No one has higher expectations for ‘Suits LA’ than the creator of the ‘Suits’ universe

Aaron Korsh hates thinking about expectations. He sees it as a pointless mind game that he has no real control over. But when you’re the creator of a cable legal drama — in this case, “Suits” — that concluded nearly six years ago and became, to the surprise of many, the most-streamed show of 2023 when it hit Netflix, it’s impossible to be oblivious to the pending opinions.

But Korsh insists he’s more concerned about meeting the bar he’s set for himself and the quasi spinoff series, which launched this week on NBC, to worry about everyone else’s.

“I’m incredibly stressed out all the time with the totality of making this thing be something that I feel like I’m proud of,” Korsh says on the set of “Suits LA” earlier this month while sitting in a corner nook lined with law books on shelves. “But because of that, I don’t really think about how it’s going to be received at all because I have zero control over that. The only thing I can control is, do I love it? Am I proud?”

Korsh, 58, is not usually on the “Suits LA” set — most of his time is spent with the show’s writers at a rented office space across town on the Fox lot in Century City — but he appreciates the ability to drop in when he can, especially for key scenes in the show’s world building. He didn’t get to do it as easily or as often with the flagship series, which was shot in Toronto.

Back then, Korsh was a first-time TV creator and showrunner helming one of the vestiges of USA network’s “blue sky” era, which consisted of bright and breezy dramas like “White Collar” and “Monk.” His glossy legal drama, which centered on hot shot corporate attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and the young guy with an insane memory (Patrick J. Adams) that he hired to be his associate even though he never attended law school, was originally conceived to revolve around investment bankers, Korsh’s former profession. But it became a legal drama because it was easier to create an episodic narrative around cases.

When “Suits” premiered in June 2011, typically a slower period for TV, the biggest hits then were tent pole reality fare like “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars.” And Netflix, which began as a DVD-by-mail business, was just beginning to grow its streaming division and move into creating original content.

Now, Korsh is a few days into filming the seventh episode on a soundstage on the NBCUniversal lot, and is sitting in front of an assortment of monitors, absorbed by the scene playing out on screen. A group of the show’s fictional lawyers are convening for a partner’s meeting in a glass conference room inside the firm’s luxe offices. Even in this fictional world of high stakes, just as in real life, the meeting could have been an email.

But tone is being established. And that has Korsh’s focus.

A side character, already eliciting some whispered chuckles from the show’s out-of-earshot team members as the scene unfolds, improvises a line about Harvard — the Ivy central to the lore of “Suits” — that causes Korsh to yelp with laughter.

For Korsh, who got his break in television as a writer’s assistant on sitcoms, it’s those moments of levity that became as integral to “Suits” over its nine-season run as the characters’ tension and power playing. So, he revels when they unfold organically, even if he isn’t quite sure if this zinger will make the final cut.

“Aaron’s writing has a very specific rhythm and tone to it,” says Anton Cropper, who directed on the original “Suits” and returns for the spinoff as an executive producer, in between takes of the scene. “That is part of what makes this original series so special. I don’t think he’s hard to make laugh. But when a moment does surprise him, it’s fun.”

“Suits LA,” like its predecessor, isn’t what it initially set out to be.

While working on the original “Suits,” Korsh had an idea for a show about Hollywood dealmakers anchored by a former prosecutor-turned-agent. He says it is loosely inspired by an agent who pursued him as a client; the agent spent his previous legal career putting away members of the mob. It wasn’t until after “Suits” wrapped, and pandemic-forced listlessness set in, that Korsh felt motivated to explore the idea on the page. The project was known as “Ted” then.

Korsh was in talks about it twice with NBCUniversal Television. (Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has also stated publicly that Korsh shopped it to the streamer.) The first time, the note was given to turn the agents into — you guessed it — lawyers. Just as Korsh saw how that tweak made the original “Suits” better, he saw the narrative potential this time around too. “And it wasn’t that difficult. I added the criminal law element as opposed to just entertainment law to give the show a bit of a wider foundation,” he says.

He also says the original pilot was flashback-heavy, with roughly 15 scenes set in the past. A note was also given to remove them all, he says. He got rid of some over the course of development. (“I’m gonna tell this flashback story throughout the course of the first season,” he says.)

