Suits LA Star Stephen Amell Takes Full Blame for Show's Cancellation
Stephen Amell, the lead actor of the short-lived television series Suits LA, has publicly shouldered responsibility for the show's abrupt cancellation after just one season. In a recent podcast appearance, the 44-year-old actor offered a remarkably candid assessment of why the NBC spinoff failed to capture audiences.
'It Wasn't Good Enough' - Amell's Frank Admission
Speaking on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, Amell reflected on the show's premature end with striking honesty. "It wasn't good enough," he stated bluntly. "I think that anything that ends not on your terms is a failure." The actor, best known for his role in Arrow, played Ted Black - a former New York federal prosecutor who reinvents himself as an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles.
Amell acknowledged there were early production issues but insisted the ultimate responsibility rested with him. "Whatever problem you have with the show - because I think that there were issues - it's my job to solve those," he explained. "To smooth them over, to gloss them up with some type of performance that covers up those mistakes."
Why the Lead Actor Feels Responsible
The actor elaborated on his reasoning for taking personal blame, noting the disproportionate credit stars typically receive for successful shows. "If it's successful, I'm gonna get a disproportionate amount of the credit," Amell said. "And so I think it's only fair that I stand in front and I take the blame. I'm the lead of the series. And it didn't work."
He specifically pointed to shortcomings in his portrayal of Ted Black, admitting: "I didn't find anything ultimately with Ted Black that translated, that smoothed those things over, that gave us a chance to keep going." Amell believed his performance lacked the magnetic, charismatic quality needed to overcome the show's creative challenges.
Behind-the-Scenes Creative Conflicts
Amell also revealed tensions during production, recalling a conversation with series creator Aaron Korsh while the pilot was being edited. "[Korsh] was like, 'I don't know if this is gonna work,'" the actor remembered. He suggested there were creative differences between Korsh's vision and what NBC executives wanted, though he declined to speculate on the specifics since he wasn't directly involved in those discussions.
"It just seemed like what he wanted to do and what they wanted to do was different," Amell observed, hinting at the behind-the-scenes struggles that may have contributed to the show's difficulties.
The Rise and Fall of Suits LA
Suits LA was greenlit in 2024 following the remarkable resurgence of the original Suits series, which starred Meghan Markle, Gabriel Macht, and Patrick J. Adams. The original show experienced a massive surge in popularity when it became available on Netflix in 2023, accumulating an astonishing 57 billion minutes of viewing time.
Despite this built-in audience, the spinoff failed to impress critics or match its predecessor's viewership. Reviews were brutal, with critics describing the show as "joyless" and "unsexy." The series debuted to just 2.61 million viewers in February 2025 - disappointing numbers that ultimately led NBC to cancel the show in May 2025 after a single season.
Amell's candid reflections offer rare insight into the pressures facing lead actors when shows underperform. His willingness to accept personal responsibility contrasts with the more common practice of blaming network decisions, creative differences, or external factors for a show's failure.
