Why is Suits called Suits?
USA NetworkSuits, this year’s streaming smash hit, follows a genius rookie attorney and a hotshot lawyer – but why is it called Suits in the first place?
Created by Aaron Korsh, Suits began in 2011 on USA Network. It stars Patrick J. Adams as Mike Ross, a pot-smoking scammer with an extraordinary mind that convinces a firm’s top closer to hire him as an associate.
Its ninth and final season closed out in 2019, coming after Adams and Meghan Markle departed the series and a plummet in ratings – look no further than the Pearson spinoff that lasted a single season.
However, the series has found a new lease of life on Netflix and Peacock, becoming one of the most streamed shows of all time since its sudden boom – we’re talking billions of minutes across the planet. Yet, despite so many watching it, some viewers may not know: why is Suits called Suits?
Why is Suits called Suits?
Suits is called Suits for three reasons: Suits is short for lawsuits, the importance of wearing luxury suits is echoed throughout the show, and “suits” is a slang term for any executive who works in a high-paying office job.
In its early development, the series had a different title: A Legal Mind. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Korsh recalled: “It was written as a spec script and my agent and I took it out to a bunch of production companies. We were going to potentially go with Universal Media Studios, but they were going to take it everywhere except NBC.
“It was odd to me because their biggest network that they sold shows to was NBC and that was the one network they didn’t want to take it to, for whatever reason. Separately, my agent had a relationship with [executive] Alex Sepiol at USA, and my agent told Alex, “Listen, you’re going to really respond to these characters. It’s not a procedural, it’s not what you do, but you’re going to like these characters.”
After Notes From the Underbelly was cancelled, Korsh worked on his script for a “half-hour Entourage-type based on my experiences working on Wall Street”, but it was retooled and retitled after pivoting to an hour-long series and being picked up by USA Network.
Suits is streaming on Netflix and Peacock now. Check out our other coverage below:
