warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

USA's "Suits" Premiere Brings Another Network Success

Nicole Shoohed |
June 23, 2011 | 11:58 p.m. PDT

Entertainment Editor

“Suits,” a new legal series that premiered Thursday on USA, stands as the pinnacle of a plethora of recently developed USA shows that have given the network a thriving reputation.

NBC Universal
NBC Universal

USA has slowly but surely been blossoming from a station of reruns for late-night TV junkies to a network with its own unique merit, developing shows that fulfill the very meaning of their slogan, “Characters Welcome.” 

With a set of charming, relatively addicting, dramas and comedies that surround clichéd occupations and fantasies, USA offers stories about everyone from doctors and lawyers to burned spies and CIA operatives. 

On “White Collar,” a con-artist is released from jail to serve as an aid to the FBI; on “Royal Pains,” a rejected New York City doctor turns to the Hamptons for relaxation and instead finds a new full-fledged career as a concierge physician; on “Burn Notice,” a burned spy runs around Miami helping those in need with his espionage abilities; and on the one-season-in “Covert Affairs,” an amateur CIA agent delves straight into some of the most difficult missions while attempting to balance her personal and professional lives. 

USA has consistently provided captivating characters that seem to draw in some part of each of us, and “Suits” is no exception. 

The series follows a brilliant autodidact who, without the typical Harvard law degree, secures a job at an elite Manhattan law firm. This underachiever, who takes a less conventional route in life after losing his undergrad scholarship taking the LSATs for other people and serving as a mule, is the boyishly handsome Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams). 

Raised by his now ailing grandmother, Ross must willingly learn to trust and thrive under the wing of someone other than the woman who took him in after the death of his parents. 

After impressing the charming, hotshot lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) in a haphazard job interview, Ross becomes the new summer associate at the firm. He will keep the position under one condition: he must pretend he graduated Harvard Law, or him and Specter will both lose their jobs. 

The episode begins amusingly enough and then continues to reveal the heart of the entire series: the tug and pull between the two central characters. Specter represents the heartless, self-centered attorney (who by the end doesn’t really seem so heartless) and Ross is the compassionate, wide-eyed and skinny-tie wearing newbie. Together, these two polar personalities merge to create a killer lawyer and the beginnings of a great show. 

 

SUITS

USA Network, Thursday nights at 10, Eastern and Pacific times.

Produced by Universal Cable Productions. Created by Aaron Korsh; written by Sean Jablonski; directed by Kevin Bray; Doug Liman, David Bartis and Mr. Jablonski, executive producers; Mr. Korsh and Jon Cowan, co-executive producers; Gene Klein and Mr. Bray, producers.

WITH: Gabriel Macht (Harvey Specter), Patrick J. Adams (Mike Ross), Gina Torres (Jessica Pearson), Rick Hoffman (Louis Litt) and Meghan Markle (Rachel Zane).

 

Reach Nicole here


 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness