The most expensive shows on TV (and the even pricier ones on the way)

House of the Dragon costs “under $20 million”

So Game of Thrones was, at one time, the most costly show in the world. Will House of the Dragon, HBO’s upcoming prequel show, inherit that crown?

As it ends up, no — in fact, it won’t come close — but it does cost more than its predecessor ever did. According to Variety, the Game of Thrones prequel show will cost “under $20 million” per episode. As expensive as that is, it makes sense; one of the biggest expenditures on Game of Thrones were Dany’s dragons, and they had relatively little to do until the final couple of seasons. But as the title suggests, House of the Dragon will heavily feature dragons, and will need a budget big enough for their prodigious appetites.

The full title of that Variety article is, “How HBO Kept ‘House of the Dragon’ Costs Under $20 Million per Episode.” That title is very strange to me, because it’s phrased in a way to suggest that HBO is making House of the Dragon for a steal, as if $20 million per episode isn’t a f**kton of money that would have made executives’ heads explode had it been suggested just a few short years ago.

The article explains that HBO has managed to keep costs this…ahem…low because at this point the network is adept at making these elaborate world-building dramas, not just thanks to Game of Thrones but also His Dark Materials and Westworld. That may be true, but the framing of the article suggests how far the goalposts have shifted. If $20 million per episode is considered cheap, what must some of HBO’s competitors be spending?