The 7 Biggest Stories In Television From The First 7 Months of 2012

2. Blackwater — Game of Thrones — It often felt like the entire first half of the television year was working up toward the “Blackwater” episode of Game of Thrones, and it didn’t disappoint. One of the most lavishly produced and expensive hours of TV (which a lot of people saw illegally) saw King Joffrey pus out and Tyrion Lannister take control in the battle against Stannis Baratheon, a battle that Stannis lost in dramatic fashion thanks to the last minute arrival of Tywin Lannister and his men. Indeed, the battle was so epic that it managed to make an otherwise powerful season finale something of an afterthought, although the George Bush controversy generated plenty of headlines.

1. Dan Harmon Fired — The biggest story of the year in television so far had to be the firing of Community showrunner, Dan Harmon. After Community was pulled from the schedule over Christmas and returned several months later, much of the waning weeks of the primetime television season focused on whether Community would be renewed for a fourth season. After an uptick in ratings relative to the rest of NBC’s schedule, Community received a last-minute renewal for 13 episodes. Soon after the three-episode finale night that saw a brilliant 8-bit video game episode and a season finale that could’ve doubled nicely as a series finale, Dan Harmon was let go by NBC. A lot of reasons were put forward, including Harmon’s public feud with Chevy Chase, Harmon’s refusal to accept feedback from network executives, and low ratings. Harmon was replaced with David Garascio and Moses Port and the cast was told to keep it cool. Harmon has since accepted some responsibility for his ouster, and just last week was hired to pen a script for a multi-camera sitcom on Fox.