RWB2

Ever heard of Double Rainboom? it was filled with fan pandering which led to it failing

No, not really.

DR failed in a ton of different ways and "pandering" was not the reason why.

Some reasons:

-Plot wasn't well thought out.

-Writing was terrible, as were dialogue.

-Comedic timing(one of FiM most valuable areas) was completely off.

-Characters were all out of character.

-References for no reason and all the time. This is not actually pandering, btw.

Catering to the wishes of fans happened in ATLA and it actually helped the show at times. I've never seen a fandom as irrational about fan feedback as the MLP one. 

Pandering itself is a stupid term.

"To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others or exploit their weaknesses"

Haber, please keep this level of quality up. With M.A. Larson missing and several new writers on the show, Haber was my biggest worry, since he only had two episodes of Kaijudo behind him. The other new guys actually have several on different shows.

It was a good episode. Above average but not quite stellar.

Gonna go over it eventually in my blog anyway, might do it more justice then.

A very strong first outing by Josh Haber, and considering that his earlier work seems to be all of two episodes of Kaijudo and nothing else... impressive.

Also liked Spike in the episode. Haber's Spike seems pretty solid, and I hope it stays that way because we really need more people that can write a really good Spike.

Season 2 is stronger than Season 3, yes(but also very up and down in quality). Season 1 is far worse than both, though.

The reason why I think Applejack is suited for leadership is her maturity. In many ways I see her as the oldest of the Mane Six, but I know that can't be right; regardless, she's had to deal with more. She has to take care of a younger sister and teach her lessons, along with working tirelessly on a farm with Big Macintosh. Her parents, according to the writers, have actually died and we can only imagine how young she was when they did so. So she's had a lot of responsibility thrust on her, and she's performed just beautifully.

 

It was especially nice seeing her take charge so many times in Princess Twilight Sparkle. 

 

It's also really a shame that she's not the "favorite" of more people. In my humble opinion, I think she's the most well-rounded character, with the perfect amount of flaws to make her imperfect, but balancing them out with an exemplary attitude, boundless energy, and a great amount of dignity and maturity.

Actually, the mane reason I don't like her is that almost everytime she shows those flaws, the episode is written to favor her rather than to work past the flaws. AJ is the very epitome of a character that I could really like, but who in execution is so badly done(IMO) that I actually tend to see her as a negative thing about the series. 

I really don't want that to be the case.

I think people are being unfair to Lauren here regarding the pilot. The first episodes are probably the hardest to write because you have to establish the characters and the world upon which everything is based. Only after that can you really stretch and flesh things out and really play with the ideas you're given. Everything in the later episodes are only enriched because we know who they are and where their friendship comes from. Is it the best story? Maybe not. But as far as setting up the series, it's fantastic.

 

And as far as far as who's the best writer, remember that just because a writer is the only one credited doesn't mean that he or she is the sole person behind the script. I don't remember the exact details of the writing process, but I do recall the staff saying it was a collaborative effort. I know that , for instance, Charlotte Fullerton didn't write the line "20% cooler" even though that was in her episode- I believe she said at a com that either Lauren or Rob Renzetti came up with that one.

And I have to agree with Freewave regarding season 3. There were four episodes out of 13 that I genuinely disliked (Crystal empire two parter, Keep Calm and Flutter On, Spike at your service) and had some issues with Magical Mystery Cure, which I generally liked. That's not a good percentage. I can't think of 8 episodes out of 26 from the first season that I disliked as much.

Actually, I think the pilot is solid... as far as pilots go. It's just when people start comparing it favorably when compared to more solid episodes it becomes problematic.

The Crystal Empire might have problems, but it's a better written two-parter. The Pilot doesn't get to excuse itself with the fact that it's the pilot. 

Heck, the Pilot is the one thing actually already up the blog in my sig:

http://mlpforums.com/blog/1348/entry-8371-review-friendship-is-magic-part-1-and-2/

"Friendship is Magic is a pretty good pilot(mostly due to the strong first episode). It has a lot of problems, but most pilots do, since the writers haven't quite learned to play to their strengths yet. "

I understand that Lauren did some really important work with both the Pilot, overseeing the later projects and so on. However, this doesn't change the fact that she didn't write a single episode that would quite qualify for great, and several other writers did(Megan, Larson).  

