2. Friends - $10 Million Per Episode During The Final Seasons
NBCTo be fair, overall this show did not cost as much to produce as others ranked lower on this list. However, its tenth and final season cost around $10 million per episode to make. This is even more astonishing when you take into account the fact that it dealt with a group of friends in modern day New York and the sets mostly included their apartments and a coffee shop. There were no lavish historical sets, no elaborate costumes, no exotic film locations to worry about. So where did all the money go? To the actors, of course. All six main cast members of the show were, at the time, among the highest-paid TV actors in the world. At its peak, each one demanded $1 million per episode. They even signed a collective salary agreement that ensured that they were all paid the same. Overall, the final season cost around $180 million to make. It would blow the other shows out of the water if costs would have been the same for all seasons during its 10-year run. However, the expenses started climbing incrementally. Initially, each actor was only paid $75,000 per episode but the huge success of the show allowed them to become more demanding. At the same time, NBC was not eager to give into their demands, but also did not want to do anything to jeopardise its cash cow so the huge budgets became an acceptable expense to deal with.