Stephen Amell Blames Himself For Suits LA’s Cancellation After One Season

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Stephen Amell blames himself for Suits LA getting canceled.

Stephen Amell has publicly stated he feels largely responsible for the cancellation of Suits LA on NBC after only one season. The show, a spinoff of the popular Suits, quickly followed the original series’ huge success on Netflix, with Amell playing lawyer Ted Black. Unfortunately, low viewership and negative reviews led NBC to cancel the show after its first season.

In an interview on the podcast Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Stephen Amell shared why he feels responsible for the cancellation of Suits LA. He believes his performance wasn’t strong enough to overcome the show’s other issues. He remembers a conversation with the show’s creator, Aaron Korsch, who had doubts about whether the series would succeed.

It just didn’t measure up. It’s a difficult situation, really. At the end of the day, it feels like a failure. I believe anything that doesn’t end the way you hoped is a letdown. However, it’s not a total loss – many pilots don’t get picked up for a full series, and that’s common.

As a lifelong cinema fan, I’ve had the incredible luck of being involved in two pilot projects that actually got picked up as series. Though, looking back, ‘Heels’ sadly only lasted two seasons before getting cancelled. With ‘Suits LA’, I really feel the responsibility for its outcome falls on me. I believe every show has its flaws, and it’s the lead’s job – mine, in this case – to work around those, to elevate the material with a compelling performance and make it all click. I just couldn’t find that spark with my character, Ted Black. I didn’t manage to create something magnetic enough to overcome any issues and give the show a fighting chance. I remember watching the pilot for ‘Arrow’ and even though I wasn’t sure if it was good, it just felt right. But when I saw the ‘Suits LA’ pilot, about a month after filming wrapped, I sat with Aaron Korsh, the creator of both shows, while he was editing, and he immediately admitted he wasn’t confident it would work.

Amell explained that developing Suits LA involved a lot of back-and-forth between what the show’s creator wanted and what NBC, the network, envisioned. Despite the lead actor’s hope for a second season, NBC decided not to renew the show. Feeling responsible for its success if it had continued, he also believes he shares the blame for its cancellation.

There was often a disconnect between his creative vision for the show and what the network preferred. I wasn’t privy to their discussions, so I can’t say there was a direct conflict, but their goals just didn’t seem to align. It’s a difficult situation, and nobody was really at fault – everyone believed they were making the best decisions. Sometimes those compromises even lead to another season. We were hopeful for renewal and a chance to resolve those differences, but ultimately, the network decided to cancel the show.

If this project succeeds, I’ll likely receive most of the praise, so I feel it’s right that I also take responsibility if it fails. As the project lead, the outcome ultimately rests with me.

Stephen Amell said that while both his shows, Heels and Suits LA, were cancelled, the news about Suits LA was more upsetting. He later explained that after the cancellation, he needed to take a step back and reflect, feeling ashamed that he might have contributed to the show not being renewed for another season.

I felt like I needed to take a break from the public eye for a bit, maybe a temporary pause. It felt like a ‘timeout’ after being so visible – my face was everywhere, on billboards across North America. I was the main focus of a huge, high-profile project, and then it was unexpectedly cancelled. That meant I had to step back for a while. Over the last few months, people kept asking what was happening, and I just kept saying everything was fine, even though it wasn’t.

It’s admirable that Amell acknowledged the problems with Suits LA, especially given his leading role. However, critics agree that the show’s issues weren’t due to his performance. The main problem was the writing, which many found lacked the wit and appeal of the original Suits, and that wasn’t something Amell could fix on his own.

Ratings for Suits LA steadily dropped throughout its run, with the final episode attracting less than half the viewers who tuned in for the premiere. NBC cancelled the show before the last episode even aired, signaling their eagerness to end it. While John Amell was involved, the show’s failure wasn’t his responsibility alone.

While the issues with Suits LA weren’t solely due to Stephen Amell’s acting, it’s understandable why he’d feel accountable for the show’s problems. But even if he thinks he could have done more to improve his character and the series, he shouldn’t be held entirely responsible for its shortcomings.

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2026-02-24 23:34