"21st day of"

the Seventh moon of the year...

Doesn't imply months over moon, sorry.

Remember that Celestia's regular magic, and her sun-raising magic, are considered Unicorn magic.

Alicorn Magic might simply mean that the Dark Magic is something associated with Alicorns... or that Alicorns are just the most common ones to know it.

I'm certainly not against her being more take charge in her own episodes. She works better like that. She may be stubborn and self-righteous, but those traits are not necessarily bad for a leader to have, as long as she can moderate them.

Also, these traits are more acceptable in a leader anyway, since being sure of yourself(even to the point of being selfrighteous) and not giving up are good traits there... but not so much when in friendly interaction.

1. Again not having the worst episodes didn't mean you had the best episodes.

I had 5 of my top 30 eps from s3 and the top one was #21. None broke the top 20

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/TheScientist/my_top_30_favorite_mlp_episodes/

Again that's an opinion but a very calculated one.

2. Nah not really, the second half of the season had some of my favorite episodes. Again see the above list.

3.Nope, i dont think pacing became a big gaping problem until S3. Just look at the season premier's and finale's as prime examples.

4. Pinkie's best epsiode is regarded as Party of One. That's one of the top 5 if not the top in a lot of people's book.

You have Pinkie Keen and Bridle Gossip in your top 20. Putting Your Hoof Down in the Top 6.

FPK does everything that isn't humour wrong. Characters are dumb and out of character, plot is forced beyond belief, and the moral is just bad.

BG is anti-racism done badly. 

Putting your hoof down is worse in terms of writing than MMDW, and is essentially just Boast Busters but with good humor.

Also, including all two-parters except Sombra in the Top 16 is scary, since all of them are ridden with bad writing, especially ACW and the Pilot.

All these episodes would adorn a Bottom 10 list if I made one. 

We aren't gonna agree anytime soon, since more than half of your top 30 would be rated terribly low on my list... even ones that I like despite their flaws like FPK and PYHD.

I'm sorry but season 3 as a whole was the weakest. Half the length, none of the high points, and many episodes consistently rushed with poor pacing. It wasn't consistently GOOD, its was consistently AVERAGE.That's nothing to feel proud of when you have a fanbase as big as MLP following it.

1. Season 3 was consistently above the series average. Even the worst episodes wouldn't qualify for worst 3 in any other season.

2. Season 1, if you average it's episodes out, is way, way worse than Season 3.

3. Lol at pacing. The show in general has problems with that, and Season 1 was a much worse offender than Season 3- and Season 2 is about on par.

4. None of the high points?

It has Pinkie's best episode(Too Many Pinkie Pies is far better on the whole than any other Pinkie episode, and has all of one real issue- Twilight being too Trigger Happy).

It has Sleepless in Ponyville and Magic Duel.

It had the first good Merriweather episode.

It had the strongest two-parter up to that as far as writing goes(RoH was so much fun, but it has a lot of problems. Kinda how Feeling Pinkie Keen is drop dead hilarious, but falls apart completely in the plot department, but not as extreme. The Pilot's second episode is pretty bad, and ACW is saved by everything but the writing, which is pretty bad).

To be honest, I'd say I find Fullerton to be pretty weak outside Rarity... but yes, her Rarity is splendid.

I can understand what the author's trying to get at but comparing the seasons by viewer opinion is heavily flawed, since opinions can vary so much. Also the author does rely a bit too much on personal opinion as opposed to actual analysis.I will point out right now that I strongly disagree that Bridle Gossip, The Ticket Master, Boast Busters, Putting Your Hoof Down, Dragon Quest and Spike at Your Service are mediocre episodes. 

I can easily pick apart most of those episode on a writing level for you. Boast Busters in particular, is not just mediocre episode- the writing is horrendous. People say MMDW is the worst episode? Boast Busters is more mean-spirited, just as hypocritical, and out of character.

Frankly, I'd say that each episode stand on it's own, but have an overarcing plot for the season.

This is quite possibly the worst episode in the series. It does everything wrong.

Lesson? Good moral that wasn't displayed in the episode itself. What I don't even...

Characters? Out-of-character Jerkasses.

Villain? Almost completely innocent.

