What are some examples of people with vast amounts of wealth recommissioning cancelled tv shows or just throwing money at an issue to fix it instantly?

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MattDubh@reddit

Not a TV series, but a UK problem. The heir to the throne took on homelessness as a problem to solve, as it's close to his heart. Rather than ask for donations, and merely put his ample free time up for photoshoots, he's donating the £2B that it'll cost to solve it, out of his own vast wealth. The member of the royal family to spend their own money on problem fixing, if I'm not much mistaken.

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UseADifferentVolcano@reddit

He donated £500k to five locations over a five year period. So £2.5 million not £2 billion. It's still great, but not nearly £2 billion great.

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MattDubh@reddit

He's been told it can be fixed for that £2b.

Can you think of anyone else worth in excess of £60B that wouldn't fix that, if they could, after going on TV to claim to want to?

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thorny_business@reddit

He's been told it can be fixed for that £2b.

I very much doubt this.

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MattDubh@reddit

He asked the charities that work in this area. They told him.

What strikes you as doubtful about such a scenario? Their credibility? Or his?

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thorny_business@reddit

The charities who want the money?

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MattDubh@reddit

The charity is https://www.crisis.org.uk/

Do they strike you as the sort of people that would come up with a figure, merely to fill their own pockets at the expense of others?

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thorny_business@reddit

If throwing billions at homelessness fixed it, San Francisco wouldn't have any homeless people.

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MattDubh@reddit

Using The US as an example of how something is done wrong isn't the flex you think it is.

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orangeminer@reddit

Agreed. There's no way to end homelessness without enforcing our borders for a start.

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UseADifferentVolcano@reddit

Assuming he will is not the same as saying he has donated £2bn.

I'm not saying he won't, but I'm also not giving him credit for a thing he hasn't done.

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MattDubh@reddit

He definitely wont, despite the fact he could.

Pillar of society. /s

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spacecatbiscuits@reddit

Fantastic. Bet there's no more homelessness now.

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MattDubh@reddit

Yeah.. you'd think that, eh?

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PatTheCatMcDonald@reddit

Have no idea who or what you are talking about TBH.

What I do know is, some homeless people just don't want to know about taking the responsibility to have a bricks and mortar home.

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DancehallMerko@reddit

If I ever have that much money I will be asking for another season of "Last man on earth"

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DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit

I think you'd need a lot more than $100 million. Cast members alone on successful shows can be paid a ton per episode. The Big Bang Theory and Friends main cast members were each on $1 million an episode each. I think your money would run out about 8 episodes in.

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ResplendentBear@reddit

People on that sort of money means the show is a huge hit, has been going for a while and continues more or less as long as it wants.

Not sure anyone is on $1m an episode for something that gets cancelled after 2 series on Netflix, unless they're already a huge star.

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DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit

To be honest, Netflix is notorious for cancelling shows. Invest your time in a series, and then it's gone. Mindhunter just left things up in the air. And David Fincher has no plans to go back to it last I heard

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Nipso@reddit

I'm fuming about Kaos.

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Stingin_Belle@reddit

Kind of the reason I don't tend to follow the crowd when they're watching new shows. If it sounds good, I'll wait until they air the finale. If I then hear the finale was awful, I sometimes don't bother. I can't stand to get invested in shows/ characters or stories that don't conclude or end bad. I only watched Breaking bad last year.

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DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit

Yeah, I was late watching Breaking Bad, but only because it hadn't been properly available until it was shown on Netflix. Even though I'd heard nothing but good things about it. But again, it wasn't a Netflix original. If it was, I'm kinda wondering if it would have made past series 2 and not had the plug pulled if it had been.

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bookfrombox@reddit

I think netflix has the data that 2 seasons is the best ROI for most shows. I can kinda see it. By season 3 the only people really watching are genuine fans, if people haven't started watching by season 3 they are unlikely to start doing so as they would have to go back, like 50 episodes. So if there is insufficient viewers come end of season 2 there is no point renewing as there will be no growth potential.

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DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit

The BBC and Channel 4 have better averages with a supposedly smaller audience. What are Netflix's audience numbers like, miniscule? Reminds me of an SNL skit where they had a TV and movie quiz, and nobody had heard of any of the shows

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bookfrombox@reddit

I don't think netflix release their viewing figures?

They have 300+ million subscribers. They are consistently profitable.

I'm a pirate, I have no dog in this fight.

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DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit

Yeah, I just googled the viewership, and yeah, they're unavailable. For a worldwide streaming platform, I'm kinda wondering why? Maybe they really are tiny figures compared to terrestrial TV

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bookfrombox@reddit

2025, data is everything. They don't need to disclose that data so they aren't going to. Doing so only benefits their competitors.

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Human_Type_2718@reddit

I wish it was 50 episodes, these days it's much more likely to be less than 20!

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

Babylon 5 was around 500K USD an episode and that was without a particularly well paid cast.

Although I do wonder with modern VFX if we couldn't do it a bit cheaper and I wouldn't be making it with the old cast.

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gogginsbulldog1979@reddit

Drake brought Top Boy back.

