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

*Suits* remains a beloved series that captured fans' hearts when it premiered on USA back in 2011. Over nearly 15 years, the show has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence, particularly after becoming available in its entirety on Netflix, sparking countless binge-watching sessions. However, the recent spin-off, *Suits LA*, couldn't ride that wave of success and has been canceled by NBC after just one season, as announced in their fall schedule. Jeff Bader, the brand's president of program planning strategy, shed light on the decision to pull the plug.

“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 to 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.”

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

The executive further elaborated on the decision-making process: “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 the potential for transferring canceled shows to Peacock, but *Suits LA* did not receive approval for such a move.

Regarding the shows that survived the cut, Bader detailed the criteria that made them appealing to the network, especially with the need to accommodate more 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,” Bader shared with 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 starred Stephen Amell, Lex Scott Davis, Josh McDermitt, and Bryan Greenberg. Additionally, original *Suits* cast members like Rick Hoffman, David Costabile, and leading man Gabriel Macht made appearances on the new show. *Suits* creator Aaron Korsh also served as the creator and executive producer of the spinoff, which aired its final episode on May 11, 2025.