Even with the changes, however, it was passed over by the studio. But the long-gestating idea finally met its moment after a series of events: there was executive restructuring at the studio, the dual Hollywood strikes commenced, and the Netflix effect hit “Suits.”

“I was 150% sure that the day the strike was over, I was going to get a call from them [NBCU] saying ‘we want to do this,’” says Korsh days later when we reconvene at his office. “I didn’t know that they were going to say, ‘We want to call it ‘Suits LA.’” I was perfectly fine with it, though. I don’t really care what the title of the show is.”

“Suits LA” ditches the high-rise battles for Tinseltown-style face-offs with a new group of ambitious and stylishly dressed lawyers. Stephen Amell (“Arrow”) anchors the series as Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York with a troubled parental relationship who has reinvented himself as a heavyweight entertainment lawyer representing some of Hollywood’s biggest names at Black Lane, the firm he started with his best friend, criminal lawyer Stuart Lane (“The Walking Dead’s” Josh McDermitt). They’re joined by two ambitious proteges, played by Bryan Greenberg and Lex Scott Davis, battling it out for the coveted title of head of entertainment. It sets the stage for backstabbing, strained loyalties, romantic possibilities and plenty of name-dropping — albeit with considerably less curse words than the original “Suits.” And while the real-life intersection of entertainment and the legal world offer plenty of inspiration, don’t expect a ripped-from-the-headlines take on the Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively case anytime soon — though some of the show’s writers admit to discussing the Hollywood drama.

“Suits LA” may be an unintentional spinoff from Korsh’s legal universe, but it’s not the first. “Pearson” was an offshoot that followed Jessica Pearson, Harvey’s high-powered mentor played by Gina Torres, as she left law and entered Chicago politics. It launched in 2019, but was canceled after one season. Korsh is quick to note his pride at the attempt, but suspects its darker tone may have made it less appealing to “Suits” fans. “Suits LA,” like “Pearson,” will feature some characters from the original; Macht will reprise his role as Harvey in a recurring guest stint as Ted’s former colleague.

That’s where expectations come into play.

During its original run, “Suits” was one of the top-rated cable shows — and even spawned adaptations in South Korea and Japan. But it gained a new, bigger life in the streaming era. (In addition to Netflix, the series streams on Peacock.) U.S. viewers watched 57.7 billion minutes of “Suits” in 2023, making it the most-viewed series that year, according to Nielsen. The curiosity surrounding Meghan Markle’s most notable TV credit — as longtime star paralegal Rachel Zane in the series — because of her ties to the British royal family, likely contributed to some of the interest.

Clips of the show made the rounds on TikTok. Brands like e.l.f. Cosmetics and T-Mobile sought cast members for 2024 Super Bowl ads. Macht, Adams, Torres and Sarah Rafferty, in a nod to the show’s resurgence, were invited to present that year at the Golden Globes. Adams and Rafferty, who played Donna, the all-knowing assistant-turned COO in the original series, also launched a podcast, “Sidebar,” late last year to engage with fans.

Revisiting the series as a viewer, Adams has some thoughts on why “Suits” found a second wind: “Aaron and his team were really good at continuing to throw really interesting and dynamic problems at this group of people, week after week. … But fundamentally, what they did so well, and what we did so well, is we built that family and we made it a group of people that viewers wanted to return to and and wanted to see succeed, or fail, in some cases.”

Rafferty echoed the sentiment: “You felt his [Aaron’s] investment in the person you’re embodying, not just plugging the plot along,” she says. “I think it is magical that the energy of these characters live on.”

Some fans are curious to see how “Suits LA” fits alongside its predecessor. Others are skeptical, believing that it’ll feel like a copy-and-paste job of the original characters and their dynamics.

Amell, who says he experienced similar skepticism when he was cast as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in the CW’s superhero drama, isn’t worried about it.

“It’s weird because I’m playing a new character that a lot of people feel like is a reimagining of another character, but he’s not,” he says, noting that Macht sent a text of support to Korsh that was shared with the “Suits LA” team. “Internet commentary is a very, very loud but very, very small portion of the overall fandom at large. If you are adamant that you’re not watching anything but the original show, God bless you. I kind of feel bad for you because it’s the same creative team and it’s an extension of the universe. None of it really matters until the show airs.”

Korsh puts it simply: “‘Suits LA’ is certainly not a copy of ‘Suits. These characters are unique people with their own drives, their own desires, their own senses of humor, and their own things that tick them off.”

