How These 10 Shows Managed to Become the Most Expensive Series in History

Best known for succeeding Steven Moffat on Doctor Who, Chris Chibnall also co-ran the Starz series Camelot, a historical drama fantasy about King Arthur's adventures. Often compared to Game of Thrones, the racy show received early praise, even nabbing an Emmy nomination.

But its success was short-lived and quickly fizzled out. Starz cancelled the series after one season, attributing its decision to production scheduling challenges within the star-studded cast, which included Joseph Fiennes, Eva Green, and Jamie Campbell Bower. Chibnall himself had left the show because of other writing obligations, claiming he did not know about the show's cancellation.

It's no secret that Netflix puts a great sum of money into developing premium content, spending $6.3 billion in original shows and acquired programming in 2017. That's why Netflix was the perfect playground for the Wachowski sisters, who had worked on the exorbitantly complex fantasy film Cloud Atlas, which had a $102 million budget.

In their ambitious show Sense8, eight strangers across the world find themselves emotionally and mentally connected. Given the scope and beautiful production of the series, it cost Netflix $9 million per episode. The series was cancelled after two seasons, but Netflix wrapped things up with a movie finale to appease fans.

Honestly, we expected Game of Thrones to be further up on this list, given its intricate set design and huge cast. The show puts a heavy emphasis on production value in order to excite and enthrall its fans, and by its sixth season, the show averaged about $10 million an episode.

Speaking with Deadline, cinematographer Robert McLachlan shared that the fantasy series would be spending more money than ever per episode in its seventh and eighth seasons. "Before, we'd have one or two showstopping, major episodes per season. This season, probably at least half of them are whoppers. They're not going to disappoint," the filmmaker said.

You might be scratching your head over this one. It's pretty hard to imagine how a true-to-life half-hour sitcom like Friends could cost so much to make. Well, each of the six cast members figured out their worth and brought home $1 million each per episode by the last few seasons. In 2002, the entire cast famously worked together to negotiate a deal so each actor would be paid equally — or else they would all leave the show.

The short-lived Netflix musical series was dropped before it even saw a second installation, becoming the first Netflix show to be cancelled after one season. (The first season was separated into two parts, which dropped months apart.) Detailing the birth of hip-hop, it was directed by Baz Luhrmann, who's known for his exaggerated and colourful style in movies like Moulin Rouge! and William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Luhrmann's signature cinematography added a few heavy dollars to the budget, but the most expensive part of the $120 million production actually came from using licenced hip-hop, soul, and R&B music.

Before the days of Grey's Anatomy and Chicago Med, there was ER, TV's longest-running medical drama. The show kept NBC viewership thriving, largely thanks to George Clooney's presence as Dr. Doug Ross. In order to keep Clooney around, NBC paid a whopping $13 million an episode for a few years. Luckily, the show later trimmed down its budget and managed to stay on air through its 15th season.