After a long and tiring day at college or work, most of us come home, eat lunch or dinner, turn on the TV and enjoy an episode or two of our favorite TV dramas. However, with all the advancements in technology, as well as the lack of it back in the day caused some of the series pilots to be extremely expensive – and when we say expensive, we mean millions for one pilot.
If you have been asking yourself about the most expensive pilots ever, do not worry, this article has got the answers. The text below is going to feature a list of the most expensive premiere episodes to date, and since no viewing experience can be good without a strong signal, it will also feature a short guide on what you can do to improve it. Let’s take a look:
1. “Lost”
Release Date: September 2004
Pilot Price: Approximately $13 Million
Let’s be honest, it is quite logical that this pilot cost so much. The developers had to create a realistic representation of an airplane crash, which is one of the reasons why this premiere episode cost so much money. But, they have proved that they spent their cash wisely since they returned a lot more than they spent.
The show went on to last more than 10 years, it was recorded mostly in Hawaii, and it has 6 complete seasons. During the series, it has won a wide range of awards, and although it has long been over, the fans are still obsessing over it, even decades later – which is quite logical because the show is completely mysterious and people are still cracking some of the hidden meanings even today.
2. “Boardwalk Empire”
Release Date: September 2010
Pilot Price: $18 Million
You must admit it, Boardwalk Empire is simply a work of art. It is set in a realistic world representing the prohibition period in Atlantic City. This is the most expensive first episode on this list, however, although they have invested more than 18 million dollars in it, it was a major success all over the world.
Season one of this interesting facts-meet-fiction drama is critically renowned and it had some major commercial success. Each of the following episodes had more than 15 million viewers, and while in the process of recording, the series has won numerous awards, including several Golden Globes.
3. “Rome”
Release Date: August 2005
Pilot Price: $10 Million
This series depicts the ancient history of Rome. And yes, you have guessed it right. It is filled with some of the most amazing sets you’ll ever see – some are even better than what you have seen on, for example, “Game of Thrones”. After all, it is ancient Rome, and not having large and glorious sets would be extremely inappropriate and weird.
Like all the other shows on this list, this one also earned a lot of fans and lovers all over the world, but, it soon met its demise after only two seasons. You see, the costs always kept rising, which is something the production company did not like, hence, they chose to cancel it after nearly a year.
4. “The Fugitive”
Release Date: October 2000
Pilot Price: Over $6 Million
No, we are not talking about the super famous movie “The Fugitive”. Here, we are talking about a TV show that was based on that super famous movie. However, a lot of fans and audiences worldwide did not like the fact that the fugitive is not the young and handsome Harrison Ford.
The series, which CBS claimed to be a series that you cannot miss seeing in the new millennium barely managed to stay on track for a full season, which is probably one of the reasons it was canceled as soon as the last episode aired. Of course, there were fans who wanted more, but, it turns out it was not worth it.
What to do When The Signal Gets Bad?
Now, I do not know about you, but I absolutely despise it when I turn on the TV and see the “No Signal” message displayed. It almost makes me sell my TV. However, once I learned a few simple tips and tricks for improving the signal, as well as when I took care of my aerial, everything ended up being fine. The things you can consider doing includes:
- High, Higher, The Highest – the first thing you should consider doing is relocating your satellite dish to a higher place. This means that you’ll need to get your ladder, take it off, and then place it back on higher up. If you are not comfortable with this you can always opt for professional services such mikeharrisaerialandsatellite.co.uk that’ll help you set everything up.
- Remove Metal Objects – removing metal objects can be an easy way to improve and even boost your signal. Metal can disrupt your signal which can cause a bad or nonexistent image, hence, get up on that roof and remove anything that is made from metal. If you have an attic and if your dish is placed above it, ensure that your roof structure is not made from metal since you definitely won’t be able to watch TV.
- Check All of The Cables – you might want to check the cables all over your house, as well as inside of it. For instance the weather conditions such as rain, snow, and wind, as well as pests might have damaged them, so, you’ll need to replace them. Additionally, the ones in your home might not be properly plugged in, which can easily cause signal loss.
- Re-tune The TV – you can also try the re-tuning option on your TV. Set-top boxes are somewhat like our browsing history – when it gets filled with cache it gets slow. And, by re-tuning it, you’ll be able to clear all the accumulated cache and improve the working condition of your set-top box and TV.
Conclusion
As you can see, there were some really expensive TV series pilots in history. Of course, there will probably be some that are even more expensive, however, we’ll need to wait and see what some production companies have to offer. So, now that you got the answer to your question, do not lose any more time. Instead, find the pilots, watch them, and determine whether or not the producers spent their money well!
Also, we suggest you check more about film production London here.
