The legal drama Suits -- one of my favorites -- returns for an eighth season at 8 p.m. Wednesday on USA. It'll be interesting to see how they deal with the departure of Patrick Adams and Meghan Markle as main characters Mike Ross and Rachel Zane.
In the Season 7 two-hour finale April 25, Mike and Rachel get married and decide to leave the Specter Litt law firm and move to Seattle where Mike will head a firm that specializes in class action giant killing -- his dream job.
In real life, Markle left the series because she had signed on with her new gig starring opposite Prince Harry as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Elsewhere in the finale, Rachel's father, Robert Zane (Wendell Pierce), agreed to join Specter Litt as a name partner and bring along enough of his senior partners to prevent a hostile takeover by former partner Stanley Gordon (Bruce McGill).
The second hour of the finale served as a backdoor pilot for Jessica Pearson's (Gina Torres) forthcoming spinoff, Second City. In it, Jessica agreed to work for the mayor of Chicago "to change things from the inside." The series doesn't yet have a premiere date, but I can't wait. I've loved Torres ever since she played Zoe Washburne on the late lamented Firefly.
There will be a new dynamic in Season 8 between returning cast members Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter, Rick Hoffman as Louis Litt and, my favorite, Sarah Rafferty as the indomitable Donna Paulsen, the firm's chief operating officer.
Now that Harvey has broken things off with Dr. Paula Agard (she made the mistake of forcing him to choose between her and Donna), Donna will no doubt play an even more important part in both his life and that of the firm.
All the above will be joined by Dule Hill, who is being promoted to a series regular as Alex Williams, and new addition Katherine Heigl as "the mysterious Samantha Wheeler" -- another ace lawyer who joins Specter Litt as a partner.
USA teases that Samantha "has wit, charm, loyalty, strength and vulnerability" and "will either become the firm's greatest ally or most powerful enemy."
Heigl, who won an Emmy in the role of Dr. Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy, was seen most recently in the NBC drama State of Affairs (2015) and the CBS legal drama Doubt (2017). The former was canceled after one season; the latter after only two episodes. Hopefully she'll have better luck on Suits.
• Netflix news. If you love Piper Perabo (Covert Affairs, Coyote Ugly), then Netflix has something in the works for you.
Netflix has announced that Perabo, along with JJ Feild (Turn), and newcomer Frankie Hervey, have been cast in the forthcoming original comedy series Turn Up Charlie.
They join series co-creator Idris Elba (The Wire, Luther) who plays Charlie, "a failed DJ trying to relaunch his career while working as a nanny for his superstar best friend's wild child 11-year-old daughter."
Perabo plays Sara, the superstar American DJ, feminist icon and trendsetter who has settled in London with her husband, David, in order to give their daughter, Gabrielle, more stability.
Hervey plays the wild and spoiled Gabrielle, who acts out in an attempt to get her parents' attention. Her "epic tantrums hide a lonely young girl."
Feild plays David, a beloved and successful Hollywood actor who returns with his family to his London roots. Hilarity ensues.
The series is currently in production in London. There will be eight half-hour episodes.
• PBS news. This is certain to please Jane Austen lovers. Masterpiece is teaming with ITV and Red Planet Pictures to bring Austen's unfinished final novel, Sanditon, to the small screen.
There will be eight hourlong episodes in the lavish period epic written by Andrew Davies, the acclaimed screenwriter who brought us War & Peace, Mr Selfridge, Les Miserables and Pride and Prejudice. Davies is working with Austen's original 11-chapter fragment that was written shortly before her death in 1817.
Sanditon tells the story of "the joyously impulsive, spirited and unconventional Charlotte Heywood" and her relationship with "the humorous, charming and slightly wild Sidney Parker."
Davies notes the tale has "a spirited young heroine, a couple of entrepreneurial brothers, some dodgy financial dealings, a West Indian heiress, and quite a bit of nude bathing."
"It's a rich, romantic, family saga built upon the foundations Jane Austen laid," added Polly Hill, head of drama at ITV. ITV has quite the track record, having given us Downton Abbey and Victoria.
We'll have plenty of time to anticipate Sanditon -- filming doesn't begin until next spring.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 07/17/2018