Overseeing any series, let alone one with an engaged and protective fan base, is already a stressful undertaking. But last month Korsh also found himself confronted with the unthinkable: leading a show amid crisis — in this case, the wildfires sweeping through parts of L.A.

It was a scramble trying to make the right call under pressure. Production shut down on Jan. 8, a Wednesday, as the Palisades and Eaton fires raged. Korsh was asked by studio heads that same day if shooting should resume in the morning — “I said no. Though, I will say, I did not think I was the person that should be making the decision,” he says. Then, as Friday loomed, the studio communicated to Korsh that he had the greenlight to shoot the next day but was not obligated to do so. He chose to keep production on pause, though the writers continued to work in that time at their discretion. Greenberg, who stars in the series as entertainment lawyer Rick Dodson, lost his home, and Korsh said at least one member from the show’s crew did as well.

That weekend, after consulting with his agent, Korsh had his line producer check in with the crew to gauge their feelings about returning. Then, the decision was made to restart work.

“It was surreal,” he says, recalling those harrowing days, careful to make sure his emotions don’t strain his words. “I don’t think I have truly — or anybody I know has, really — grappled with what has happened … I really didn’t feel prepared to make the decisions, but with the collective wisdom of everyone, I think I am happy with the decisions we made.”

Being the decision maker for a TV series was not the path he was originally on.

Korsh grew up in a suburb just outside of Philadelphia; his father was a computer science professor and his mother is a psychologist. He, however, wanted to be a businessman like his wealthier uncle: “I wanted to pursue making money.” After studying finance at Wharton, he landed on Wall Street when it was still reeling from the 1987 stock market crash. He was making the money he was after, but he hated his job. Around that time, a former college roommate died, forcing Korsh to confront his own mortality. It provoked a negative attitude — he describes himself then as a “bratty young kid” — leading to a wake-up call. Korsh’s boss pulled him aside and gave him three choices: change his attitude and stay, quit or get fired.

Korsh quit.

He eventually moved to Los Angeles and landed a temporary real estate investment job. He became a TV writer almost by chance. A college friend who was a TV writer took him along to a table read of a sitcom pilot starring Bryan Cranston, before his “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Breaking Bad” fame.

“No one knew I wasn’t a writer so I just sat there and got to watch what they did and I couldn’t believe it,” he says . “I was like, ‘This is what you do for a living? This is the greatest thing ever.’ This is what I want to do.”

Korsh obsessively called around. He landed a production assistant gig on “Everybody Loves Raymond” thanks to a production coordinator who was intrigued that a former investment banker was eager to take a minimum-wage job. The next year, the show’s co-creator Phil Rosenthal made an extra writer’s assistant position for Korsh. He worked as a writer’s assistant at different shows for eight years before landing a writing spot on the short-lived ABC sitcom “Notes From the Underbelly.” But it was his brief time on “The Deep End,” a show about a group of young L.A. lawyers, that gave him a taste of the legal world that would come to define his career since.

When asked if he was able to enjoy the experience of “Suits” as he made it, Korsh chuckles. He points out that when the “Suits” pilot was shot, his son was about 6 months old; his daughter was born while the show was in its second season.

“I was a first-time parent and unprepared for all three of my children, and I felt torn between my two responsibilities,” he says. “I was in a bad mood much of the time. Season 4, I was the angriest, I think. And I actually called Phil Rosenthal … to talk to him about it. He was like, ‘Is it because the network won’t let you do what you want to do?’ I’m like, ‘No, they’ll let me do whatever I want. It’s just a totality of how hard it is.’”

That’s not what stands out for him now, though. “I tend to look backwards with nostalgia, rose-colored glasses, which I’m happy that I do,” he says. “I only remember the positive and I miss it … I’m lucky to have this job and I was incredibly satisfied with the results of those nine years. The other side of hard things is deep satisfaction and growth.”

Right now, as he moves past the halfway point of shooting the first season and is days away from the “Suits LA” premiere, Korsh is enjoying the moment even with the stress on his shoulders.

“I’m older and I’m approaching it differently — I’m not sure how,” Korsh says. “I’m definitely less obsessive about the words being exactly right or things being exactly as I had imagined or as good as I’ve imagined, but I’m not less obsessive about making the show as good as it can be. Right this second, I’m feeling pretty good. I am very happy with everything we’ve gotten.”