Villain's Karmic Backlash? Insanely over the top- rendered homeless and incapable of performing.

Side Characters? Very responsible for what happened.

Side Characters Karmic backlash? Rewarded for bad behaviour.

The only good thing about this episode is Trixie- and that was clearly against Savino's ideas for the episode, since he thought we would hate her enough that her getting to be homeless would be funny and well-deserved.

 

In all, it's a good episode. It's better than The Crystal Empire, but worse than Return of Harmony (best two-part opener) and the pilot. PTS needs a lot more editing to solidify it snd make the writing quality convincing, and the two-parter doesn't genuinely prove the Twilicorn's worth as princess at this point. She has a ways to go, and DHX needs to show in the canon she earned it. It's on the right track, but Twilight's ascension isn't convincing quite yet. Hopefully, future episodes change that.

I actually agree with you for the most part, but I have to disagree about the pilot. The pilot was riddled with forced sequences and quite a few plotholes- especially the second part. The Crystal Empire wasn't fantastic, but it was better than the pilot. 

Really hoping we eventually get a premiere as solid as the one of Season 2 W.I.T.C.H., A for Anonymous.

I liked Putting your Hoof Down. Mostly because Pinkie was fantastic, and Iron Will is pure love.

I still consider it a really badly written episode- essentially does every mistake Boast Busters did(Trixie is the one good thing to come out of that), but is somewhat salvaged by not having Snips ans Snails, and better humor.

Ever since Lauren Faust walked away from HER show, the episodes have been hit or miss. Season 2.5, aka season 3, saw a drop in episode quality. Now that season 4 is coming out, I have been looking at the writers for each episode.

Some of my favorite episodes listed Meghan McCarthy as a its writer. While she cannot replace Lauren Faust, i feel as if she's doing a pretty good job with trying to take the show in the direction that Lauren might have wanted it to go, despite Hasbro pushing their ideas on the writers.

M.A. Larson is a third favorite and Merriwether Williams is my fourth. They did decent writing but nothing that stood out, Though i do need to rewatch all the seasons again.

Do you bros like a specific writer other than Lauren, or is she the only writer you think you're ever gonna like?

1. Lauren is one of the weakest writers when it comes to actually writing the episodes.

In fact, the only one weaker is Chris Savino(who didn't have one good MLP episode). You know what's funny about that? Savino worked on both Fosters and the PPG, and was overall a stronger writer than Faust back there. What am I trying to say here? That having good earlier work doesn't mean your newer work will be good. Some of the strongest writers on MLP are relative newbies(Corey Powell, MA Larson), while most of the iffy ones have written episodes of other shows that has gotten actual awards, like Merryweather.

2. Season 3 was the most consistently good season yet. It had no outright stellar episodes beyond Sleepless, but even the few weak episodes were more solid than their many counterparts in earlier seasons.

People say Spike at Your Service is bad? It's better than Dragon Quest, Putting Your Hoof Down, Boast Busters, Friendship is Magic part 2(Sombra's two-parter was a ton stronger than NMM's, btw), Look before you sleep, and Baby Cakes.

Season 3 didn't quite hit the highs that season one and two hit, but neither did it ever come close to the lows of those seasons.

(Spoilers are in the spoiler boxes, you have been warned.)

 

First off: I did like it. However, I think it felt a touch rushed, honestly. They tried to fit too many concepts into 44 min.

 

(1) Being a Princess won't undermine the friendships of the Mane 6 coupled with (2) Deaus Ex Machina Brand flash-back soda world building and (3) evil plant monster... All cool stuff, just too much for the time frame.

 

 

 

Can't say it was too much for the timeframe, really. Season 2 premiere of W.I.T.C.H. had more going on at the same time, very solid handling, set up several season-spanning plot threads, set up our new villain, and had some fine character development on one of the main characters... and it had only 20 minutes and didn't feel rushed in the slightest.

On the other hand, Greg Weisman himself wrote that episode... A is for Anonymous is one of my favorite cartoon episodes made.

This is completely based on a funny little thing that happened on the preschool I work at.

It will somehow involve an earth pony married to a Triceratops with a triceratops child. Then the pony lifts a Stegosaurus out of a ditch it got stuck in, and then the pony chases off a T-rex out to get her family.

