Your Favorite MLP Episode Writer?

[Malakili 165]

I voted for M.A. Larson because he wrote Sonic Rainboom, one of my favorite RD episodes and possibly the best of season 1; my favorite CMC episode (The Cutie Mark Chronicles) aaaaaaaaaaaand the perfect Return of Harmony two-parter... He even wrote my favorite Spike episode... He just has so many great ones  

[Anadu Kune 668]

Hard, very hard, but I guess I have to say MA Larson. At least for now in my current mood. Dont think any of the writers are bad despite some missteps. 

[Floris 287]

Corey Powell, she might be new but her two episodes were one of the best of season 3, imo.

 

She also kind of nods to other episodes.. In sleepless in Ponyville with the bond between Rarity and Sweetie Belle.

 

..and in Just for Sidekicks all the pets, crystal empire and Peewee.

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure once I see she wrote the episode we are going to watch, It'll be a good one.

Edited February 3, 2013 by Floris

[Leafeon 2,702]

Larson is my favorite writer of anything ever. He's written all my favorite episodes, minus Sweet and Elite, and makes the best villains.  So yea.

[Feather Gem 967]

M. A. Larson.  Definitely.

He did The Cutie Mark Chronicles.  And The Return Of Harmony episodes.  And Luna Eclipsed!  And Secret Of My Excess, Its About Time, and Magic Duel.  He will also do the season final, which I'm sure he can pull off.

I also like Meghan McCarthy xD

[RWB 229]

I'll discuss each writer.

Lauren Faust: Friendship is Magic Part 1 and 2, Ticket Master.
Overall solid. Ticket Master isn't terribly good... but it's not terribly bad either. Friendship is Magic is a good two-parter, but has it's faults. Where it excels is setting up the setting and characters.
Faust isn't the best writer that has worked on the show, but she's certainly not bad.

Amy Keating Rogers: Ticket Master, Applebuck Season, Bridle Gossip, Fall Weather Friends, A Dog and Pony Show, The Best Night Ever, The Cutie Pox, The Last Roundup, A Friend in Deed and MMMystery on the Friendship Express.
Much like what is often said about Dave Polsky, Keating Rogers has a tendency to be much more solid in the humour department than on the script side(Bridle Gossip I feel really is the episode that shows this the best). Not a terrible weakness, but her episodes aren't the greatest in the series- though they are very funny. I do think she has an Edge on Polsky, though.

Cindy Morrow: Griffon the Brush Off, Winter Wrap Up, The Show Stoppers, Owl's Well That Ends Well, Sisterhooves Social, Family Appreciation Day, Read It and Weep, Hurricane Fluttershy, One Bad Apple, and Apple Family Reunion.
Cindy is a mixed bag, really. Several of her episodes rank among my favorites, and most of what is written I feel is good. But then she also has one of the worst episodes(Griffon the Brush Off), and a few mediocre ones. She also sometimes has a similar problem to Merriweather- adding conflict in a way that feels a bit forced(Read it and Weep is the prime example- RD has taken much more punishment, yet this causes her wing to brewak. Really? Still like the episode), or not getting the portrayal right(One Bad Apple- Babs is portrayed a bit over the top, and Gilda is terrible...).


Chris Savino: Boast Busters, The Stare Master.
Weakest writer on the show. His first episode is one of the worst, if not THE worst episode of the series. Trixie being hilarious is the only real saving grace(and this was seemingly untintentional- since we were supposed to hate her so much that we would laugh when she was rendered homeless. Joy.)
Stare Master was passable, but nothing to write home about.
Savino's strongest point is that he at least tries to do some worldbuilding in his episodes, what with the Ursas and the Basilisk. His introduced characters are hit and miss(Trixie, Snips and Snails).

Meghan McCarthy: Dragonshy, Call of the Cutie, Green Isn't Your Color, Party of One, Lesson Zero, Sweet and Elite, Hearts and Hooves Day, A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2, The Crystal Empire - Part 1 and The Crystal Empire - Part 2.
Meghan is pretty great overall, but like Morrow, also has a few weak episodes. But I really feel that she seems to have one of the best performances as a slice of life writer... while her Two-parters both felt weak in the plot department(though I really liked the music and action in ACW, I felt the writing was pretty bad).

