A long journey of adventure begins when the budget for it is set. The Rings of Power is the most costly television program to date. According to Prime Video, the total budget of the program is currently at $715 million, with $465 million going to the first eight episodes alone.

A large hit for the Marvel Universe, Loki was able to capitalize on the previous Avengers movies by not only telling a wonderful story but by also getting a large budget to use up. Starring two powerful actors and having great special effects, Loki was able to rack up quite a budget for every episode.

Having the same budget per episode as Loki, Disney pulled out quite a lot of money for the series to be made. By only having six episodes overall and no box office to use to track the success, one can only wonder if the budget met the quality that was intended to be delivered.
 

With the series set in the American suburbs of the 1980s, for the setting to be felt, the budget had to reflect it. This most recent season of Stranger Things, one of their most expensive seasons to date, reportedly cost Netflix $30 million per episode. The visual effects most certainly consumed a large portion of the budget. Season 4 was also broken into two parts due to the intricate visual effects and their time-consuming nature.

Creating a fantasy using your head and engulfing many different Marvel characters required a budget to support such a venture. WandaVision, the second MCU Disney+ series that was originally planned, had a pre-production budget of $25 million for each episode. One of the first significant Disney+ and Marvel shows was also this one.

Combining the mighty Falcon with the shadowy figure of the Winter Soldier, the series budget soon began to rival the very expensive Marvel movies. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier received a $25 million per episode budget from Marvel and Disney. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was planned to be the first MCU original show on Disney+ before the coronavirus outbreak halted production.

A spin-off of Game of Thrones, its budget per episode only got bigger as the network doubled down on this new series. The first season of this Game of Thrones spinoff reportedly reached a $200 million budget. Only $5 million more is spent on each episode of House of the Dragon than on the Game of Thrones season finale.

When Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are involved, you can be sure that the budget will skyrocket to explore a historical event fully. Set during World War II in the Pacific theater, the set designs alone added up to an enormous $20 million per episode.

Being set in the fantastic universe of Star Wars and following in the footsteps of The Mandalorian, this series required quite a large budget. With an assortment of costumes, expensive sets, and wonderful visuals, it is no wonder that the budget per episode reached such great heights.

As far as Disney+, The Mandalorian was able to catch the attention not only of the many fans and new arrivals but also the eye of the budgeting team. An estimated $15 million was spent by Lucasfilm and Disney on this series.

When you want to come out big and strong, you have to spend quite a lot on the series you are developing, and Apple TV surely followed this saying. The first big series of Apple TV, when The Morning Show was first announced, it was given two seasons, therefore Apple reportedly invested $300 million in the show at launch.

For the crown to lay heavily on the head, the budget must lay stronger. The Crown was the most costly Netflix original series at the time of its debut in 2016; it is said that Season 1's budget was £100 million. When it was discovered that Claire Foy received less compensation than Matt Smith for playing Queen Elizabeth II, information about the price of the first two seasons became public.

Sometimes the location is what contributed most to the series. See, filmed in the beautiful Vancouver nature, stars not only an A-list actor but also a powerful director behind the camera. With a budget of $15 million per episode, See is a stunning piece of media.

For a long time standing as the most expensive series on TV, Band Of Brothers is the masterpiece created by the world-famous Steven Spielberg. Set during World War II, this series hosted a powerful cast, realistic outfits, great action sequences, and beautiful sights to enjoy.

When strange knights, in the form of a witcher, and witches with powerful magic are involved, you can expect quite a budget to follow them. Netflix is said to have spent between $70 million and $80 million on the first season of this popular show. Most of it went to the great visual effects.

With doctors being the heroes we all await, one needs to represent them correctly on the screen of the television. A record-breaking series that NBC wanted to keep under its umbrella, the average cost of each ER episode was under $2 million.

While friends can be selected and chosen, the budget for them won't always come cheap. NBC agreed to pay Warner Bros. $10 million per episode, which was a hefty sum for a 30-minute comedy, to renew the show for one more season. The cast members' salaries, which at the time averaged $1 million per episode, were paid in part by the budgets.

What happens when you mix an anti-superhero show and TV? A need for a large budget to use. With $11.2 million per episode, most of the budget was spent on the superb action scenes seen in the series.

When you want to explore the rise of hip-hop artists in the 1970s, a huge budget might not always mean a good series. Having a high budget and being well received by the critics, it was too much of a risk for the rising network behind the production.

While the Wild West is expensive on its own, by adding robots and fake-tech engineering, Westworld started to build up quite a bill. With the budget for every episode being so large, it's not so strange that the network behind it decided to stop its production after four strong seasons.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
 

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.

