A massive budget doesn’t always ensure that a show will be successful, but a few great shows have managed to live up to their exorbitant price tags. There have been plenty of big-budget TV flops over the years. Even the most expensive shows of all time can end up looking like costly duds. Citadel and The Rings of Power are just two recent examples of shows that have struggled to justify their immense costs. They could still turn things around, but reviews of their first seasons have been seen through the lens of their highly publicized budgets.
Big-name actors can quickly drive up a show’s budget, with the other main factors being costumes, locations, and the use of CGI. TV shows have been becoming more expensive in general in recent years, especially toward the top end. Some of the budgets for recent shows would have been unthinkable even ten years ago, underlining how the lines between prestige TV and film continue to blur. Expensive shows may be becoming more common, but the hit-rate suggests that money is no guarantee of success. There are only a few shows which fully justify their immense costs.
8 Friends (1994-2004)
$10 million per episode
- Cast
- Jennifer Aniston , Courteney Cox , Lisa Kudrow , Matt LeBlanc , Matthew Perry , David Schwimmer
- Seasons
- 10
- Where To Watch
- Max
In its last few seasons, Friends was extremely expensive for a sitcom. The show had six stars who were all absolutely pivotal to its success, and they worked together to negotiate for higher pay. Each Friends cast member eventually earned $1 million per episode. It’s rare for any TV stars to be paid so much, and having six actors earning such an amount of money in one show is unheard of. Friends was worth the incredible budget, however, and it remains one of the most popular sitcoms of all time.
7 Rome (2005-2007)
$9 million per episode
- Cast
- Kevin McKidd , Ray Stevenson , Polly Walker
- Release Date
- August 28, 2005
- Seasons
- 2
HBO’s historical drama Rome follows the lives of two ordinary soldiers as the Roman Empire rises from the ruins of the republic. Rome was an ambitious feat of TV storytelling at the time, and its commitment to historical authenticity required heavy investment. Rome‘s period-appropriate costumes and sets helped to create an immersive portrait of a tumultuous time in the history of the ancient world. It may have only lasted for two seasons, but Rome is still gaining new fans almost two decades later. It could be an ideal choice for a big-budget reboot.
6 Band Of Brothers (2001)
$12.5 million per episode
- Cast
- Kirk Acevedo , Eion Bailey , Michael Cudlitz , Dale Dye , Scott Grimes , Frank John Hughes , Damian Lewis , Ron Livingston , James Madio , Neal McDonough , David Schwimmer , Richard Speight Jr. , Donnie Wahlberg , Matthew Settle , Rick Warden , Marc Warren , Dexter Fletcher , Colin Hanks , Ross McCall
- Seasons
- 1
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu , HBO Max
HBO’s World War II miniseries was a defining moment in the early days of prestige television. With Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg as producers, Band of Brothers brought the scope and production values of cinema to the small screen. The Band of Brothers cast is stacked with talent, and many of the actors have gone on to achieve plenty of success in the last two decades. The cast isn’t the only reason for the show’s huge budget, though. Band of Brothers is an ambitious miniseries that required a lot of period costumes and props, and it was shot on location around Europe.
5 The Crown (2016-2023)
$14.4 million per episode
- Cast
- Claire Foy , Olivia Colman , Imelda Staunton , Matt Smith , Tobias Menzies , Jonathan Pryce , Vanessa Kirby , Helena Bonham Carter , Lesley Manville , Victoria Hamilton , Marion Bailey , Marcia Warren
- Seasons
- 5
Netflix’s The Crown has a massive budget, with the show sparing no expense in recreating historical events relating to the British royal family. Part of the enormous cost can be attributed to the show’s stellar cast, which includes Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce. But the main reason for the show’s inflated budget is its commitment to historical authenticity, which requires lavish costumes and locations. The Crown often uses CGI to mimic real-world locations that would never allow filming, such as Windsor Castle, and this also drives up the budget.
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4 Stranger Things (2016-2025)
$30 million per episode
- Cast
- Finn Wolfhard , joe keery , Jamie Campbell Bower , Brett Gelman , Caleb McLaughlin , Maya Hawke , David Harbour , Matthew Modine , Priah Ferguson , Gaten Matarazzo , Winona Ryder , Charlie Heaton , Sadie Sink , Millie Bobby Brown , Joseph Quinn , Dacre Montgomery , Natalia Dyer , Noah Schnapp
- Seasons
- 4
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
Stranger Things uses a period setting and plenty of CGI. Either of these things can make a show much more expensive to make, and combining them makes Stranger Things Netflix’s costliest show. Each season comes with a sizable increase to the budget, as Stranger Things has become Netflix’s flagship show and the cast have commanded higher salaries. It seems likely that Stranger Things season 5 could be its biggest yet. It may have a remarkably high budget, but Stranger Things has undoubtedly been a wise investment for Netflix. Finding a successor to the show could be difficult.
3 The Mandalorian (2019-)
$15 million per episode
- Cast
- Werner Herzog , Emily Swallow , Pedro Pascal , Nick Nolte , Omid Abtahi , Gina Carano , Carl Weathers , Giancarlo Esposito
- Seasons
- 3
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney+
The Mandalorian was the first live-action Star Wars TV show, so the franchise needed a hit. The show started off with an eye-watering budget as an indicator of how important it was to Disney+, but the payoff was well worth the investment. The Mandalorian doesn’t sacrifice any of the scale or sci-fi action of the Star Wars movies just because it’s on TV. The best episodes of The Mandalorian often tell perfectly contained stories that can serve as short films. Not every live-action Star Wars show has reached the same high standards.
2 Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)
$15 million per episode
- Cast
- Emilia Clarke , Lena Headey , Richard Madden , Michelle Fairley , Kit Harington , Maisie Williams , Alfie Allen , Peter Dinklage
- Seasons
- 8
- Streaming Service(s)
- HBO Max
Although its controversial final season may have tarnished its reputation somewhat, Game of Thrones is still a triumph of fantasy TV. Based on George R. R. Martin’s novels, Game of Thrones is an epic saga with dozens of important characters. The costumes, props and sets also added to the show’s huge budget, and the extensive CGI certainly didn’t come cheap. Game of Thrones is a great example of a boldly ambitious TV show. It used an enormous budget, especially in its later seasons, but this was necessary to treat the source material correctly.
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1 Loki (2021-2023)
$25 million per episode
- Cast
- Tom Hiddleston , Richard E. Grant , Erika Coleman , Gugu Mbatha-Raw , Sophia Di Martino , Owen Wilson , Wunmi Mosaku , Sasha Lane
- Seasons
- 2
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney+
Each of Marvel’s TV shows reportedly comes with a budget of around $25 million per episode. Not every one has been an equal success, but Loki was worth every cent. The MCU’s film budgets are consistently among the highest in the industry, so it makes sense that their TV projects would be just as expensive. Like the movies, Loki and other Marvel shows use a lot of expensive CGI and big-name actors, neither of which are cheap. Loki is an entertaining blend of comedy and action, but it also helps build on the rich lore of the MCU.