Meanwhile, her Triceratops husband makes some tea and cookies for the kid.

This was a scenario two of the pre-school boys thought up and acted out with toys.

Have them as a background plot in a Dinosaur themed episode?

AJ: She was tied up but not much more, she was caught off guard as well. In a true fight, AJ wins.

RD: What's your point? Of course RD can beat her. You also forgot that Rainbow tanked Trixie's torture spell

FS: When enraged, she tosses ponies around like rag-dolls and can outspeed Rainbow.

Rarity: Has physical combat skills as shown against the Changelings and the Manticore

AJ: No, she doesn't, because magic+the fact that she's actually pretty lousy at fighting outside sheer physical strength(because that goes great against a pony specializing in tricks and magic).

RD: Already said she wins. 

FS: Can't actually get close to RD's best speeds even when angry, and magic is still stopping her.

Rarity: Not getting around the magic. But yes, she's a great physical combatant.

 

For second I'd have to go with Luaren.  I go with her because both of the starting episode had a different atmosphere and kick started the series.  Honestly you just can't go wrong with the lady who was the driving force behind this show:

 

Or this show:

Chris Savino was a big time writer(that actually did great work) on both shows, and he was absolutely horrendous on FiM.

Casting blame on the wrong characters and then giving them undeserved comeuppance that is way way worse than their supposed crime.

Trixie is the worst case.

Oh no, she's boasting. That means she deserves to lose her reputation, the job that is literally her special talent, and her home.

Wait, she's in a profession where boasting is commonplace and actually a part of her line of work... uh. I dunno.

Never mind the fact that our main characters decide to heckle a traveling entertainer that as far as we know put on a free show, that essentially everyone but them was shown to like.

Never mind that two out of the three biggest complainers about her boasting are just as cocky as she is(and only RD is selfconscious to realize that, not AJ) and repeatedly boast during the series.

I don't want too see season 3 Pinkie Pie, in season 3 all she was used for were jokes her character wasn't really there if that makes sense.

Don't get me wrong it was funny but I would like some character for those jokes.

Too Many Pinkie Pies had more of her character than any season 2 episode.

Shining Armor making a shield that covers a city instead of a town begs to differ. Sombra without a body trapping Twilight begs to differ.

 

Where is this evidence for the Sun and Moon not being that big? As for Trixie holding a town of unicorns captive, none of them tried to fight back and I assume it meant high level unicorns when it said a group. 

 

Twilight can't call upon magic bursts on command, she showed vastly better feats than Trixie when she rapidly aged Spike. I'd also like to mention that Trixie did have trouble fighting Twilight, it wasn't the cake-walk people say it was. 

 

We haven't seen Trixie do anything very impressive either. Her best lightning bolt only mildly inconvenienced Rainbow Dash and when she blasted her with intent to kill, the result was Rainbow literally laughing it off. Twilight has problems with control, not raw power, that was why her demo was moving around the animals, it's a show of great dexterity. This of course means that Rarity is super skilled, though not very powerful. 

 

Thinking Trixie weak is because compared to most ponies in the show, she would lose. She would lose to Discord, the Princesses, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and many others. For all intents and purposes, she is weak compared to the main characters

Discord is so far above everyone else it's not even funny. 

The Princesses have a grand total of... almost no feats outside the raising of sun and moon. Heck, as far as sheer power goes, Shining Armor has shown himself his wife's equal. Sure, Non-AA Trixie has no chance.

AJ: Lolno. Trixie's magic is quite enough to handle AJ, who has nothing but strength to help her... and not even that is that amazing since all ponies in the show have comparable strength(See Twilight lugging around Tom the Rock). Heck, it's arguable if she's even superior to Rarity in physical combat.

RD: Rainbow Dash is a blackbelt with supersonic speed. And if it wasn't for that insane speed, Trixie would beat her too.

FS: Nope. Fluttershy's stare does not work on ponies, and outside that she has nothing on Trixie.

Rarity hasn't shown her magic to be on par with Trixie's.

The only Mane Six members that can solidly beat non-AA Trixie is Pinkie(but then again, with full cartoon silliness activated, she's second only to Discord) and Twilight(who is the element of magic).

They were introduced as a couple.

 

 

How many of those were lesbian?

Courage the Cowardly Dog.