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''Pearson'' is an American
political drama A political drama can describe a Theatre, play, film or TV program that has a politics, political component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a politician or series of political events. Dramatists who have written p ...
television series created by Aaron Korsh and Daniel Arkin that premiered on
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
. It is a
spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
of the show '' Suits'' and stars
Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. Her starring roles include Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in the legal dr ...
, who reprises her role of
Jessica Pearson ''Suits (U.S. TV series), Suits'' is an American legal drama, created by Aaron Korsh. It premiered on USA Network in June 2011. The series revolves around Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a senior partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and his re ...
. It premiered on July 17, 2019. In October 2019, the series was canceled after one season. The series began streaming exclusively on
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
on August 31, 2023.


Premise

''Pearson'' follows "powerhouse lawyer"
Jessica Pearson ''Suits (U.S. TV series), Suits'' is an American legal drama, created by Aaron Korsh. It premiered on USA Network in June 2011. The series revolves around Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a senior partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and his re ...
, as she enters the dirty world of Chicago politics.


Cast and characters


Main

*
Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. Her starring roles include Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in the legal dr ...
as Jessica Pearson *
Bethany Joy Lenz Bethany Joy Lenz (born April 2, 1981) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is known for her portrayal of Haley James Scott on The WB / The CW television drama ''One Tree Hill (TV series), One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012). She also star ...
as Keri Allen *
Simon Kassianides Simon Mario Kassianides is an English actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Early life Kassianides was born in London, of Greek Cypriot origin, the son of Helen and Mario Kassianides, both business owners. Kassianides has an older ...
as Nick D'Amato * Eli Goree as Derrick Mayes * Chantel Riley as Angela Cook * Morgan Spector as Mayor Bobby Novak *Isabel Arraiza as Yoli Castillo


Recurring

* D. B. Woodside as Jeff Malone *
Wayne Duvall Wayne Dwyer Duvall (born May 29, 1958) is an American actor known for appearing as Homer Stokes in '' O Brother, Where Art Thou?'', as well recurring roles as the television series ''Billions'', ''The District'', ''The Leftovers'', '' BrainDead'' ...
as Pat McGann *
Betsy Brandt Betsy Brandt (born March 14, 1973) is an American actress. She is known for playing Marie Schrader on the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Heather Hughes on the CBS sitcom '' Life in Pieces'' (2015–2019). Early lif ...
as Stephanie Novak


Special guest stars

*
Gabriel Macht Gabriel Swann Macht (born January 22, 1972) is an American actor, widely known for his role as Harvey Specter in the USA Network series ''Suits (American TV series), Suits'' (2011–2019). Early life Macht was born in The Bronx, New York City. ...
as
Harvey Specter ''Suits (U.S. TV series), Suits'' is an American legal drama, created by Aaron Korsh. It premiered on USA Network in June 2011. The series revolves around Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a senior partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and his re ...
*
Rick Hoffman Rick Hoffman (born June 12, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for playing Jerry Best in the Fox sitcom ''The Bernie Mac Show'' (2002–2005), Chase Chapman in the ABC comedy series ''Samantha Who?'' (2007–2009) and Louis Litt in the USA ...
as Louis Litt


Episodes


Backdoor pilot (2018)

''For the backdoor pilot, "No. overall" and "No. in season" refer to the episode's place in the order of episodes of the parent series'' Suits.


Season 1 (2019)


Production


Development

On February 22, 2017, it was announced that
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
was developing a spin-off series of their show '' Suits'' set to star
Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. Her starring roles include Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in the legal dr ...
as her character Jessica Pearson. The spin-off had been talked about for about a year and a half prior to the announcement. Meetings and negotiations were reportedly in the preliminary stages with no deals with cast and crew members yet in place. The series was expected to be written by ''Suits'' creator and showrunner, Aaron Korsh, who was also expected to executive and showrun the potential new series. Production companies involved with the potential series were expected to include
Universal Cable Productions Universal Content Productions LLC (UCP) is an American television production company operating within the Universal Studio Group division of NBCUniversal, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. History Universal Cable Productions In July ...
. On March 1, 2017, it was reported that
Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. Her starring roles include Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in the legal dr ...
had signed a deal to produce the series, based on an idea she pitched to Universal Cable Productions, alongside Aaron Korsh. On August 16, 2017, it was announced that the season seven finale of ''Suits'' would serve as a
backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...
to the spin-off series. The episode was expected to be written by Aaron Korsh and Daniel Arkin, and be directed by Anton Cropper. Additionally, it was reported that executive producers for the new series would include Korsh, Arkin, Torres,
Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), '' Jumper'' (2008), '' E ...
, David Bartis, and Gene Klein. On March 8, 2018, it was reported that USA Network had given the production a series order. On May 14, 2018, Gina Torres announced at
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
's annual upfront presentation in New York City that the series would be titled ''Second City''. On January 17, 2019, it was announced that the series had been retitled ''Pearson''. On May 1, 2019, it was reported that the series would premiere on July 17, 2019. On November 1, 2019, the USA Network canceled the series after one season.


Casting

Alongside the report of her hiring as producer, it was confirmed in March 2017 that
Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. Her starring roles include Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in the legal dr ...
would officially star in the potential series. On November 10, 2017, it was announced that Rebecca Rittenhouse and Morgan Spector had joined the main cast of the series. On September 20, 2018, it was reported that Rittenhouse's role had been recast with
Bethany Joy Lenz Bethany Joy Lenz (born April 2, 1981) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is known for her portrayal of Haley James Scott on The WB / The CW television drama ''One Tree Hill (TV series), One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012). She also star ...
assuming the part. Additionally, it was further announced that Chantel Riley would reprise her guest role from the backdoor pilot in a series regular capacity and that Isabel Arraiza and Eli Goree had been cast in main roles as well.


Filming

Principal photography for the series commenced on September 20, 2018, in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Filming took place in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
during the week of October 15, 2018 with locations including the
Chicago Cultural Center The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building operated by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The Cultural Center houses the city's official reception venue, where the Mayor of Chicago, M ...
, Grant Park,
Chicago City Hall The City Hall-County Building, commonly known as City Hall, is a 12-story building in Chicago, Illinois, that houses the Seat of government, seats of government of the Government of Chicago, City of Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, Cook Coun ...
,
Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Chicago Loop, Loop Community areas of Chicago, community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in July 2004, is a prominent civic center near t ...
, and The Loop.


Reception


Critical response

On the review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the series has an approval rating of 72% with an average rating of 6.92/10, based on 18 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though ''Pearson'' trades the juicy intrigue of ''Suits'' for straightforward political drama, it works thanks to Gina Torres's commanding performance."
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 54 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


Ratings


References


External links

* * {{USANetwork Shows 2010s American drama television series 2010s American legal television series 2010s American political television series 2019 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings American legal drama television series American television spinoffs American English-language television shows Suits (American TV series) Television series by Universal Content Productions Television shows set in Chicago USA Network original programming