Why was Suits cancelled?

Suits remains one of the most-watched shows on streaming years later – but why was it cancelled in the first place?

Created by Aaron Korsh, Suits debuted on the USA Network in 2011, with an official synopsis as follows: “After impressing a slick lawyer with his razor-sharp mind, a college dropout scores a coveted associate job, even though he has no credentials.”

Suits ran for nine seasons across eight years, and made TV stars of its cast Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, and Meghan Markle.

But the show ended in 2019, so why was Suits cancelled? Here’s everything you need to know.

Why was Suits cancelled?

Around the time of the show’s cancellation, creator Aaron Korsh told Deadline the following (though pay attention, as it does get complicated): “Right after we finished shooting Season 6, I went to USA [Network]. At that time we only had the cast under contract until the end of Season 7. We had to figure out what to do, and we weren’t 100% sure what the cast wanted to do.

“We’d lost Gina [Torres] and we came up with a plan to extend the cast for two more years beyond Season 7 to Seasons 8 and 9. The goal was to have a 16-episode Season 8 and a 10-episode Season 9.

“During the course of Season 7, as they were negotiating the cast’s contracts for two years, an unforeseen thing happened. You can never know that one of your stars [Meghan Markle] is going to marry the Prince of England, and Patrick decided not to return, so we had a choice whether to keep going after Season 7.

“We decided that the original plan was a 16-episode Season 8 and a 10-episode Season 9, let’s see if we can do that. And dovetailing with that, Katherine Heigl called and she wanted to be involved in the show, and we thought it was a perfect way to help extend the franchise and make it to that end of Season 9.”

Will Suits return?

With Suits becoming a ratings sensation on Netflix, fans are clamouring for the show to return, and The Hollywood Reporter put that question to Aaron Korsh.

“First of all, it’s really hard work to come up with plots for a show that you love and care about and want to be great, so I’d never put a second of thought into it without someone saying, ‘We want to do this,’ because it’s just torture to me,” came the response.

“When fans ask me, like, ‘What do you think Harvey and Mike are up to in Seattle?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know!’ It’s really hard to come up with this stuff, that’s why you have a writer’s room — like, that’s why we’re on strike, so I don’t have to by myself! 

“Also, look, USA gave us 26 episodes of notice for when the show was going to end. That’s a lot of notice. And when it was over, I was very satisfied with it. I managed not to be ashamed of any of the episodes we did. And so, I’d be afraid. It’s not like I can think of a ton of shows that have been rebooted that I’ve watched, where I was like, ‘Yeah, that was great.’ Usually, I’m not even interested in watching them.

“So, again, if someone reached out and the cast was into it, I would consider it, if I could come up with something that excited me. But if I could wave a magic wand and get another show on the air, it wouldn’t be a continuation of Suits. Now, I know I’ve mentioned the [Robert] Zane prequel idea [centered on Rachel’s dad, played by Wendell Pierce], I would do that in a second. I was really excited about that.”

What we do know is that a spin-off, Suits LA, is officially in the works, with stars such as Gabriel Macht potentially tipped to return. Find out more about what the reboot is going to focus on here.