Charlotte Fullerton: Look Before You Sleep, Suited For Success, A Bird in the Hoof, May the Best Pet Win! and Baby Cakes. Credited for story for Putting Your Hoof Down.
Uy. I really don't know what to say here. I like all her Season 1 Episodes, while May the Best Pet Win is just okay(though the humour is great), and I really don't like Baby Cakes.

M.A. Larson: Swarm of the Century, Sonic Rainboom, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, The Return of Harmony Part 1, The Return of Harmony Part 2, Luna Eclipsed, Secret of My Excess, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, It's About Time, Ponyville Confidential, Magic Duel and Magical Mystery Cure.
Hmm... writer of the best of the two-parters, Sonic Rainboom(arguably the best episode of Season 1), and overall, the writer that best mixes humour and plot. Oh, and even his weakest episodes at least comes with massive hilarity.Oh, and he's a world building writer. Best Writer on the Show.

Dave Polsky: Feeling Pinkie Keen, Over a Barrel, Too Many Pinkie Pies and Keep Calm and Flutter On. Credited for story for Spike at Your Service.
His season one episodes are pretty weak in the writing(though funny), and so are the Season 3 ones. The claim about him being hilarious, but not that good at plot feels pretty true. That being said, I really did like Keep Calm and Flutter On, it's just that I'd rather have seen Larson handle this- after all, Polsky only wrote the episode based on Teddy Antonio's story, and I feel Larson would've done that better.

Merriwether Williams: The Mysterious Mare Do Well, Hearth's Warming Eve, Putting Your Hoof Down, Dragon Quest, Wonderbolts Academy and Spike at Your Service.
A pretty even split of good episodes and rather bad ones. She tend to be funny, but also to flanderize the characters a bit. MMDW is her weakest episode, though.

Corey Powell: Sleepless in Ponyville and Just for Sidekicks.
Powell is yet to produce a bad episode. I won't say she's better than Larson(too little material to compare), but if she keeps this quality up, then I might have to reconsider.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Corey Powell and M.A. Larson really do surprise me with their episodes.

Not bad at all, the rest of the writers are good too.

Pretty much, every writer usually has 1 bad episode or none at all.

[Wingnut 6,988]

I'll discuss each writer. Lauren Faust: Friendship is Magic Part 1 and 2, Ticket Master... snip...

 

Glad to see somebody was able to give a rundown on the pros and cons of each writer before Stellafera got here.  She's still going to give her two cents on each writer later and she'll be sure to play up Merriwether, as usual. 

 

There is no right or wrong answer here.  I really like both of Corey Powell's episodes.  Cindy wrote "Hurricane Fluttershy" which is my favorite episode, so she'll be getting my vote today.  But if Mr. Larson comes away as the winner of this poll, I'm fine with that too. 

 

EDIT:  I didn't notice this was an old two page thread.  Stellafera already posted on page 1 and didn't give a detailed breakdown on every writer.  Who are you impostor and what have you done with her?

Edited February 3, 2013 by Wingnut

[Megas 27,566]

M.A. Larson he seems to have the best grasp of the characters and some good world building, on top of being generally hilarious(Granted, I still think Magic Duel gets more credit than it deserves). I will say though, Charlotte Fullerton is a pretty underrated writer imo, her episodes don't get enough love(and unlike most fans, Baby Cakes was my favorite Pinkie Pie episode in season 2)

[Stellafera 3,836]

Alright, alright Wingnut, I'll make a more detailed version. Many thanks to one of the above posters for making this nice form so that I don't have to hunt the episodes they wrote down.

 

Lauren Faust: Friendship is Magic Part 1 and 2, Ticket Master.

Wait, she was a writer in this show? Did not know this. Um, she was meh, I guess. Completely unmemorable as a writer.

