're limited on the number of iconic 'Suits' goddamns we can have.' Korsh said that, after some back and forth with standards and practices, he got to keep three goddamns for Episode 1 — 'but if we had a 'Jesus Christ' then that counted as a goddamn.' But a win is a win for the Los Angeles-set spinoff series, which centers around Ted Black (Stephen Amell) and his team of lawyers mixing elements of entertainment and criminal law. The first episode introduced a clash of titans between Ted and his longtime partner Stuart Lane (Josh McDermitt) who, as a merger loomed with another firm run by Ted's ex Samantha (Rachelle Goulding), decided leave Ted out of the deal and take most of the firm with him instead. That included Ted's mentee Rick Dodsen (Bryan Greenberg), who surprised Ted by joining the other side after he rejected Rick's request to be promoted to head of entertainment law. But Ted was not left completely alone. Rick's rival Erica Rollins (Lex Scott Davis) chose to stay loyal to her boss and landed the coveted promotion. Concurrently, Ted was haunted by a troubled past in New York, where he worked as a criminal prosecutor. The chaos gave Korsh and the creative team the chance to push the boundaries even further, when in a moment of frustration Ted talked about his desire to bring down the 'mother—' who betrayed him. 'The way the rules work is he has to stop himself, he cannot form the F with his mouth, even if you take the sound out,' Korsh said. 'It's a new set of rules.' Though fans know 'Suits LA' will welcome original series star Gabriel Macht to reprise his role as Harvey Specter sometime in Season 1, the pilot episode let the show stand on its own by keeping the focus on Ted and the Southern California lawyers in his orbit. But Korsh and team did sneak a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment alluding to the show's connection to the overall 'Suits' franchise. Midway through the episode, Ted holds a meeting in his office at the firm. As the scene plays out, the background is blurred, hinting at the vast view of the city. But atop a table behind Ted's desk sat a framed photo that was noticeably not blurred. We don't get a close-up of the photo, but it does look like one featured on the 'Suits LA' trailer, which shows Ted and Harvey together as Ted talks about how they were longtime friends back in New York. 'If you pay attention, you'll see it, and if you don't, you won't,' Korsh said. 'I was positive that if you put something like that in, fans are going to find it… they pour over this stuff. 'But now that they've been running the promos and actually holding the picture and showing it, I think fans are going to see it all the more,' he added. Korsh wouldn't share details on when Macht will begin his three episode recurring arc, but teased that Harvey is not the only original series character who will make an appearance for a crossover. 'I don't want it to just be a parade of old 'Suits' stars. When we were in the original show you didn't have people constantly flying out to California to go do things,' Korsh said. 'We're trying to be delicate about that.' 'Suits LA' airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and airs the next day on Hulu. The post 'Suits LA' Had to Limit 'the Iconic Goddamns' for NBC appeared first on TheWrap.
