Months before Suits was crowned the most streamed show of 2023 , original cast members Patrick J. Adams and Sarah Rafferty were already entertaining the idea of revisiting the legal drama, which ran for nine seasons, from 2011 to 2019 on the USA Network. Neither one had watched the show while they were on it, but the thought of revisiting their Suits memories seemed more appealing as time passed. It was a conversation Adams had with a close friend of his, Scandal alum Katie Lowes — who co-hosts Unpacking the Toolbox rewatch podcast with co-star Guillermo Diaz — that planted the seed about doing one for Suits.
“It had never occurred to me,” Adams told Yahoo Entertainment. “It was right around that time I called Sarah and said, ‘Do you think this would be fun?’ And luckily [she] didn’t poo-poo the idea, but it took a long time to go from that to reality.”
Not long after, the skyrocketing popularity of Suits and its remarkable second life — largely due to the series landing on Netflix in June 2023 and curiosity over former co-star Meghan Markle — helped accelerate their plans, proving there was demand and value for nostalgic content related to the legal drama. (NBC greenlit Suits: LA, a new spinoff starring Stephen Amell, in July.) Now, more than a year after the first seed was planted, Adams and Rafferty are diving into the world of Suits on their new SiriusXM podcast, Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast, premiering Sept. 24.
In each installment, Adams and Rafferty dissect an episode of Suits, including the pilot, and share behind-the-scenes insights about the creative process, their unfiltered reactions to storylines and the impact the show has had on their careers and personal lives. And, of course, they answer looming fan questions. Series creator Aaron Korsh and co-star Gina Torres, who played law firm partner Jessica Pearson, are a few of the special guests who join in on the conversation.
“It was really the inspiration to want to do this podcast,” Adams said of the show becoming a surprise phenomenon. “It was this big cosmic reminder [to] stop and actually go back and take a look at it. A big reminder of, ‘Hey, this thing changed your whole life,’ and maybe it’s worth a second glance, or really a first glance, as Sarah and I haven’t watched the show.”
What felt missing was a “campfire” for like-minded fans to engage with the show, Adams said.
“We realized when it got popular again, there was no one place for people to gather around and have a conversation. There are pockets on Reddit or wherever these online groups exist, and they form contingents and they watch together. What an opportunity for us to try and create a place for the fans and for us to move through this together and watch as a community.”
Rafferty expressed gratitude for being able to process the Suits chapter via podcast: “Being gifted this second chance to take it all in is amazing, and to have this new way to interact with the viewers — because we’re viewers now and we’re fans of it.”
The market for television-rewatch podcasts has become saturated in recent years, with dozens in existence. Sixteen have launched this year alone, including podcasts dedicated to notable franchises like NCIS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bones. To stand out from the pack, it was important that Adams and Rafferty offered something different with Sidebar. That meant getting personal.
“It was as much about identifying our personal, lived experience of shooting a television show and what was going on for us, the challenges and what came up. It’s not therapy, but it’s not not therapy,” said Adams, who recalled being in a long-distance relationship with his now-wife Troian Bellisario while making Suits in Toronto. “It’s a chance for us to really go through, explain and have a conversation with each other of, ‘This is what was happening for me at this moment.’”
Adams added that it wasn’t only the audience reaction to the show that was their driving force. The podcast also explores how the actors themselves reacted to newfound fame.
“It’s almost this anthropological [case study] of, ‘What was our life in the week and a half we shot this episode?’” he said. “‘When did we learn that Suits was a hit?’ ‘What was the moment we realized we were being recognized in public when before we had trouble getting auditions?’”
When the pair spoke to Yahoo Entertainment at the end of August, they were early in the process of recording the podcast and working through Season 1 of Suits. Though they still have a long way to go (eight more seasons to break down), there are already indicators of what made the show stick.
“You can see an ease with each other, that there’s a commitment to the best, funniest version of every scene,” Adams recalled.
For two people who are self-critical about their work, the Suits co-stars have learned to appreciate what they were able to accomplish.
“I’m happy to report that I can be kinder to myself,” Adams acknowledged, “because the whole reason I didn’t watch it was I can be very unkind to myself watching [something] as soon as I’ve shot it. Now with all these years apart and enough time in between, I’m sort of loving it. I’m filled with gratitude, not insecurity, while I’m watching it.
“I’m very proud of all my friends. I’m excited to see all the things I missed because I wasn’t there for that scene that Rick [Hoffman] and Sarah shot; I get to have that experience and be like, ‘These two are the funniest people I’ve ever met,’” he added. “And then [watch] scenes with myself and go, ‘Patrick, that little thing that you did, I’m proud of you. That’s cool that you came up with that,’ which is healing.”
It forced Rafferty to reevaluate as well. “I don’t want to miss anything anymore. It’s a fun party at the end of the day. That’s a party I want to go to.”
Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast premieres Sept. 24, with new episodes dropping on Tuesdays.
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