NBC Exec on Suits LA Cancellation: 'Hard Decisions Made'

The beloved series *Suits* has been a fan favorite since its debut on USA in 2011, and its availability on Netflix in recent years sparked a significant resurgence, fueling countless binge-watch sessions. Despite this momentum, the new spin-off, *Suits LA*, failed to capture the same magic and was canceled after just one season following the release of NBC's fall schedule. Jeff Bader, NBC's president of program planning strategy, shed light on the reasons behind this decision.

"It’s so hard to talk about shows and which ones you bring back, and *Suits LA* had a very short run, but it really just has not resonated the way we thought it would," Bader explained to Variety after the fall schedule was made public. He further elaborated, "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."

Suits LA was canceled after just one season. Photo by: Nicole Weingart/NBC via Getty Images.

Bader emphasized the difficult decisions that had to be made, stating, "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."

He also noted that NBCUniversal considers the potential for transferring canceled shows to Peacock, but *Suits LA* did not receive the green light for such a move. Bader outlined the criteria for retaining shows, particularly in light of needing to make room for sports programming like the NBA on 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," he 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."

*Suits* originally ran for nine seasons from 2011 to 2019. The revival series, *Suits LA*, premiered in February and featured stars like Stephen Amell, Lex Scott Davis, Josh McDermitt, and Bryan Greenberg. Additionally, original *Suits* cast members such as Rick Hoffman, David Costabile, and leading man Gabriel Macht made appearances. Aaron Korsh, the creator of *Suits*, also served as the creator and executive producer of the spinoff, which aired its final episode on May 11, 2025.