Amy Keating Rogers: Ticket Master, Applebuck Season, Bridle Gossip, Fall Weather Friends, A Dog and Pony Show, The Best Night Ever, The Cutie Pox, The Last Roundup, A Friend in Deed and MMMystery on the Friendship Express.

I'm not a fan. While The Last Roundup had my favorite episode moral in the series and A Friend In Deed was just a fantastic episode overall, the rest of the stuff she wrote falls under the "mediocre" category in varying degrees. She's that person who writes episodes that go in between other episodes.

Cindy Morrow: Griffon the Brush Off, Winter Wrap Up, The Show Stoppers, Owl's Well That Ends Well, Sisterhooves Social, Family Appreciation Day, Read It and Weep, Hurricane Fluttershy, One Bad Apple, and Apple Family Reunion.
Best writer! Cindy Morrow is one that loves to play the heartstrings and just get deep into the minds of characters. Even her weakest episode, The Show Stoppers, showed off the relationships between the CMC very well and gave you a clear idea of who was who and what they were about. Keep in mind that before that point, the CMC were basically known only as a group, like "those three kids". She wrote two out of my top three favorite episodes (Hurricane Fluttershy and Apple Family Reunion) and every single one of them, other than the mentioned Show Stoppers, was fabulous. Owl's Well That Ends Well was good, and I still don't know why people dislike it. Do they just hate Owlowiscious or something? I admit though, her Season 1 work was not her best, but that just means that she's constantly improving. 

Chris Savino: Boast Busters, The Stare Master
A good writer. I am probably in the minority in preferring The Stare Master to Boast Busters. It was nice having Fluttershy be overconfident and proud for once, and having her problem be brought out by her errors and not others'. Boast Busters was also great though, but not for Trixie. I loved Twilight in that episode. She faced a real issue that is for some reason not commonly found in the book of "standard episode morals", and for that I loved the episode. Would enjoy having him return.

Meghan McCarthy: Dragonshy, Call of the Cutie, Green Isn't Your Color, Party of One, Lesson Zero, Sweet and Elite, Hearts and Hooves Day, A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2, The Crystal Empire - Part 1 and The Crystal Empire - Part 2.
Not a big fan. She wrote one of my least favorite episodes, Dragonshy,  and in general is just not that spectacular. While I liked three of her episodes quite a bit (Party Of One, Lesson Zero, and Sweet And Elite), there are other episodes I like more. She's just one of the writers to me, nothing amazing. 

Charlotte Fullerton: Look Before You Sleep, Suited For Success, A Bird in the Hoof, May the Best Pet Win! and Baby Cakes. Credited for story for Putting Your Hoof Down.
I love this girl! I tend to overlook her in my Cindy Morrow/Merriweather Williams/Corey Powell appreciation, but she is truly the master of slice of life. She wrote by far the best Season 1 episode (Suited For Success), and I adored her work for Season 2. I really hope she comes back for Season 4. 

M.A. Larson: Swarm of the Century, Sonic Rainboom, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, The Return of Harmony Part 1, The Return of Harmony Part 2, Luna Eclipsed, Secret of My Excess, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, It's About Time, Ponyville Confidential, Magic Duel and Magical Mystery Cure.
Is the best at writing great plots, no doubt, but I watch this show for the characters, not the plot (In both senses). My favorite writer for Twilight Sparkle, no doubt, due to his emphasis on teamwork and Twilight's leadership abilities. I disliked Magic Duel quite a bit, actually, but episodes like The Return Of Harmony Part 2, Secret Of My Excess, and It's About Time keep him with a great track record in my book. 

Dave Polsky: Feeling Pinkie Keen, Over a Barrel, Too Many Pinkie Pies and Keep Calm and Flutter On. Credited for story for Spike at Your Service.
Someone's got to be my least favorite writer. His Season 1 work was so unwatchable that it took a full year until I was able to complete his episodes in their entirety. Whenever he tries to be funny, it fails. Spectacularly, in the case of Feeling Pinkie Keen. I felt meh about Keep Calm And Flutter On, but I did really like Too Many Pinkie Pies, which was my third favorite episode this season until Just For Sidekicks came out. He does best when he's serious. 

