What’s this show called … Suits?

This wasn’t the original plan. Initially I intended to write this week’s column about the Biography channel series I Survived…. I’ll admit that, in part, I was a little scared to watch the episode that I recorded, but the real turning point in my plan came as I was watching the premiere of the new USA Network series, Suits.

There was something about the show that made me want to focus on it this week, and not just the fact that, by and large, I’ve been pretty satisfied with most of the original programming coming out of that new hits factory. I love legal shows, and Mike (Patrick J. Adams) and Harvey (Gabriel Macht) can’t help but remind one of Peter and Neal from White Collar. Plus USA knows how to do TV, right?

And plenty of people enjoyed it, including our very own Carla. In fact, I’ve read numerous different reviews about how great an attempt at a buddy show Suits is, how familiar yet fresh, smart, funny, etc.

I don’t get it.

I wasn’t sure at first what it was about the show that I didn’t like. I just figured that, like Covert Affairs, it was an innovative whiff. No big deal, easy enough to move on. Sure the conceit makes no sense — Mike’s photographic memory is so amazing that Harvey can’t imagine finding someone else as impressive with, you know, a law degree? His lack of any and all credentials for the job because of the poor choices he made a few years back remind Harvey of himself when he was a troublemaking law student at Harvard? — but that’s all harmless enough. Although, even as I’m okay with stretches, you couldn’t tug the taffy far enough to drag it through all the twists, turns, and mental leaps necessary to get from “A” to “B” on this one.

But even that’s okay. So is casting Rick Hoffman, who’s never really been a welcome face in my book. So what was so “miss” about it for me? Finally it dawned on me: the buddy pairing.

Think about it: Mike’s a kid who was so desperate to make $25,000 that he agreed to sell a briefcase full of pot for his friend. He’s been kicked out of school, he cheats on the LSATs for money, and he has nothing qualifying him for a job as a law firm associate save for above average intellect.

Meanwhile, Harvey’s a senior partner at Mike’s new firm, one who’s known as the best closer around. He’s smart, tough, successful, and totally doesn’t need someone like Mike around, no matter how many statutes the guy can memorize. But wait … what’s Harvey’s problem? Right — he doesn’t empathize with his clients, and he’s on thin ice for his questionable methods. So bring on the mother of them all: sending an attorney into court who has no license or even provisional license to be there. Awesome.

But even if Harvey was selling Mike as a paralegal, Suits would leave me scratching my head. Shawn and Gus (Psych) are partners, even if Shawn’s been “1A” to Gus’ “3C” for the life of the series. Peter and Neal (White Collar) are partners, even as Peter’s the cop and Neal’s the con. Hell, even Mary and Marshall (In Plain Sight) are technically partners, even if Mary’s a horrible human being who treats everyone, including Marshall, as her inferior. But on Suits, Harvey’s about nineteen levels above Mike, even if Mike is Harvey’s “personal” associate. They only stand on even ground when they’re literally standing on even ground. The fact that each holding something over the other’s head is the only thing that’s keeping their farce going right now is far from the makings of a solid duo.

But spending over an hour watching a bad show isn’t what prodded me to focus my column on Suits this week. Rather it was this: in no way does Suits continue the fine tradition that USA Network has established for itself. To say that it picks the ball up on fine TV duos like Shawn and Gus, and Peter and Neal is to minimize the creativity that goes into those latter two pairings, among others. They’re strong, complimentary, and they work as a cohesive unit. Harvey and Mike have a lot of time ahead of them to get there, and maybe they will, but there wasn’t anything about the initial setup that says they’re there, or that guarantees their ability to ever make it there.

It’s pretty easy to pick out a bad carbon copy, and there’s nothing wrong with expecting a version that looks like an original. We don’t need multiple new shows a year from the little network that could; quality over quantity’s always king.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 27, 2011 @ 15:02 EST5EDT