While the Wild West was wild for its outlaw activity, the budget for this series was wild for other reasons. Historical costumes, props, horses, and other expensive elements soon brought the average budget of an episode to $4.5 million.

Set in the United States of America during the costly era of prohibition, the need for authenticity and strong actors showcased just how much HBO was willing to spend to bring the era into the screens of televisions. With Martin Scorsese behind the series, this series racked up an average of $5 million per episode.

He came, he saw, he conquered - a perfect description for the Rome series. Set in Ancient Rome and exploring the lives of the two most famous Roman rulers, this series’ costs came from the perfect cast, realistic costumes, and expensive sets.

With Ancient Rome providing us with so many historical figures to learn from, one outshines them all - Spartacus. Boasting gorgeous costumes, fights, and parties, the cost average of an episode reaches the massive $2 million mark.

With Pablo Escobar being once reported to be the richest criminal in the world, the series that portrays his life had to boast a high budget too. Set in Colombia, it is reported that the first season cost $25 million, or $2.5 million per episode.

Fox being quite a famous network to watch shows on, it is not strange that the budget was huge. With $14 million alone being spent on the series pilot, the episode average reached $4 million.

With vampires and werewolves living in a small town, the correct budget had to be drafted to meet the expectations. With focus given to makeup and practical effects, the average cost of an episode reached $4 million.

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.

While movies are able to provide the look of a detective's everyday life, True Detective was able to reveal the world that the detectives live in. With a budget of $4-4.5 million per episode, this anthology series had the chance to showcase a variety of powerful actors and directors.

When a history adaptation is involved, be ready to bring out the wallet to support the production. With a series like this, where props are up to par and the cast is phenomenal, you can be quite sure that the $5.7 million average budget surely paid off in full.

When imagining the gilded era, it is not rare to think of luxury and outstanding set designs. An expensive adaptation of that era, this series cost the network an average of $7 million per episode.

Sometimes, facing the past is the hardest thing one can do. Hosting a talented cast and crew, this series accounted for $7-8 million per episode, and the filming location, the Florida Keys, accounted for a big part of the budget.

Combining the Marvel superheroes from different TV shows, this series is surely on the more pricey side. With Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist being the main characters of the series, the main budget was spent on the many great fights shown on the screen.

A sci-fi grounded to earth, Sense 8 effectively used its budget to showcase the powerful story. Taking place around the globe, most of the budget was spent on the licenses needed to film at various locations around the world.

It's a tradition that when you make a period piece for television, be sure to carry a full wallet with you. Being set in a fantasy world, a lot of the budget had to be spent on the modeling of many different creatures and great magical special effects.

When talking about HBO shows, this network is not ready to hold back its punches on the budget side of production. An episode of Insecure reportedly cost $3.5 million to produce in 2017.

With Daredevil being one of the hallmarks of the Marvel roster of heroes, it was necessary to portray him in the best possible way. Costing $3.3 million per episode, with a $40 million budget per series, most of that budget was spent on rights and visuals of the show.

Politics can become mundane, with the bureaucracy involved, but the most exciting part hides between the sheets of paper. Set in Washington DC, this series, with its intrigue and beautiful visuals, brought the budget to a large sum of $4.5 million per episode. And you can tell that it paid off.

This series proves that superheroes can come from anyone, even from an ordinary person. While not commercially successful, the network behind The Tick didn’t hold back. With $5 million spent per episode, this series proved that money doesn’t mean success.

A military and espionage-packed series, Jack Ryan is filled to the brim with awesome stunts and beautiful locations. With John Krasinski taking the main role of a CIA analyst, and with most of the visual effects being practical, one can be sure that the $8 million per episode mark surely paid off for this series.

While looks might mean a lot for some, for others - it’s just a part of the overall picture that makes a series perfect. Being a heavily dramatized series, Marco Polo couldn’t be saved by the beautiful costumes and cinematography and it drowned in the sea of mediocre success.

Knights and a medieval setting do not come cheap, so it is not strange that the Camelot series accumulated a cost for the network. While it shined bright, it quickly died out, leaving only the cost of $7 million per episode.

While HBO has a record of wonderfully produced series, sometimes, not everything works out as it should. A financial letdown, Vinyl had some creative problems, and that's why it is not strange why HBO canceled it, even when they spent $7.5 million per episode.

When you want to go big - you have to spend a lot on the budget. Amazon didn’t hold back and they spent a lot to adapt The Wheel Of Time books for the television screen and, if the reports are correct, they are prepared to spend even more.