With Netflix and HBO taking over and becoming the world’s leading production companies, TV shows have become rather expensive to produce. Some of the recently released ones prove this, e.g. “The Get Down,” “The Crown” or highly popular “Game of Thrones,” all of which required a huge budget for production.
According to Time, the following seven TV shows are the most expensive ones ever. The report is based on the costs for individual episodes. Depending on the series, different factors contributed to the eye-watering amount of money needed for their production (numerous reshoots, exotic locations, stars’ salaries, etc.).
The last on the list is Netflix’s sci-fi drama “Sense8”, created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski. The series revolves around eight strangers who eventually become emotionally and mentally linked for no clear reason. It has been reported that they needed $9 million per episode to make this show.
Both “Rome” and “Game of Thrones” cost $10 million per episode, but it could be said that spending so much money on “Rome” didn’t really pay off, as the series was not well-received and it was canceled after only two seasons.
There’s one more series that was estimated to have cost the same amount of money – many people’s all-time favorite sitcom “Friends.” However, it is important to note that in this case, the costs did not escalate because of the production alone, but the six stars’ salaries (believe it or not, each of them made $1 million per episode).
The next on the list is “ER,” a medical drama which stars Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, and Sherry Stringfield. They spent $13 million per episodes when making this series.
The top two of the most expensive shows ever are two Netflix’s dramas, “The Get Down” ($120 million for the first season) and “The Crown” (the first season cost $130 million). Reaching the unbelievable $130 million, “The Crown” has become the most expensive series ever.
