Viewers love sitcoms for their special blend of comedy, character, and drama. In many sitcoms, wacky and unrealistic characters find themselves in hilarious predicaments of their own making.
Sitcoms aren't usually very expensive, relying more on dialogue, and character and plot development rather than spectacular CGI scenes or settings. How much could it cost to produce a show where every episode is set in the same living room or coffee shop? Apparently, quite a bit.
Married...With Children - $1 Million Per Episode
This sitcom about a dysfunctional modern family portrayed the 'average' American household in a whole new way. The popularity of this show paved the way for The Simpsons, another depiction of an imperfect American family.
Loved for its sarcasm and bleak but comedic outlook, Married...With Children eventually ended in 1997. At that time, its budget per episode was $1 million. In today's dollars, that's about $1,650,000. In the final season, Ed O'Neill (Al Bundy) was making $500,000 per episode, fully 50 percent of the entire budget per episode.
How I Met Your Mother - $2 Million Per Episode
This popular show about the never-ending search for love in New York City went on for nine seasons. Its last season aired in 2014, with each episode costing about $2 million.
Having five main characters certainly contributed to the cost of the show, with each character earning $225,000 per episode, with the exception of Neil Patrick Harris (Barney Stinson), who earned $400,000. That means $1.3 million of each episode's budget went towards paying the show's core actors.
Arrested Development - $3 Million Per Episode
This show quickly became a cult favorite, but it didn't get the ratings it needed to stay on the air for more than three years. It was canceled in 2006, and fans were devastated. After cancellation, the show's popularity continued to increase, eventually leading to a revival.
When the show came back in 2013, it did so with a bigger budget, much of which went toward convincing the original actors to drop what they were doing and return to revitalize the sitcom. An episode in season four cost $3 million. The show went on to air for another six years before ending in 2019.
Seinfeld - $3.25 Million Per Episode
Ending in 1998 after nine seasons, Seinfeld was one of the most popular sitcoms of the '90s. Another show set in New York City, Seinfeld got its laughs from the everyday neuroticism and ridiculousness of its characters.
In its later seasons, it was costing about $2 million per episode to produce the show. In today's dollars, that amounts to just over $3.5 million. As with most sitcoms, much of the cost went straight to the actors who made the show so hilarious.
Cheers - $4 Million Per Episode
A beloved sitcom of the '80s and '90s, Cheers ran for 11 seasons, ending in 1993. At that point, it was costing $2.2 million ($4 million today) per episode to keep this show running.
It certainly wasn't the Boston barroom set that caused these prices. Actor Ted Danson, also of Fargo and CSI, was earning $500,000 per episode. Add in the rest of the regular cast members and you can see where the budget went.
The Tick - $5 Million Per Episode
This superhero parody is more of a sitcom than an action drama. Unfortunately, ratings weren't strong enough to keep this show airing beyond two seasons.
The high cost of creating superhero-worthy effects no doubt played a part in the economic decision to cancel this sitcom. Special effects, CGI, and green screen technology all contributed to this Amazon Prime original series costing $5 million to produce each episode.
Frasier - $7.3 Million Per Episode
While it began as a spin-off of Cheers, this show quickly became a unique sitcom about a psychiatrist with a radio show and his neurotic and narcissistic family.
The show ended in 2004, at which time each episode cost about $5.2 million to make. That is just under $7.3 million today. Frasier Crane actor Kelsey Grammer received $1.6 million per episode, making him the highest-paid actor in any of the sitcoms listed here. Add the other actors, including two dogs, who were each paid $10,000 per episode, and once again, you can see where the money went.
The Big Bang Theory - $9 Million Per Episode
For 12 seasons, this series kept fans laughing at the antics of four nerdy physicists. From 2013 to the show's finale in 2019, each episode cost about $9 million to produce. This was mainly due to the actors' high salaries.
The five main characters were each earning $1 million per episode by 2017. In an act of solidarity with their fellow actors, each took a pay cut of $100,000 in order to raise the salary of Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch, the actresses who play Amy and Bernadette. These supposed side characters had long been fan favorites, but were earning only about 30 percent of the salary their fellow cast members made.
Friends - $12.5 Million Per Episode
This classic sitcom set in 1990s NYC follows the trials and triumphs of six 20-somethings as they navigate life, love, and friendship. Friends is perhaps the most popular sitcom ever made, with a strong fan base continuing today.
At its peak, this show cost $10 million per episode to make, which in today's dollars comes to $12.5 million. $6 million of that went straight to the main actors who each had an equal salary of $1 million per episode by season 9.
WandaVision - $25 Million Per Episode
While WandaVision isn't exactly a sitcom, its main story is told through the sitcom's unique formula and style. Wanda Maximoff initially channels sitcoms such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, Malcolm in the Middle, and The Office in her creation of a perfect world for her family.
Marvel hasn't held back in the special effects department in its feature-length films, and its made-for-TV stories look to be no different. The incredible budget of $25 million per episode went mainly into the incredible movie-quality effects. Add to that a variety of sets, costumes, top-billing Avengers actors, and the fact that Vision required constant CGI enhancement, and you can see how this show became so expensive.