10 TV Shows Too Big To Fail (That Did It Anyway)

2. Terra Nova

Why It Was 'Too Big'

Steven Spielberg + dinosaurs! With Spielberg onboard as producer, Terra Nova went into Jurassic Park territory, telling the story of a family who flee an overpopulated and dystopian 22nd Century and attempt to set up a colony 85 million years in the Earth's past. Aside from having the cinema legend's name all over it, and the promise of both dinosaurs and time travel, Fox gave this a major marketing promotion, playing trailers in front of major cinematic releases and spending around $20m on the pilot episode alone.

Why It Failed Anyway

Despite all the money spent on it - including 250 sets and 400 extras for the pilot - the budget couldn't cover for one fatal flaw, which is that its human characters simply weren't very interesting. It's all well and good having some dino-action, which will sustain a two-hour premiere, but that's not enough to stretch out over 13 episodes.

With a clunky script stacked with terrible dialogue, reportedly stemming from some big behind-the-scenes problems, the show never became the ratings hit that its budget and talent suggested, and certainly didn't do well enough for Fox to renew it, with the series instead being binned after just one very expensive season.