Here's something I didn't know: it's cheaper to film in England and Africa than it is to film in Hollywood.

NBC has announced that their new midseason drama The Philanthropist (a real pain to spell, by the way) won't be filmed in the U.S. at all. Instead, the production will save money by setting the show and filming the show in London, with some filming also being done in Africa and the Czech Republic. Executive producer and writer David Eick, however, will stay in Los Angeles. The first episode will be directed by Peter Horton.

I had always heard that it was more expensive to film overseas than it was to film locally. I know that some states have better tax breaks than others and movie studios will often film a movie in a different state than California or a different state than the one depicted in the movie. And sometimes shows will film in Canada because it's cheaper. But I was never good at this money stuff. NBC says they'll save a million bucks an episode doing it this way.

And by filming in London, they'll get Rome's James Purefoy for the title character, a very rich man who helps people with his money.