The show finished on Channel 4 with a cliffhanger at the end of season two, but it wasn't recommissioned as it was expensive and the ratings didn't warrant the money.

Drake was a huge fan of the show and wanted more, so he put his own money up and got the deal with Netflix to make season three.

Thank god he did as the following seasons were great. Though the finale could've done with some work.

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Richard__Papen@reddit

I took one look at Season 3, saw Dushane in Jamaica and thought f- that. Loved the first two series an' all.

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gogginsbulldog1979@reddit

He's only in Jamaica for the first episode.

Season three is BRILLIANT. Seriously.

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Nipso@reddit

Goes downhill after that though.

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Richard__Papen@reddit

Ok I might give it another go then. Cheers

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oh-my-dog@reddit

You won't regret it - I'm jealous

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andrewforde@reddit

Not sure if it's exactly what you're thinking of but Drake revived Top Boy as executive producer with the main characters all returning 6 years later after he watched the first two series'

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ollymillmill@reddit (OP)

Yea thats what i was thinking. I just think what i could do with that kinda money.

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boinging89@reddit

The first two series were infinitely better than the revival.

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beavertownneckoil@reddit

I'm not saying you're wrong but it's definitely debatable. The new seasons are very very good

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boinging89@reddit

I didn’t like the way they were much more Americanised I think.

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wringtonpete@reddit

Michael "Riverdance" Flatley wrote, directed, self-financed and starred in Blackbird, a James Bond style spy thriller, that was (eventually) released in 2022.

Critics called it "unintentionally hilarious". Co-starring Eric Roberts for extra cheese!

https://youtu.be/xU7UEhapn1I?si=Jw1PEAEMo6ERsjq0

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HenshinDictionary@reddit

When Disney was going to cancel Power Rangers in 2010, Haim Saban, the original owner of the franchise, bought it back off them and immediately commissioned a new series.

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Affectionate-Boot-12@reddit

Did he sell it for a ridiculous amount and then Disney ran it into the ground and he bought it back for less than he sold it?

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HenshinDictionary@reddit

Disney didn't run it to the ground, they just lost interest and cancelled it as it didn't fit their brand image. Which is funny considering this was right as they were buying Marvel and Star Wars.

If you're commenting on the quality, most people tend to say that the Disney era is way better than the 2nd Saban era.

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Owlstorm@reddit

Sometimes it's an actor throwing their own money behind a project to demonstrate their confidence in it and get creative control.

E.g. Riddick, The Orville, Matilda.

George Harrison bankrolled a lot of Monty Python.

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SrslyBadDad@reddit

Didn’t Ryan Reynolds do this Deadpool?

Hence lots of jokes about the budget.

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ddbbaarrtt@reddit

Francis Ford Coppola just did this with Megalopolis too

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Teembeau@reddit

BTW If I somehow get £100m I'm remaking Blakes 7.

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bored_toronto@reddit

Sorry to tell you this but Sky made this show with is basically an all-female Blakes' 7.

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TheRealVinosity@reddit

Never heard of that before. Will give it a watch.

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Kian-Tremayne@reddit

Here’s £20, you can remake Blake’s 7 for double the original budget after allowing for inflation.

Just keep the original scripts, they were pure gold.

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Ravenser_Odd@reddit

I think the people who made Rogue One and Andor are sort of doing that. Gareth Edwards is British and the right age to have grown up watching Blake's 7.

I have a theory that the meeting of Saw Gerrera and the adult Jyn Erso is inspired by the meeting of Blake and Avon in the infamous final episode.

Compare Saw's "Did they send you...did you come here...to kill me?" at 1:36 with Avon's "Have you betrayed us? Have YOU betrayed ME?" at 0:36.

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Teembeau@reddit

I must admit I didn't pay much attention to Andor (on in the background) but I'll give it another look.

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incredibubblez@reddit

I'd pay to be an extra on that

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Trick-Station8742@reddit

If I win £100m nobody will ever hear from me or see me ever again

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MonsieurGump@reddit

Go fund me campaign? I’m in.

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ResplendentBear@reddit

George Harrison paying to have Life of Brian made because he really wanted to see it I think qualifies as an example.

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ForwardAd5837@reddit

I wonder if he made his investment back. It was an investment rather than him just gifting the coach to make the film, and the film made like £15m against a cost of £3m, so I’d imagine he at least took some profit. He and a friend founded a film production company for the purpose, but nowhere online seems to be a good source as to whether he made his money back or not.

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SpaceMonkeyAttack@reddit

That production company, HandMade Films, lasted until 2013, so presumably he made good eventually. Google suggests The Beatles were worth about £4m each in '71, so not like he could easily afford to lose ¾ of his wealth.

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PowerApp101@reddit

Pretty sure Handmade Films hardly made any money, it was a labour of love for Harrison. I'm not even sure LoB made much money considering it was banned in mainstream cinemas for years.

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ddbbaarrtt@reddit

My understanding is that he invested in founding the production company with others though so it wasn’t as simple as him just dumping all his own money into it

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DoctorOctagonapus@reddit

Holy Grail was funded by various musical artists and producers as a tax write-off.

