These days, media content can take many shapes, and one of the greatest ones is TV shows on your television. Each series' cost may vary and even a single TV show episode cost may reach astronomical heights, like millions of dollars. Some can even take the title of the most expensive TV show! But which series has the highest-cost episodes?
When talking about the cost of the episodes, it is important to understand the main competitors that we often see on the screen of our televisions. Some have decades of TV show content behind their name. It is not strange to hear a lot about the HBO TV Max shows. One might say that their reputation precedes them, with them being crowned as the kings of television. Others might still be building a name for themselves, like those of Apple TV shows. Powerful in their own way, they are still building up their content, investing more and more into individual episodes. While others find themselves in the middle, like those of AMC TV shows, which have garnered a strong cult following, and the invested money is seen throughout every episode broadcast.
But all of the attention is given to the individual series and their most famous episodes. These days, costs are climbing and the quality is just getting better. With the Lord Of The Rings show budget reported to be the highest on television, every episode is reported to be quite expensive. With Game Of Thrones’ cost per episode being “dethroned” by the Lord Of The Rings series, the list below might provide you an opportunity to see how much money the biggest budget TV shows spend on individual series. And, if you think the cost meets the quality, upvote it - if not, comment below which episode outshined it overall!
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#21 Game Of Thrones Season 1 — $6 Million Per Episode
A series renowned for its storytelling and the world of ice and fire, Game of Thrones has long stood atop the pinnacle of fantasy series. Given some of the more significant fantasy elements at the time, the HBO series Game of Thrones was allegedly only spending $6 million per episode when it premiered in 2011. The budget increased to $10 million for each episode for seasons 6 and 7 after the first five, then it increased to $15 million per episode for the last season.
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6points
#22 Breaking Bad — $3.5 Million Per Episode
Sometimes, when you want to portray the transformation of a simple guy to a full-blown scarface, you have to spend some on the needed budget. Before the curtains began to appear over the show's end, it was reported that the series cost an average of $3.5 million per episode.
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5points
#23 Married… With Children — $1 Million Per Episode
This is a legendary sitcom that had a legendary budget. Married with Children set the hallmark for future sitcoms, so it is not a wonder why this series had such a large budget for every episode.
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5points
#24 The Sandman — $15 Million Per Episode
When the fans have been waiting for decades to see the series, Netflix surely had to spend money to not let down the fans they have. An adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic books, proper visuals had to be created and presented to satisfy the needs of the fans.
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4points
#25 Star Trek: The Next Generation — $1.3 Million Per Episode
One of the greatest sci-fi series required one of the highest budgets too. Being loved by its fans and having a cult following behind it, it was a great start for the wonderful world that is Star Trek.
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4points
#26 The Big Bang Theory Season 11 — $10 Million Per Episode
From math, science, and history to the giant pyramids in Egypt, it all started with the Big Bang. During the 2016–17 season, The Big Bang Theory reportedly spent $10 million per episode, which was equivalent to the cost of one episode of Game of Thrones at the time. The Big Bang Theory's high production costs were primarily due to the $1 million per episode compensation of its stars.
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3points
#27 Lost — $4 Million Per Episode (The Pilot Cost Around $12 Million)
When you set your series on a remote desert island with a jungle surrounding your characters every day, the budget needed to create such a setting has to be big. With the pilot alone being reported to cost $12 million, each episode reportedly cost $4 million alone.
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3points
#28 Mad Men — $3 Million Per Episode
When talking about the 1960s world of advertising, you need flash and style to represent the time in the best way possible. The low viewership of Season 3's debut brought attention to the expensive cost of each episode, which reportedly averaged over $3 million.
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3points
#29 Fringe — $4 Million Per Episode
When a case must be solved, all help must come aboard in order to succeed. While not sci-fi completely, but still with elements of the otherworldly, Fox was reported to have spent $4 million per episode to engulf the viewer with great content.
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3points
#30 Vikings — $4 Million Per Episode
With historical Vikings being feared and almost thought of as legends these days, this show showed just how real they are. With stunning and historically accurate portrayals of once-feared Vikings, this series showed just how human they are and with only a cost of $4 million per episode, it showed.
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3points
#31 Halo — $10 Million Per Episode
Adapting a book is hard, but a video game is almost impossible. The costs that are generated to showcase the world of a video game only mount with each episode and with a budget of $10 million per episode, Halo stands out as one of the most expensive series and video game adaptations.
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3points
#32 True Blood — $5 Million Per Episode
With the vampire being the most popular creature in folklore, there was a need to bring it to the screen without watering it down to a mere monster. With a powerful cast and great visuals, HBO racked up quite a bill for this series, with an average episode costing $5 million.
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3points
#33 Frasier — $5.2 Million Per Episode
A spin-off of Cheers, this series' budget didn’t bring many cheers for the network behind the production. With an episode average of $5.2 million, most of it was spent on an expensive cast, some of whose members came from the original series.
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3points
#34 Altered Carbon — $7 Million Per Episode
Sometimes the money a network spends doesn’t always pay back, and the series can get canceled. With an average budget of $7 million per episode, Netflix felt the pinch and canceled the series.
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3points
#35 How I Met Your Mother — $2 Million Per Episode
A more modern take on a sitcom, How I Met Your Mother was able to create a place for itself in the history of great TV content. Using flashbacks and the present to tell a wonderful story, this series accumulated quite a budget during its run time.
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3points
#36 Bridgerton Season 1 — $7 Million Per Episode
When the love develops in the courts of London, money flows heavily, like a river. According to reports, each episode of Bridgerton's first season cost about $7 million. In the streamer's opinion, the show was well worth the money because it went on to shatter numerous Netflix records and become one of the most-watched programs ever.
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2points
#37 The Walking Dead Season 1 — $3.4 Million Per Episode
When the apocalypse envelops the world and the dead arise once more, don’t forget - you need a budget to capture it perfectly. Created by Frank Darabont, the Walking Dead series soon garnered quite a budget. Forbes estimates that the cost of the first season was $3.4 million per episode, while the cost of the second season was about $2.75 million for each episode.
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2points
#38 The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story — $6 Million Per Episode
When looking at true-life court cases, nothing engulfed the world like the trial of the century that was O.J. Simpson V. The People, and the budget surely proves it. With a $6 million episode budget, the show had quite the budget to utilize.
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2points
#39 Downton Abbey Series 1 And 2 — $1 Million Per Episode
When talking about royalty in the 1910s and 1920s, one cannot ignore the question of money and elegance. It was reported that during the production in 2011, the creators spent about $1 million to fully realize the contents of the adapted book.
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2points
#40 Orange Is The New Black — $4 Million Per Episode
It’s rare to see a series try to humanize the inmates of a prison, but this show succeeded with flying colors. With a need for a great set and a powerful cast of actors, the series averaged $4 million per episode to reach the needed effect.
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2points
