Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Because I doubt even Netflix saw this coming. “Suits,” which starred Patrick J. Adams, Gabriel Macht and Gina Torres as lawyers who filed suits while wearing stylish suits, was always a solid player for USA.
But it wasn’t one of the bigger shows to come out of that decade’s (now decimated) basic cable boom. Yes, it did have Meghan Markle, but so did “Deal or No Deal,” and that has yet to experience a similar rebound.
Of course, one element fueling the “Suits”-aissance is the so-called Netflix effect. (Yes, “Suits” can also be found on Peacock, but so far that streamer has not developed a “Peacock effect.”) The sheer number of people watching television on Netflix, coupled with the power of said algorithm, can manifest a cultural phenomenon at warp speed.
There are the well-known cases of shows like AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and Pop TV’s “Schitt’s Creek,” which were critically acclaimed but little seen on basic cable — until Netflix flung open the doors, broadening their audience and making them awards darlings near the end of their runs.
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