Some fantasy and sci-fi shows had grand intentions, but sadly not the money to realize them!
Getting the right budget is a literal make-or-break for a sci-fi/fantasy series. Too many shows that are already poor come off far worse thanks to not having the right amount of money. At the same time, some shows are just way too expensive to keep going, from the original Battlestar Galactica to Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
There are also numerous shows over the decades that never got anything close to a large budget (see the numerous British TV shows of the 1970s-90s). Many are able to use that to their benefit, relying more on writing and impact than fancy effects. However, these are a dozen shows that were good with great potential but lacked the budget to realize it, even if some can still find them enjoyable.
Lost In Space
The first season of this sci-fi show was pretty grounded, despite the story of a family sent on a wild space trip. It could be scary and serious at times, with Jonathan Harris’ Dr. Smith a sinister figure. When it switched to color, it also changed to a more campy style that would mar the show. More importantly, producer Irwin Allen subjected the series to some serious penny-pinching.
The series soon became infamous for laughably bad alien costumes, cheap effects, and using the same set for any random planet. It still had appeal with the cast and some fun with the stories, yet wasn’t as good as it might have been if Allen had just loosened the purse strings a little. The Netflix revival at least had more money to play with than the original show was denied.
Doctor Who
From the beginning, Doctor Who had to fight with the BBC over its budget, or lack thereof. To many fans, the cheap and cheesy effects, costumes, and sets are all part of the show’s charm and how it became a popular series. In fact, that’s why the TARDIS is always stuck as a police box; they couldn’t afford to change its appearance beyond its first episode.
That said, the lack of budget was always an issue with the series and not just in the effects. More than once, conflict with the BBC marred episodes, including outright canceling the program in 1989. The 2005 revival also encountered problems that hindered the storytelling. Whatever anyone else feels about the Disney-backed seasons, they finally gave Doctor Who the funding to be the fantastic cosmic adventure fans had waited for.
The Shannara Chronicles
An adaptation of Terry Brooks’ long-running fantasy series was a natural for television. But having it on MTV? The story was hampered from the beginning by a budget nowhere near what the tale needed. To be fair, they did well with what they had in distilling various elements of the novel for a YA audience and some decent action.
Yet it was clear the show couldn’t live up to its potential with the low FX and sets budget, going for the idea of “far future Earth” to justify using some modern-day buildings for several scenes. There was a lack of grandeur and real magic that no doubt played into the show, only lasting two seasons. Another network with a higher allotment would have aided the Chronicles in connecting with fans.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams’ beloved novel started as a radio show that became a major hit. The BBC crafting a TV version was only logical, and it did its best trying to replicate the offbeat humor and strange feel of the satirical sci-fi novels. This being 1981 British TV, the money and technology weren’t there to make the story work as well as the book.
The most obvious example is the blatantly fake second head for Zaphod and the early ‘80s graphics for the Guide itself. Oddly, the cheap effects may have served the story, as it’s just the offbeat touch Douglas would love. Still, it was hard to take a Galaxy filled with such cheap-looking effects and sets that didn’t do justice to this classic novel.
The Outpost
This highly underrated CW series did have some decent production in its later seasons. That overcame how cheap the first season was with blatantly obvious weak sets and a limited location. It’s a fun story with Jessica Green sensational as Talon, a “blackblood” whose quest for revenge against the men who wiped out her people throws her into a battle against various evils.
The series improved in its effects and storytelling and had a charm like the 1990s syndicated shows. Nonetheless, more money could have allowed it to look more polished and fit the bolder storyline in the final seasons. It remains a fine low-budget fantasy tale, yet The Outpost could have been seen differently with a budget fitting the epic tale.
Animorphs
The best-selling 1990s YA books got the TV treatment thanks to Nickelodeon. The show expertly adapted the books, in which a pack of teens is warned that alien parasites are staging an invasion of Earth. A friendly alien gives them the power to transform into animals to fight for Earth. The show sold the paranoia of the teens, unsure who to trust and fighting overwhelming odds.
