Like many other stories that evolved through several revisions, Aaron Korsh’s legal dramedy series Suits had its own interesting origin tale that was quite far from what viewers had seen on television. In fact, it was supposed to be a show filled with finance experts and not legal specialists.
Suits ran for nine seasons on USA Network before finding its niche on Netflix. The show wrapped up in 2019, but its presence left a massive impact after smashing viewership records on the giant streaming platform.
Aaron Korsh Reveals What He Originally Wrote For Suits
Aaron Korsh believes that Netflix’s accessibility and wide audience reach, paired with the power of social media especially TikTok, was what made Suits very popular. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, was also a big help in attracting viewers. The creator shared what he thinks about his show’s global fame via The Hollywood Reporter:
“I think why people are tuning into it is a combination of that TikTok thing, there’s no doubt that there’s some curiosity about Meghan [Markle], and then Netflix knows how to entice you to watch a television show, and then that builds on itself.”
While the series was a big hit among fans, it was a completely different story when Korsh was drafting the script. He shared in a separate interview with THR what he originally had for the show:
“What emerged when I was finished was an hour-long show. I wouldn’t say it was a thriller, but it was much more dramatic, with these plot twists and turns. And we ended up using a lot of it in that first half-hour of the Suits pilot, though Mike was an investment banker, not a lawyer — all of them were bankers in that original script.”
Korsh admitted that no one wanted to buy a Wall Street show, but it did not matter to him as he had somehow lost hope of finding a job after coming off a strike. His agent-turned-manager, Dennis Kim, read and loved the story. Korsh said:
“He said he could sell it, to which I said, ‘Shut the f—k up and get me a job,’ because, again, I really didn’t think we could sell it.”
They eventually found and made a deal with USA Network. The company does not cater to Wall Street shows, so Korsh had to make adjustments and decided to turn the characters into lawyers.
Why Are Wall Street Shows Not In Demand?
In the same conversation with THR, Aaron Korsh revealed why networks would not buy a Wall Street show. He stated:
“I think there was a show in, like, 1914 about Wall Street that failed, and so the conclusion was, ‘You can never make another Wall Street show.’ I think it was actually a [2000] Darren Star show called The Street. And after that, you couldn’t make them, which is just crazy.”
Still, the Suits creator believes that the revision was advantageous for them and a way to explore more areas of the field when it comes to legal matters. Korsh added:
“I feel like we benefited greatly from moving [Suits] from Wall Street to lawyers because it raised the stakes. Mike wasn’t just lying to his employers, he was committing a crime, and the law also gave us opportunities for all kinds of ethical dilemmas.”
Korsh noted that the success of Suits can be attributed to the characters who are relatable and, at the same time, unique in their own ways. The series starred Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, Meghan Markle, Gina Torres, Abigail Spencer, Sarah Rafferty, Amanda Schull, and Rick Hoffman, among others.
