NBC Exec on Suits LA Cancellation: 'Tough Choices Were Necessary'

*Suits*, the beloved legal drama that captured hearts when it first aired on USA in 2011, has seen a remarkable resurgence thanks to its full availability on Netflix, sparking countless binge-watching sessions. However, the recent spin-off, *Suits LA*, failed to maintain that momentum, leading to its cancellation after just one season. NBC's fall schedule announcement brought this news, and Jeff Bader, the president of program planning strategy for the brand, shed light on the decision.

“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 in an interview with 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 further elaborated on the tough choices they had to make: “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 mentioned that NBCUniversal considers moving canceled shows to Peacock, their streaming service, but *Suits LA* did not make the cut for such a transition.

As for the shows that survived the cut, Bader explained the criteria: “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 told the outlet. “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. Notably, original *Suits* cast members such as Rick Hoffman, David Costabile, and leading man Gabriel Macht made guest appearances. The series creator, Aaron Korsh, who also served as the executive producer, saw the final episode of *Suits LA* air on May 11, 2025.