Patrick J. Adams says “Suits” walked 'so that “Succession” could run'

From overlapping cast to identical settings and shared themes, Adams breaks down the comparison.

Succession's success stands on a foundation that Suits built, at least according to Patrick J. Adams .

On Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast, that Adams co-hosts with Sarah Rafferty, the Suits star shared a theory saying "Suits is a predecessor to another very popular show."

"I think that Suits walked so that Succession could run," he stated and explained why, using several connections between the two shows.

"Let me run you through the things that we have in common," be began. "Dagmara [Domińczyk]. She was in Succession, she was in Suits. Rob Yang. Do you know who Rob Yang was in our show?" Adams asked Rafferty. "He was the doctor in [Suits' pilot] where he's giving Mike [Adams' character] the drug test... you know where else you've seen Rob Yang? The pilot of Succession."

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Adams added Kevin Bray, who directed and produced several early episodes of Suits, and who Adams credits as being "arguably responsible for the look and vibe of the whole thing." Bray also directed several episodes of Succession.

Then came the qualitative comparisons. "The theme of the show. It's in New York, we're dealing with New York. Power brokers, people moving and shaking at the highest levels of New York society," Adams said.

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Rafferty, who played the ambitious secretary Donna Roberta Paulsen opposite Adams' unlicensed star lawyer Michael James Ross, agreed with him on every point. But she was also quick to point out the series major differences.

"They were sitting in a radically different place than we were at the Golden Globes," she said, referring to Succession's immense appeal to awards voters that seemed to always elude Suits.

"Yeah, well, they got to be the grown up" to Suits' "PG version," Adams explained.

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The main reason for the Suits/Succession PG/R split is the networks which each series called home. Suits ran for nine seasons on USA, a broadcast territory that comes with far more content limitation. Succession aired on HBO, a premium network which allowed the series to be far less inhibited in what its characters said and did, allowing for some pretty incredible moments that galvanized fans around it across four seasons. Series produced for HBO also come with a different budget allotment, shooting schedule, and aesthetic - and that leads to them cultivating a different kind of fan base.

Not that Suits is lacking in fans, given the strength of its recent pandemic-induced resurgence vaulting it to the top of streaming charts. A reboot is even in the works. Suits L.A. will star Arrow's Stephen Amell and premiere on NBC at an as-yet determined date.

Listen to the podcast in full below.

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