Suits
Suits ran for nine seasons on USA Network from 2011 through 2019 but did not become a pop culture phenomenon until debuting on Netflix in 2023. The show featured Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter, a partner at a New York City law firm that changed names multiple times over the nine seasons, and Patrick J. Adams, as Mike Ross, an associate and college dropout who never attended law school. The show was less about the law and more about hiding Mike’s background. Suits was very entertaining, especially when focused on Harvey and Mike’s relationship. It may have had the fewest court scenes of any legal show. There is a spinoff in the works at this writing named Suits: L.A. These are four legal oriented shows like Suits we think you may like if you liked Suits.
Shows Like Suits – L. A. Law
L. A Law ran for eight seasons on NBC from 1986 to 1993. Its co-creator, Steven Bochco, was the 1980s television kingpin of hour long office ensemble cast dramedies, and L. A. Law (especially in its early seasons) set the gold standard for legal television shows injected with humor. The opening scene of the first episode made an initial splash with a senior partner’s death followed by another partner declaring “I have dibs on his office.” L. A. Law won the Emmy for best drama series in its first four seasons. However, there was significant cast turnover starting with season six and the show suffered.
If you liked Suits, L. A. Law is the best recommendation for another show you may like.
See streaming options at L. A. Law.
Shows Like Suits – Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal ran for five seasons on Fox from 1997 to 2001. David E. Kelley created the show. Kelley was a lawyer in Boston before writing for L. A. Law. Ally McBeal starred Calista Flockhart as the title character, a lawyer working in the Boston law firm Cage and Fish.
Ally McBeal was a silly show with lots of comedic plotlines, a unisex bathroom, romantic triangles in the office and more. Legal plotlines were even more insignificant than Suits and L. A. Law. The show won an Emmy for best comedy, and not drama, in 1999.
If you liked Suits, you may like Ally McBeal. We are on the fence about it; sometimes it was entertaining and sometimes a little too “out there.”
At this writing Ally McBeal is not available on streaming but you can sign up to be notified when it will be at Ally McBeal.
Shows Like Suits – The Lincoln Lawyer
The Lincoln Lawyer has run for two seasons on Netflix in 2022 and 2023, with a third season expected to be released in 2024. The show is based on a series of novels by Michael Connolly, who also wrote the Bosch novels. A 2011 movie starring Matthew McConaughey was also based on The Lincoln Lawyer novels. David E. Kelley also created The Lincoln Lawyer television series.
The show features Manuel GarcÃa-Rulfo Lapuente as Mickey Haller, an L. A. based lawyer who operates out of a Lincoln. We enjoyed the 2011 movie, but the television show is even better. McConaughey is a great actor, but Manuel GarcÃa-Rulfo Lapuente is even better in this role. Each season is based on one of Connolly’s novels in The Lincoln Lawyer series with one major case occupying the entire season. Unlike Suits, L. A. Law and Ally McBeal, the legal case does take precedence in The Lincoln Lawyer.
Mickey Haller is a half-brother to Harry Bosch (of the Bosch series) in the novels, but a crossover on the screen is unlikely.
If you liked Suits, we think you will like this show. We liked it a lot.
See streaming options at The Lincoln Lawyer.
Goliath
Goliath ran for four seasons on Amazon Prime Video from 2016 through 2021. It featured Billy Bob Thornton as Billy McBride, founder of a large successful law firm who quit, became an alcoholic, and began living in a extended-stay hotel in Santa Monica. Each season featured McBride taking one case against a much larger opponent (David vs. Goliath). Goliath was more like The Lincoln Lawyer than the other legal shows, as its focus was on the case. However, it was much darker than The Lincoln Lawyer.
Each season of Goliath had some strange elements (no spoilers here), but overall we enjoyed this show.
See streaming options at Goliath.
These are four legal oriented shows like Suits we think you will like.
Want to see shows like Seinfeld? See our post at Seinfeld.
