TV Flops That Cost Networks Big Bucks

No risk, no reward, right? But what happens when a network risks millions on a show about musical cops?

#TVShows #Networks #Fails

Sense8 | 0:00
The Get Down | 1:11
The Event | 2:13
The Fugitive | 3:18
The Star Wars Holiday Special | 4:15
The I-Land | 5:11
Troy: Fall of a City | 6:10
Utopia | 7:02
Cop Rock | 8:08
The Playboy Club | 9:01
Joey | 9:40
Good Girls Revolt | 10:39
Vinyl | 11:15
Bloodmoon | 12:22

Voiceover by: Dexter Manning

[Falcon]

I guess it was too old for you guys, but there was one series that crashed and burned so bad, that it almost took down the whole network that produced it. It was NBC's 1979 TV series "Supertrain". The train set alone cost over $5mil and the total cost of the 9 episodes came close to bankrupting NBC. None of the shows you have listed did that.

[Akira]

No mention of _Supertrain?_ It aired for 8 episodes on NBC in 1979, and was the most expensive TV show of its day. It flopped hard, and NBC nearly went bankrupt.

[butch]

Sense8 and The Get Down were both DOPE!!!🔥🔥🔥🔥

[LCpRickIlls]

There was a series on NBC called ‘Kings’ that stared Ian McShane. Apparently, the pilot alone cost 11 million to make and the higher scale of the rest of the episodes caused the network to cancel the series 2/3 of the way through the season, dropping the rest of the episodes online. It was pretty good to be honest, though yes, it was very clear it was expensive to make.

[MCSavdog]

The original Utopia is one of the greatest shows!

[Tony-qefl]

Mindhunter…
Definitely not a flop, but it was expensive af. And it still hurts that we won’t get another season.

[JMacify]

This is why I skip any new series on Netflix until there are a few seasons. I hate getting into a show and finding out it was cancelled after the first season like Netflix seems to do a lot.

[brianfuller]

Your headline was spot on. It is all about " No Risk No Reward" This is why television is risky.

[thatnerdyblackgirl]

I will never forgive fox for canceling the show "almost human"

You have JJ Abrams, Karl Urban, and Michael ealey in ONE badass sci-fi buddy cop show and they fuckin blew it.

[stanford-nfjk]

I was so excited for Vinyl. After the Scorsese directed pilot, the other directors tried to copy his style and it came off so tryhard-ish and pretentious.

[Hurbie_]

As long as we talk killed off shows after 1 season with insane cliffhangers: How about Ascension (2014)?

[jslb]

4:14 *A bunch of Nerds with a time machine plan to steal the tape before the Star Wars Holiday Special airs.*
*They then discover it's a Cannon Event In History.*

[kcindc]

Kinda surprised Pan Am (2011 - ABC) didn’t make the list. It was a staggeringly expensive series to produce.

[gretchenbaker]

Cop Rock was astounding!!! Even hearing the title makes me smile.

[matthewharris]

The days when a tv series ran for years is almost completely over

[MemBirdman]

Utopia was so good and came at such an unfortunate time. I easily recommend Utopia to anyone in the same way I still recommend Firefly, and I consider them to be two of the biggest lost opportunities in modern TV.

[caronstout]

Honorable mention: all the one season series during the early years of the Fox network...

[tomarnold]

I remember "Sense 8" well. It was a huge promotion because it was "by the creator of Matrix" and promised 8 seasons. It was a shit show after watching E02.

[EMtheBee]

Sense 8 was and still is breathtaking!

[GM_Joe]

the sad thing is the holiday special is cannon...they even mention Life Day in the first episode of the Mandalorian