[quote=@Altered Tundra]If you factor in quality of writing, directors, how much each and every actor would cost to make sure they are happy and satisfied with the working conditions, on-location shooting, I'm pretty sure the cost would be pretty high. 
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HBO regularly designs shows that are incredibly expensive – one season of Game of Thrones is easily 100 million dollars [i]average'd[/i]. Netflix’s The Get Down had a first season total of 120 million. Not sure why you think HBO doesn’t have the bank for this but Netflix does when both have similar financial capacities. Without making cuts to certain salaries, I would wager [i]no network[/i] could afford this series.