Merriwether Williams: The Mysterious Mare Do Well, Hearth's Warming Eve, Putting Your Hoof Down, Dragon Quest, Wonderbolts Academy and Spike at Your Service.
I hate Merriwether Williams. Completely irredeemable. Seriously, I despise this person, and- Thank you Discorded Stella, but I believe it's my turn to take the table here, thanks. If you can guess from my signature, I love Merriwether Williams. I like to summarize her specialties as jerks and jokes. She's bar none the funniest writer in the show, and made the most hilarious episode in the series (Hearth's Warming Eve). I also love the way that she makes jerks both sympathetic and diabolical at the same time, and the way that she makes the Mane 6 imperfect. Her best episode was Putting Your Hoof Down, which was honestly one of the best in the series. She and Charlotte Fullerton should collaborate more often, they really play off of eachother's strengths. Her biggest flaw? She is... not the best at writing Spike episodes.

Corey Powell: Sleepless in Ponyville and Just for Sidekicks.
So far, is amazing, and is amazing in the exact same way as Cindy Morrow is, which sounds great to me! Seems to be particularly good at heartwarming endings, and is pretty funny, too. 

Edited February 3, 2013 by Stellafera

[Wingnut 6,988]

Alright, alright Wingnut, I'll make a more detailed version.

 

Thanks, but I don't know what else to say...

 

I hope you were answering my original post from an hour ago.  If you just wrote all that since I edited that post with the realization you didn't provide a thorough overview on page 1, that means you typed that all out in 4 minutes. 

 

That's not humanly possible! 

Edited February 3, 2013 by Wingnut

[Stellafera 3,836]

Thanks, but I don't know what else to say...

 

I hope you were answering my original post from an hour ago.  If you just wrote all that since I edited that post with the realization you didn't provide a thorough overview on page 1, that means you typed that all out in 4 minutes. 

 

That's not humanly possible! 

 

I was answering your original post. I'm not that fast of a typist. I mean, I can do 60wpm just fine, but that's like... WAY more than 60wpm.

[An Old Head 4,816]

EDIT:  I didn't notice this was an old two page thread.  Stellafera already posted on page 1 and didn't give a detailed breakdown on every writer.  Who are you impostor and what have you done with her?

 

Yeah, the thread that was made today was already a created thread (made by me ). Looks like the two got merged. Gives the ponies who posted on the old thread a chance to elaborate.

[Wingnut 6,988]

 

I was answering your original post. I'm not that fast of a typist.

 

Gotcha.  It's still weird how things happen in this forum.  I tend to get ninja'd a lot, especially in the forum games.  And brohoofing is done in an instant, but I was still blown away the one time I posted something and you brohoofed it less than a minute later, heh. 

 

Well, I gotta go and get ready for the Super Bowl.  And before this starts to look like a glorified chat session. 

[Mister Jack 566]

As of right now I have to say Corey Powell.  He's new, but the two episodes he's written so far are just gold.  If later episodes end up being not so good, I'll probably go back to M.A. Larson.

[Wingnut 6,988]

 

As of right now I have to say Corey Powell. He's new, but the two episodes he's written so far are just gold.

 

FYI, Corey Powell is a woman.  I thought Corey was a dude at first too but I learned otherwise before I wrote anything about her. 

 

Don't you just love unisex names? 

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

Larson, Larson, Larson!

 

Larson is my favorite writer and it's good to know that they'll be writing the upcoming episode. I like all of the episodes that they wrote.

[DusK 1,264]

Dave Polsky wrote a lot of great episodes centered around best pony, but after readin M.A. Larson's recent tweets, that pushed him over the finish line.

[MeanBlackHawk 147]

I looked at all the episodes, and yeah sure I recognize the names and remember a lot of episodes but most were not memorable to me except M.A. Larson's list.  I remembered everyone and exactly what happened in each.  Completely stuck in in my head.  I'm completely sure Larson did the best job out of all the writers.  