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Haze95@reddit

Most expensive cinema ticket in history

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MrsTrellis_N_Wales@reddit

Not entirely in line with your examples, but Sir Rod Stewart has paid for a load of people who were on an NHS waiting list to get scans done and he’s also arranged for potholes to be filled near where he has a house. And I think he gave some money to a model railway club whose layouts were vandalised. I’m not a fan of his music but he seems like a decent old fella.

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Consistent-Pirate-23@reddit

If it hadn’t ended over 25 years ago I would send season 4 of Caroline in the City to the abyss and write a proper ending, the main person that hates the ending is Lea Thompson- the actress that played the title character

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Dazz316@reddit

Say i won £100m, whats stopping me from paying £5m to get another series of a favourite cancelled tv show made?

Copyright, those with the rights to the show don't want you making it.

If you're wanting to use OG writers and actors then you may have issues getting them, be it scheduling, not enough in the budget, the actors have their personal reasons to not do it etc.

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Haurian@reddit

Generally the idea would be to go to whatever network has cancelled insert_successful_series_here with an offer of "I'll bankroll it".

Many shows are cancelled by executives/producers purely on the basis of not making enough money.

Of course, that doesn't solve the cases where it's talent walking or something, but even a few of those may be willing to come back under different pursestrings.

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Dazz316@reddit

It's not uncommon for a studio to spend a ton of money to keep copyright. Fantastic four is a good example.

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Haurian@reddit

It would be paying the studio to continue making it. Not trying to get the rights to make it yourself.

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Dazz316@reddit

And if they don't want to? 100m might not even be enough.

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CoffeeandaTwix@reddit

Howard Hughes was the master of this. He didn't recommission a series but he bought a TV channel so he could get the films he wanted to watch on TV aired after a quick phone call. He also liked Baskin Robbins Banana ice cream and so when they discontinued it, he order a several hundred gallon consignment (the minimum that they would put back into production) and then promptly decided he preferred vanilla. On top of that, he bought out an airline so that he could build the planes they were ordering as he wanted.

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bigfootsbeard1@reddit

I would happily contribute to a crowdfund to bring back GLOW

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doctorliaratsone@reddit

Not quite what your looking for, but Joe Flanigan tried to buy Stargate Atlantis when that got cancelled. Sadly MGM said no...

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ffordeffanatic@reddit

I suppose that he would've had to buy the whole Stargate franchise.

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CaptMelonfish@reddit

you would get maybe an episode? iirc the expanse cost anywhere between 5 and 7 million per episode. which is a hell of a lot of money.

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bookfrombox@reddit

Not quite fitting, but Seth McFarlane created Orville, effectively a homage to classic Star Trek after the franchise went a little dark.

I think the issue with 'original cast' is if the show has created such a strong cult fanbase chances are the actors have gone on to higher (read more expensive) things.

£5 million really doesn't get you a lot these days.

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ollymillmill@reddit (OP)

Also thinking about it any show you bring back depending on how old they were originally just won’t be the same at all. Frasier for example, i would definitely have hoped they ‘kept the receipt’ if i paid £5m for that

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bookfrombox@reddit

That's always the risk. I think a lot of classics are very much about time and place. The matrix slapped so hard when it first came out, it was revolutionary. You're just not going to ever recapture that feeling, as resurrections proved.

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neo101b@reddit

Well 1999 was the peak of human civilisation.

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HalastersCompass@reddit

Almost there, Drake lobbied netflix to bring back "top boy "

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Throw-Awa55566@reddit

I think you're severely underestimating the current production costs for TV

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DrH1983@reddit

If I won 100 mil I'd have talks to see if I can (partially) fund a second Dredd movie.

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atom_stacker@reddit

Well, Set Mcfarlane wanted more Star Trek, but with humour, so he created The Orville.

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MattDubh@reddit

And made it better than Star Trek.

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canycosro@reddit

Totally the new star treks aren't star trek they are episodic random sc-fi with the name.

His version is so much truer and each episode could be from the older series if you removed the humour

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savagelysideways101@reddit

Iirc, he wanted to do actual trek, but given his prior work, frakes/roddenberry/execs wouldn't let him.

So instead he pitched orville with his "comedy" then tried to kill as much of the comedy out of it as he could get away with

It honestly was far more trek like than discovery in my eyes, that show was a train wreck

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sjr0754@reddit

He wasn't particularly sold on the humour, the US network wanted humour, the best episodes are the least comedic.

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fourdashedo----@reddit

Nearly everybody hates Bezos, but he saved The Expanse

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Ethroptur1@reddit

Then ended it 3 seasons premature.

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Tuarangi@reddit

Even 1 final season with a competent writer could have done it, skip the filler and have first episode with the solar system navies being kicked in by the Mars lot from inside the ring, get the Roci crew out to the research place with the kids while they test the aliens and end with Holden doing the sacrifice and have the epilogue. Better to get the story done short than leave it on such a silly ending

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SpaceMonkeyAttack@reddit

The guys who made South Park poured absurd amounts of money into Casa Bonita in Denver.

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