'Pan Am' Among Season's Priciest Pilots

1:08 PM PDT 9/26/2011 by Sofia M. Fernandez

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Patrick Harbron/ABC

Fox's "Terra Nova" and HBO's "Game of Thrones" also among costly first-episode efforts.

The pilot of ABC's new series Pan Am was among the priciest of the new fall season. Sony Pictures Television spent an estimated $10 million shooting the episode, which was heavy on special effects and period costumes and details.

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Sony Television president Steve Mosko told the New York Times that the high cost will pay off, “We’re not going to spend like drunken fools, but it needs to look a certain way for ABC to be happy and advertisers to be happy and deliver great results for Sony."

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Another expensive pilot, Fox's Terra Nova, hits airwaves Monday. The time-traveling two-hour series intro from producer Steven Spielberg has been pegged at a price tag between $10 million and $20 million, a fee Fox brass argues will be amortized over the course of the show's first season.

Game of Thrones' April debut reportedly cost HBO between $5 million and $10 million, notes the Fiscal Times in its roundup of high-priced pilots. The publication reports that the series is now HBO's best-selling series abroad ever, with episodes fetching upwards of $2.5 million -- 50 percent higher than The Sopranos.

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Another period drama at HBO, Boardwalk Empire, bowed in 2010 with an episode estimated to have cost $18 million. Martin Scorsese won the Emmy for outstanding directing for a drama series for the pilot episode.

The pilots for Fringe, Lost and CBS' Fugitive redux are also among TV's highest-priced pilots. 2008's Fringe bow cost $10 million, according to New York magazine, which noted that the price for J.J. Abrams' two-hour action episode was driven up by its high concept -- a flesh-eating virus wreaking havoc on an airplane -- and special effects. Abrams' two-hour Lost pilot in 2004 also cost within the $10-$14 million range.

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The pilot for 2000's Fugitive cost CBS $6 million, notes the Fiscal Times.