10 Most Expensive TV Show Pilots Ever
7. The Morning Show - $15 Million
In 2019, Apple TV+ joined the streaming wars with a slur of acclaimed original shows including Ted Lasso, Servant and Defending Jacob. Their most expensive entry to date has been The Morning Show, a drama series focusing on the inner workings of a daytime TV programme.
While it has received mixed to positive reviews, the series isn’t particularly flashy. There are no armies of stormtroopers or crashed planes to CGI in. So why did every episode of the ten-part series, including the pilot, cost $15 million to make?
Well, the bulk of that budget went into its impressive cast: Jennifer Anniston, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell, Billy Crudup and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, among many others. Actors like that don’t come cheap. As well as serving as executive producers on the show, Anniston and Witherspoon were each paid $2 million for each episode.
Excessive perhaps, but for Apple a necessary risk as they attempt to break into the industry and compete directly with Amazon, Netflix and Disney.