 

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:

Edited February 4, 2013 by MeanBlackHawk

[LeoPrism 25]

When I first saw this, I almost instantly checked Meghan McCarthy, but then finally voted for Dave Polski. On the other hand I'm totally fine with M.A.Larson being ahead, on account of Magic Duel alone...

[Mister Jack 566]

FYI, Corey Powell is a woman.  I thought Corey was a dude at first too but I learned otherwise before I wrote anything about her. 

 

Don't you just love unisex names? 

 

Corey's a woman?  Well damn, I've been calling her a man all this time like a jackass.  I have never known a woman named Corey in my life.  Well, until now, apparently.

[Freewave 1,145]

Glad this thread exists. Was going to create it a thread and a poll if it didn't.

 

I gave M.A. Larson the nod for favorite although Mechan McCarthy was a close second.

 

I gave the thumbs down for Dave Polsky although Merriwether Williams was a close successfor. Neither of those routinely put out bad episodes but have a few average and a few stinkers makes it a bit easier for them to be included on the bottom of the barrel.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

Ah, the always delightful necro thread . The line between "Best" and "Favorite" is relatively minimal, so the topic for discussing best writers has been merged with the one discussing favorite ones. The OP has been updated for Season 3, with thanks to Flipturn.

 

It used to be Larson hands down, however I didn't enjoy his work in Season 3 as much as I had enjoyed his previous episodes. Currently he's hovering close to a three-way tie with Cindy Morrow and Corey Powell.

 

Least favorite is Polsky. Too Many Pinkie Pies was brilliant, and I liked Keep Calm and Flutter On well enough, but overall I haven't been the biggest fan of his episodes.

[King 5,625]

Ohh M.A.Larson indeed is my favourite...

He gave us some of the best episodes there ever were like Sonic Rainboom, Cutie Mark Chronicals and Luna Eclipsed.

Not to mention he will be bringing us many more in the future and I REALLY look forward to seeing whats in store from him :3

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

I can't pick a favorite, and I certainly cannot pick a least favorite, so here are some thoughts on each.

 

Lauren Faust - She only wrote the first three episodes, so I can't really say. I definitely think that, being the creator and all, that she has the best grasp on portraying each character properly. She sure as heck didn't write any bad episodes.

 

Amy Keating Rogers - I love this woman's work. Her season 1 episodes were some of the highest caliber episodes of the season, and even the whole series. She's been very consistent, and is perhaps the best writer for both Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Her episodes are extremely humorous, well-paced, and she knows how to get the characters to play off of each other. Applebuck Season, Last Roundup, A Friend in Deed, and The Best Night Ever cannot be argued.

 

Cindy Morrow - She's not the funniest writer, but she's by far the best at writing about social situations, and she knows how to bring a lot of emotion to her episodes. She definitely doesn't get enough credit, that's for sure. Winter Wrap Up, Read it and Weep, Hurricane Fluttershy, and Apple Family Reunion are all some of my favorites. She's contributed many great Cutie Mark Crusader episodes.

 

Meghan McCarthy - She certainly has a knack for writing about ponies losing their minds, (Party of One, Lesson Zero, and Hearts and Hooves Day) and she's always been a pro at delivering great humor. I think she's incredibly versatile, providing us with epic storylines like A Canterlot Wedding and The Crystal Empire, and slice-of-life stories like Call of the Cutie and Green Isn't Your Color. And I for one LOVED Dragonshy's adventure feel. The show is in good hands with Meghan at the helm.

 

Chris Savino - Poor guy only wrote two episodes, and neither of them are as well received as some. I think he's a solid writer all around, but among the weaker writers. Still, with only two episodes written, it's a bit hard to judge.

 

Charlotte Fullerton - A lot of her episodes are slice-of-life, and I don't think she's written a bad episode yet. She seems to write a lot of the cutesy episodes like Baby Cakes and A Bird in the Hoof, as well as "girly" episodes like Look Before You Sleep and Suited For Success. Those latter two episodes being amongst some of my favorites. Amazing writer overall.

 

M.A. Larson - