Three lawyers and a duchess walk onto a panel…
On Monday, the ATX TV Festival announced that it will be holding a five-year anniversary panel with the cast and creator of the USA Network show “Suits.”
The event will feature a conversation with creator and showrunner Aaron Korsh and cast members Sarah Rafferty, Patrick J. Adams and Dulé Hill. The festival’s announcement added that there is “more to be announced in the coming months.”
Before becoming world famous as one half of the “Harry and Meghan” power couple, Meghan Markle, 42, was best known for co-starring on “Suits” as paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane. However, it’s unknown if Markle will take part in the panel.
The Post has reached out to the ATX TV festival and Markle’s reps for comment.
“Suits,” which originally ran on USA for nine seasons from 2011 until 2019, is set at a fictional NYC law firm. The series follows Mike Ross (Adams), who talks his way into a job as an associate for attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), despite never having attended law school.
Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle in “Suits.” ©USA Networks/Courtesy Everett Collectio / Everett Collection
Meghan Markle as Rachel in “Suits.” ©USA Networks/Courtesy Everett Collection
Markle met and tied the knot with Prince Harry toward the end of the show’s run, and left it in 2017. She did not return for the series finale.
Over the summer, “Suits” saw an astonishing record surge in popularity when it hit Netflix.
The show snared an eye-popping 3.1 billion viewing minutes in its first week on Netflix and Peacock and 3.7 billion viewing minutes the following week — a streaming record for an acquired series (as opposed to a show produced by Netflix itself).
Patrick J. Adams as Michael Ross and Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Creator Aaron Korsh said that the public’s interest in Meghan Markle is partly to credit for his show’s surge in popularity. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Korsh told The Post that he thinks the show’s sudden newfound popularity is “a multitiered effect.”
He said that he started hearing from people who told them their teen kids “started watching the series — and now all their friends are addicted to it … like seniors in high school and freshmen in college. Somehow it got hot on TikTok and then, when it got on Netflix, they will suggest/push a show on you and that was a huge thing,” Korsh said.
He also said that public interest in Markle is also part of the reason for the show’s bump.
Rachel (Meghan Markle) and Mike (Patrick J. Adams) defend a client in “Suits.” Ian Watson/USA Network
“Suits” creator Aaron Korsh said he heard about teens on TikTok getting interested in “Suits.” NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
“And, obviously, there’s some component of people being fascinated to see what Meghan was like before she was married to Harry,” he said.
“Look, I love the fact that Meghan is now helping us. I think she did an amazing job on the show and I love that people can see her. The reason I don’t think that’s the only reason [for the viewership spike] is that she’s been married to Harry for many years and ‘Suits’ has been out there for many years — and, for whatever reason, people started watching it this summer.”
Earlier this month, Markle made it clear that she’s aware of the sudden new interest in “Suits.”
Meghan Markle is aware of the renewed popularity of “Suits.” NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Meghan Markle said Prince Harry was also “enjoying” the new popularity of “Suits.” NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
While attending Variety’s Power of Women event in Los Angeles, she said to Variety, “Isn’t that wild? It was great to work on, such a great cast and crew. We had a really fun time. I was on it for seven seasons, so quite a bit. But it’s hard to find a show you can binge-watch that many episodes of these days, so that could have something to do with [its new popularity]. My husband is loving it, too. It’s really fun.”
“Suits” executive producer Gene Klein told TVLine that if “Suits” got a revival, he “would assume” that Markle returning is “just not possible.”
But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t participate in a panel.
The ATX TV Festival will take place from May 30 through June 2, in Austin, Texas.
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