What to watch after Suits (and before Suits LA)

Suits is a good show. It's addicting, the drama is compelling, and it's fun to watch a handful of ultra-competent people do their high-level jobs all the while wearing fancy - you guessed it - suits. Yet, nothing good lasts forever, and sometimes when you've finished a show, you don't feel the need to go all the way back and start again at that (admittedly very good) pilot episode. But what to watch next? The next Suits spinoff right? Well, actually that show isn't going to be airing for a bit. So until then, if you're in this predicament, we've got your back.

Some of these recommendations may be obvious choices, others may seem a little out of left field, but all of the shows may be able to scratch that itch. If you're at a loss as to what to watch after Suits, check out the five shows listed below.

White Collar

This is the most obvious choice of the bunch. In fact, since these two shows were on the air at the same time and had somewhat similar vibes and names, they often got confused. White Collar follows brilliant con man Neal Caffrey (played by the sparkling Matt Bomer) as he consults with and often builds shennanagans around FBI White Collar Special Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay). The two have great chemistry and a really interesting relationship. It makes for a fun watch, with interesting cons (for those who like that sort of thing), smart people, and clothes that feel very 2010.

Elementary

Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu lead this American adaptation of Sherlock Holmes as Holmes and Watson, respectively. The show takes place in New York City and is really quite incredible in the way that it manages cases-of-the-week with the ongoing progression of the (non-romantic) relationship between Holmes and Watson, as well as Sherlock's struggle with addiction. While Elementary totally functions as your basic procedural, it also works as a wonderful exploration of character and how people develop over time in response to others in their lives.

Leverage/Leverage: Redemption

Now this show is a little sillier than the others on this list, but it does deserve a spot here. Suits, in my book, is along the genre of "competency media," i.e. things you watch because the people in it are very good at their jobs. While all of the shows on this list also fall into that category, Leverage and the subsequent revival Leverage: Redemption takes that competency to silly excitement.

Leverage follows a group of ex-thieves, all with their individual skills, as they turn those skills to help people who have been unjustly treated by those in power. If you like heists, this is the show for you. And the show also happens to do a great job of tackling real-life injustices like for-profit prisons, companies polluting local water sources, and the treatment of farm workers.

NCIS

The good part of NCIS is that once you start watching it, you'll never run out of show to watch. With 20 seasons and a whopping 400+ episodes, you'd really have to be bingeing to make a dent in this show. Don't worry, though: it's a procedural, not a drama, so if you miss a scene here or there, you wont be lost in the plot. NCIS isn't the most flashy show in the world, but it's solid and has a great cast led (at least for the first dozen or so seasons) by a quietly solid Mark Harmon. Over the years, the cast changes, but the show manages to maintain good quality, which is probably why it's been on the air so long - and has launched countless spinoffs, despite having been a spinoff of JAG itself. (Remember JAG?)

The Good Wife

You didn't think we'd finish this list without one of the most beloved contemporary lawyer dramas of all time, did you? The Good Wife is the way to go if you're feeling more drama than fun after Suits. After Alicia Florrick's (Julianna Margulies) politician husband is jailed amidst a political scandal, Florrick returns to her previous life as a lawyer to support her family. After years of being away from her professional life to be a "good wife" to her husband, she has to face what comes next for her on her own. The Good Wife has an absolutely stellar cast (including the great Christine Baranski), and is definitely a strong contender for a show to watch after Suits, if you want something specifically lawyer-based.

Suits spin-off gets its lead actor (Stephen Amell) and a name