1. Truthfully, Suits creator Aaron Korsh didn’t think he had much of a case when he shopped around his original script. As the writer’s strike was ending in 2008, Korsh’s agent suggested he turn his stories about former finance boss Harvey into a series. And as an aspiring comedy writer, he told The Hollywood Reporter, “I sat down to write something in the tone of Entourage that took place on Wall Street. What emerged when I was finished was an hourlong show. I wouldn’t say it was a thriller, but it was much more dramatic, with these plot twists and turns.”

Not expecting a winning verdict, he continued, “I certainly didn’t think in a million years that anybody would buy this show. I was just trying to write a sample that someone would maybe read and hire me off.”

Among the tweaks that were made when it was transformed into a pilot for USA: Protagonist Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and co. were switched from a team of investment bankers to a group of high-powered attorneys. “It raised the stakes,” Korsh acknowledged. Because now Mike, who hadn’t graduated college, much less passed the bar, wasn’t just lying his way into a lucrative gig, “he was committing a crime,” said Korsh, “and the law also gave us opportunities for all kinds of ethical dilemmas.”