Over 400 TV shows are broadcast every year, and that means that competition for viewers
is fierce.
As a result, networks are often willing to spend big money on projects they think will
lure in the biggest audience.
They place their bets … and sometimes lose their shirts.
Here are some of the most expensive TV flops to ever have their plugs pulled.
Battlestar Galactica
Most people today know Battlestar Galactica as the marathon-worthy sci-fi series that
ran from 2003 to 2009.
Hardcore fans, however, might remember that the series originated in 1978… and tanked
in the ratings a year later.
Setting out to be a TV take on Star Wars, the original Galactica cost roughly $1 million
per episode—more than double that of a typical prime-time show at the time, and the equivalent
of over 3.7 million today.
At first, it was worth the price tag.
The series' early episodes attracted positive reviews and healthy ratings, but those ratings
eventually began to slip, and behind-the-scenes issues like censorship made production difficult.
Ultimately, Battlestar Galactica couldn't pull its weight as compared to other less-expensive
network hits such as ABC's own Mork & Mindy, and the show was canceled after a single season.
The network did give it another go with Galactica 1980, but that show only lasted ten episodes
before being decommissioned due to nonexistent viewers.
Supertrain
When it comes to expensive flops, you'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger trainwreck than
1979's Supertrain.
As you might expect from the title, the NBC show was basically just Love Boat meets Snowpiercer,
set on a massive, nuclear-powered locomotive featuring its own nightclubs and casinos that
could speed from New York to Los Angeles at 200 miles per hour.
The thing is, the train didn't actually exist, so the show’s creators used expensive model
trains while filming.
Unfortunately, the models weren't particularly durable, and one of them was destroyed in
a crash before the first episode was even filmed.
After the show debuted to downright terrible ratings, famous celebrities were brought on
to keep Supertrain on track.
Tony Danza, Rue McClanahan, and Dick van Dyke all made guest appearances, but even that
late ‘70s star power couldn’t stop Supertrain from going off the rails.
The show was canceled after nine episodes and remains one of NBC's costliest flops to
date at a reported $4 million an episode.
Father of the Pride
It makes a lot of sense that after Shrek raked it in at the box office, NBC was willing to
fork over big bucks to Dreamworks for a computer-animated show of their own.
It makes a lot less sense that they decided that the project that would be worth $2.5
million of their money would be a show that recast the white lions from Siegfried and
Roy’s famous Las Vegas magic act as a wacky sitcom family.
The result was Father of the Pride.
Unlike Shrek, which somehow spawned an unstoppable franchise that we just can’t seem to get
rid of, it failed to capture the hearts and minds of those who watched it.
It did, however, capture plenty of unwanted attention.
The Parents Television Council flooded the FCC with allegations that Father of the Pride
was indecent.
To make matters worse, the show came in hot on the heels of Roy being nearly mauled to
death when one of his tigers dragged him offstage by the neck, the first such accident in more
than 5,000 shows.
With all that stacked against it, it didn’t take long for NBC to make the show disappear
after only 13 episodes.
Viva Laughlin
When some shows get canceled, they leave viewers feeling like they missed out on something
good that never got a chance to shine.
When CBS dropped the hammer on 2007's Viva Laughlin, however, it was a mercy killing
that freed the audience from what the New York Times suggested might be “the worst
show in the history of television.”
Made in an effort to diverge from the standard lineup of police procedurals and grandparent-focused
sitcoms, CBS banked big on a remake of Viva Blackpool, a popular BBC show with a bizarre
premise: a murder mystery that would occasionally break out into elaborate musical numbers where
the cast sang pop songs.
[Singing] “I'm still standing bigger than I ever did/lookin' like a true survivor!"
Despite the presence of producer and star Hugh Jackman, critics and viewers alike hated
the casino-themed musical from the opening number.
Its ratings were dismal, and it quickly became a go-to punchline on the E! Network’s The
Soup as a show “beloved by hundreds,” which might’ve been overstating it.
After only two episodes, Viva Laughlin danced its way off airwaves, and with the pilot purportedly
costing $6.8 million, cutting losses early was probably the right call.
Camelot
As the first series ordered under Chris Albrecht, then newly crowned president and CEO of Starz,
hopes were riding high on 2011's Arthurian drama, Camelot.
According to Albrecht, the show was based on, quote, “an idea of hope that has resonated
at different times throughout history."
Unfortunately, 2011 was not one of those times.
Critical reviews of Camelot were less than stellar, but while the show still saw solid
ratings during its final episodes, Starz canceled the fantasy-drama after only one season.
Scheduling conflicts with lead cast members Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower, and
Eva Green made a sophomore effort more trouble than it was worth.
And it was worth quite a lot.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the series cost roughly $7 million per episode.
That’s a Lance-a-lot of money, huh?
Look, you can’t blame us for trying that one.
Kings
Betting on the star-power of Deadwood's Ian McShane, the writing prowess of American Gods'
Michael Green, and some assistance from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire director Francis
Lawrence, NBC seemed poised to hit it big with 2009's Kings, an ambitious drama reimagining
the life of the biblical King David in a modern setting.
The two-hour premiere cost a massive $10 million, with each subsequent episode coming in at
$4 million a pop.
With that kind of money behind a television series, you better believe the stakes were
high.
In this case, producers rolled snake eyes and cashed out with dismal ratings.
But Kings wasn't just costly for NBC.
Liberty Mutual invested a $5 million sponsorship into the show, reportedly aiming to subconsciously
piggyback on the show's message of personal responsibility to encourage viewers to buy
insurance.
With barely anyone watching the show, however, it's safe to assume Liberty Mutual didn't
exactly get what it paid for.
Kings was first banished to the dog days of summer before NBC officially called it quits.
Still, the show isn't as bad as its ratings imply, and it might be worth going back if
you missed it the first time around.
Marco Polo
Netflix is no stranger to dropping big money on big projects, but in the case of 2014's
Marco Polo, the series never really found its way to an audience, and wound up losing
big in the process.
At the time of Marco Polo's release, no active series was more expensive to produce, except
HBO's fantasy-juggernaut Game of Thrones.
The first season of Netflix's Kublai Khan-centered drama cost a staggering $90 million, which
weighs in at $9 million per episode.
Unfortunately for Netflix, Marco Polo never came close to Game of Thrones' success.
Despite lackluster critical reviews, Netflix gave Marco Polo a second season.
The sophomore effort was less popular than the first, prompting the streaming service
to give the series the axe.
(In this case, a 13th-century Mongol axe.)
[Thud, scream]
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