I absolutely love television, but I’ll admit that I’m constantly surprised by how much money the networks will allocate to individual episodes for a series. I first became aware of these ridiculous average episodic amounts with Game of Thrones (which makes this list) because the giant battle scenes looked so well-done that I knew they had to have cost a ton of money. I was definitely surprised with what I found relating to the money going into television shows because I hadn’t even heard of a couple before this, but it was still interesting. Here are the ten most expensive television shows of all time.
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
10. Sea Patrol – $1 Million per episode
Being an Australian show might answer why I’ve never heard of Sea Patrol before; however, the show began in 2007 and finished a couple of years ago in 2011 with a decent 68 episodes. The show was a drama focused on the lives of fictional crew members aboard the Royal Australian Navy. Each season a conflict would arise that breaches the laws of Australia and is slowly resolved throughout the duration of the season. Sea Patrol ran for five seasons with each episode costing $1 million, which, at the time, was apparently over double the episodic budget of any Australian drama.
Photo by John Stanton/Getty Images
9. Father of the Pride – $1.6 Million per episode
In what is considered to be one of the biggest flops on television, Father of the Pride ran for only 14 episodes at ambitious $1.6 million for each, totaling to a waste of $22.4 million for NBC. The show had a decent cast, featuring voices from famous celebrities John Goodman, Cheryl Hines, and more, but just never panned out. The animated series focused on a pack of lions, one of which was the star in Siegfried and Roy’s Las Vegas show, and their daily lives. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of Dreamworks Animation, once went to see Siegfried and Roy where he thought about what it would be like in the shoes of the show lions, but despite having a powerhouse animation company creating the project, it just never took hold.
Photo via Fanpop.com
8. ER – $2 Million per episode
Now here’s one that I never watched, but definitely know about; ER, the classic medical drama based on a made up hospital in Chicago that ran for over 10 years on NBC. ER was a massive show (which is apparent through how long it was on the air) and the filming location was actually an abandoned hospital in Los Angeles. Michael Crichton originally created the idea after he worked in a hospital and clearly gained a sense for just how hectic things can really become.
Photo by NBC/Getty Images
7. X-Factor USA – $3.5 Million per episode
I was slightly shocked to not see any reality or live television shows on this list until now, but it certainly makes sense. Nowadays, all of the live talent competitions have to have big budgets because they are always trying to put on the biggest and flashiest show that they can. The X-Factor was created by Simon Cowell and took the same idea that American Idol had with searching for the latest young talent, but allowed him to have a little more control. The largest monetary cost for most reality shows actually goes towards paying the celebrities that they bring on to judge the competition, and The X-Factor has had the likes of Britney Spears, Paula Abdul and Demi Lovato on in that role.
Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images
6. Terra Nova – $3.9 Million per episode
Ah, Terra Nova… I remember you. Back in 2011 this show ran on Fox and revolved around a family (and other people) who traveled back in time to the age of the dinosaurs with hopes of establishing a community in the past where the Earth’s resources are not running dry. The show definitely seemed cool, and I know plenty of people who enjoyed it, but it ended up costing a lot between multiple filming locations all around Australia and the large amount of post production to bring everything to life. Terra Nova was cancelled after its first season and each episode ended up costing $3.9 million, which was way more compared to other shows.
Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
5. Lost – $4 Million per episode
Lost was one of the first television shows that really hooked me on just how crazy a story can get. The show cost a ton of money mainly because it featured a cast full of 70 actors while also filming in Hawaii! The pilot episode alone ended up costing $11.5 million dollars but ended up pulling in an average viewer amount of 15.69 million per episode. Lost is considered to be one of the best shows in the history of television, but it was definitely a giant financial risk for ABC but ended up panning out and delivering 6 seasons with a total of 121 episodes.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
4. Deadwood – $4.5 Million per episode
Deadwood was an HBO series that ran for three successful seasons back between 2004 and 2006. It focused on westward expansion into Dakota and combined a bunch of fictional and historical people to create one awesome show about the past. The show ended up just costing too much in production between the costumes, set, and (similarly to Lost) its cast.
Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images
3. Game of Thrones – $6 Million per episode
Game of Thrones has been one of the top television shows since its creation many seasons ago. Based off of the book series by author George R.R. Martin, HBO created a powerhouse smash hit with the show that seems to gobble up more and more money with no complaints. The show has 275 actors, films in locations all over the world, and has a very intricate costume and set design. As if that weren’t enough, the massive battles and post production must cost a ton as well, but I don’t think anyone is complaining about this one…
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
2. Rome – $9 Million per episode
Following up with another HBO show, Rome, lasted two seasons and cost a ton of money divided up toward a huge set, tons of costumes, and an insane amount of CGI to bring this glorious age to life. As seen with most HBO shows, they aren’t afraid to toss around big money for something that will be a hit, and Rome generated such a buzz that once again the large budget seemed worth it.
Photo by Handout/Getty Images
1. Friends – $10 Million per episode
Rounding out the list at number one is none other than Friends. The massive show that ran for ten years and is loved by many everywhere. While the show itself was simple to create, the actors earned more and more money as their fame increased and the show stayed on the air. In the final season, each of the main cast members was receiving $1 million per episode which adds up to $120 million.
Photo by Getty Images