The show utilized a lot of CGI morphing, which only proved how terrible that looked on cable TV in the mid-'90s. It needed a bigger FX budget to sell the morphing correctly, as well as make the aliens look more fearsome. Today, the show could shine with top-level special effects, but it was just made at the wrong time for the series to roar as it should have.
The Starlost
A lot of 1970s sci-fi shows had good concepts, only to be marred by nowhere near the money to live up to them. Few have proven this more than the often-forgotten 1973 Canadian show. Fleeing a doomed Earth, humanity resides in a massive 8000-mile spaceship comprised of 51 separate bio-domes. Over millennia, these biodomes have become their own civilizations, with the inhabitants no longer remembering they’re on a ship. That’s until two young people stumble onto the truth and on a quest to save the ship.
The series was created by sci-fi legend Harlan Ellison, only for him to fall out of favor with the network and remove his name from production. It’s hard to blame him, as high school AV clubs could put together a more believable production. The shame is that The Starlost had the ingredients to be a fine sci-fi show, and with a little more money, its reputation today would be far better.
Emerald City
It’s hard to figure out which was stranger: A fantasy steampunk take on The Wizard of Oz or the fact that it was airing on NBC in 2016. Perhaps that was a reason the series didn’t get to shine well as a place like Oz needs a huge allotment of cash to look cool, and the series didn’t get that. Too bad, as it had serious promise with a darker take on the property and some good actors.
This show would have been better on a streamer, as it could have not only gotten the larger budget but also more creative freedom to push the boundaries of the tale and embrace the weirdness of the source material. It was good for its short run, while NBC ponying up more cash might have helped this trip to Oz go on longer.
Space Cases
The late Peter David crafted this 1990s Nickelodeon series with a classic idea, as a pack of kids (with two teachers) are accidentally sent blasting across the universe in a spaceship run by a nutty android. The series’ low budget was obvious with props cribbed from other Nick shows, video game controls used for the ship, and cheap screens.
That may have added to the show’s cult following, but it also made it harder to get behind a series meant to explore the universe when it couldn’t show a realistic ship. It wasn’t helped by some executive meddling in the second season. It’s funny how it starred future Firefly star Jewel Staite, and even a slightly larger budget could have helped this show soar higher and longer.
Heroes
Heroes is often cited as a show that had a fantastic first season, only to swiftly go downhill. While there were various reasons, a chief one is that, bafflingly, NBC wouldn’t give their breakout hit a larger budget. The producers assumed they’d get it, planning an all-out massive fight to end the first season, only to be denied the money. That meant a lackluster finale that would set a poor tone for the show’s run.
True, the second-season writers' strike was a blow, yet NBC’s interference, combined with other issues, robbed Heroes of the fantastic fun of its first year. A prime example is a big fight scene happening off-camera because they didn’t have the money to live up to the fans' hopes for it. While Heroes had problems, not being able to afford showcasing this superpowered world contributed to the show’s downfall.
Legend of the Seeker
Loosely based on the novels by Terry Goodkind, this show was a late 2000s syndicated series, an automatic blow against it. The series' own DVDs detailed how they would simply rearrange sets to stand in for different villages and areas and the CGI work could be quite low. It’s a shame as the show improved in its first season with some good actors involved.
That second year was darker in tone and better action, while still looking like it was shot in the same three-mile area of Europe. Today, with the backing of a streamer like Netflix, the series could have lived up to Goodkind’s works and just maybe become legendary in its own right.
Star Trek
To wrap up the list is the pioneer of modern sci-fi TV. It’s true that Star Trek’s budget was pretty high for episodic TV in its time. It could be a help as they created the transporter effect, so they wouldn’t need to use model shuttles all the time. Regardless, for every good turn by the low budget, it also held the series back, which is why so many episodes use Earth-like settings and clothing.
It got worse for the third and final season, where budget cuts led to some of the show's worst episodes, like "Spock's Brain". The budget constraints may have added to Star Trek’s appeal over the decades, yet it has to be pointed out that a pioneer of sci-fi series didn’t have the money to realize its full vision in its time.