Suits Producer Talks about the Louis Litt Spin-Off That We Never Got

Suits’ Executive Producer Gene Klein reveals that a spin-off featuring the fan-favorite Louis Litt was once on the cards. Played by Rick Hoffman, the eccentric lawyer had a topsy-turvy relationship with Mike and Harvey. His insecurities involving almost everything were so high that he would sometimes sabotage his own firm.

Despite all the objectionable things he did, Louis always ended up redeeming himself, making him one of the show’s most complex characters.

This prompted creator Aaron Korsh to start brainstorming about a spin-off focusing on this character. That would’ve been the second offshoot of the franchise after Jessica Pearson’s show. However, that idea never took off.

Non-writing Producer Jessica Pearson spoke to TVLine about the entire fiasco. Read what she had to say:

There were numerous ideas for spin-offs that we mostly just sort of fantasized about. Like, Aaron and I would sit around and go, ‘What about this? What about that?’ [The scenarios involved] taking one or two of the characters and doing their own thing with them, but they just never went anywhere.

“Obviously, there was a Louis Litt-themed one.

“There were lesser characters who [Aaron] had spin-off ideas for, ideas that would be prequels where it’d be a younger version of, like, an ancillary character. Really interesting, fun ideas that we never took anywhere.

Now let’s back off momentarily and think about how a Louis Litt would’ve panned out. Considering that the audience had already invested years in him, Litt was the perfect candidate for a spin-off. 

However, that series needed to focus solely on him because doing an ensemble series wouldn’t have been much different from the parent show. Even if it were great, it’d have always been under the shadow of Suits.

Louis was one of the most antagonistic characters in the show and was rude to almost everyone. At one point, he was even harsh with Donna and Rachel, his closest colleagues. 

However, the character’s development arc was well stitched up as we saw him getting a grip on his emotions over time. 

By the show’s end, Harvey and Donna left the company, and he took charge in the finale.

This set up the spin-off perfectly. It could’ve shown how the company functions under the new leadership of Louis or could’ve taken a completely different path where Louis goes to New York to start life afresh.

Given the newfound success on Netflix, a renaissance for Suits can be on the cards. We don’t know whether the whole ensemble will be involved, but a spin-off of a prequel involving specific characters is the most probable way forward. 

Will Louis come back to lead the company in his iconic style? Guess we will have to wait for Netflix to come up with an answer. Till that time, let’s keep our fingers crossed!

About Suits

Suits is a show that generated renewed interest in the legal drama genre. It has the perfect combination of law and non-law related activities. The show is polished, witty and urbane.