11 Times TV Shows Changed Plot Due to Low Budget

Frank Darabont, the developer and executive producer, brought The Walking Dead from comics to the screen.The Walking Dead Fans and cast members felt nervous when Frank Darabont was fired. Rumors spread that AMC spent its budget on Mad Men.Mad MenThis meant Breaking Bad and TWD would suffer the consequences.Breaking BadandTWDwouldsuffer the consequencesThis choice caused consequences. According to The Hollywood Reporter,The Hollywood Reporter:

Sources say that in the fall of 2010, AMC announced they would cut the second-season budget per episode by about $650,000, dropping it from $3.4 million to $2.75 million.

The writers had to rethink the season's plot. This made most of Season 2's action happen on a farm. Still, the show kept viewers for many more seasons.

No writer on Star Trek: The Next Generation had anything good to say about the show's Season 2 finale.Star Trek: The Next Generationhad nothing good to say about the show's Season 2 finale.Season 2 finaleCommander Riker got a bad alien virus, leaving him in the sickbay. Dr. Pulaski figured out the commander's only hope was to recall his painful memories. This episode became the series' first clip show because they went over budget earlier in the season.

Director Rob Bowman admitted this fact in the 1995 bookCaptains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages: "Paramount said, 'We gave you more money for "Elementary, Dear Data" and the Borg show. Now do us a favor and give us a three-day show.' That is how you operate in this medium."

LostLost was initially well-received because it was completely different from other shows airing at the time. However, the plot and creative decisions eventually made many fans suspicious that the writers and directors were just flying by the seat of their pants. Executive producer Damon Lindelof sat down toExecutive producer Damon Lindelof sat down to answer some of the fans' burning questionsin 2009 and discussed the team's creative process:

We had to make things up as we went. Adewale (Akinnuoye-Agbaje) wanted to leave, or the Nikki and Paolo idea failed, or we lacked an end date, so we had to adapt. We also went over budget, forcing us to cage characters for four episodes straight. We adapted to real-world situations. But creatively, a plan always needed to exist.

Saving money on a show means completely lifting a chase sceneand using it for your own. This was the plan for the 1978 TV seriesand using it as your own. This was the plan for the 1978 TV seriesThe Incredible Hulk.The production team chose to use footage from Stephen Spielberg's made-for-TV film debut, Duel, instead of spending money filming a new scene.Duel.

The show featured strange car scenes. Lone drivers appeared where there were originally two. Some characters wore clothes identical to those seen in another show.Duel.The production saved money with this stunt, but they faced criticism.

Many children have good memories watching this.Mighty MorphinPower Rangers, the show was not original.Many combat scenes and plot points came straight from a Japanese show calledSuper Sentai.

This cost-cutting move padded the plot and added fight scenes without extra cost. Each episode cut out anything too Japanese and removed excessive bloodshed or weirdness.

Showrunners did not care about the footage they used. They only needed enough material.MMPRThe showrunners cut out monsters or whole scenes after filming in America. This caused confusing plots and unhappy fans.

Many non-network shows in the 1950s stretched their budgets. They found ways to save money.Adventures of SupermanThe same happened with Adventures of Superman. The production team developed creative time-saving methods..Most actors wore one costume for every scene. This meant they avoided worrying about wardrobe changes or continuity. They filmed few flying sequences and used them over and over, sometimes for 30 to 40 seconds.

One change shows in an episode where Superman changes direction while flying. Video editors simply flipped the film, making the "S" on his uniform look backward.

Gene Roddenberry createdStar Trek, had much to manage when figuring outtravel specifics. He designed a beautiful ship and an amazing story for it. Smaller details proved harder, like landing the hugeEnterprise on the ground in every episode. The transporters, a key Star Trek tech item, were just an afterthought to fix a budget problem.Star TrekThe transporters were merely a solution to a budget issue.

With the transporters, the show never worried about landing theEnterprise, saving the production money and time.

R.J. Stewart and Rob Tapert wroteXena: Warrior Princess, wrote a storyabout a modern Los Angeles high school student, Cyane, trying to become a cheerleader. Meanwhile, a female warrior tries to save her tribe by summoning the legendary warrior, the Atma. Instead, they get Cyane.

The teenager cannot fight, but she helps the tribe negotiate. The pilot might have failed to make the series, but why waste a good story? The pilot was reused to save money and share their original story with the world.Xena: Warrior Princess and to share their original story with the world.

Game of ThronesImpressive special effects defined the show. Dragons and combat scenes cost a lot. Actor salaries also cost money.This happened during Season 1 of the show.However, the budget did not exist yet. Showrunners had to make serious cuts.

The Battle of the Green Fork was cut. During the fight, we do not see the Stark and Lannister forces meet on the field. Instead, we see Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) charge in and get knocked out. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss stated, "Frankly we just run out of money and we couldn't do it. So that was one of the big [showdowns] from the book that we hoped we could get on screen and we never managed to do it."

It is hard to imagine.Breaking Bad.The show takes place outside New Mexico. The location is so central to the series you think it was part of the plot from the start. Surprisingly, the show originally planned to film in Riverside, CA. So,This explains the location change.? Money, obviously.

The show's concept centered on Walter's illegal business. Cartels never entered creator Vince Gilligan's thoughts. After writing a script, Sony assigned the location to him. New Mexico offers a 25% tax rebate for film and television production, which the studio could not refuse. According to Gilligan:

They established it to bring production from all US areas to New Mexico. California lacks this, so New Mexico quickly became where they filmed the show for financial reasons. They wanted their limited budget to reach further.

Hannibal.This is a prequel to the classic movie.The Silence of the Lambs.. Critics and fans loved the show, but that was not enough to save it. The show centers on Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), who share a love-hate dynamic. The pair solve cases using profiling.

The series finale left viewers shocked as they watched the beloved duo jump off a cliff.Bryan Fuller recently shared.Fuller discussed how surreal filming was since the incident was meant to be a season finale, not a series finale. However, NBC kept their decision, and the show was canceled. Fuller said:

We did it much cheaper and happier than any other fight scenes in the show... We spent days on one fight scene before and so much more structured. In the last days of production, we flew by the seat of our pants with being over-budget and having no money for relief to do it as we intended.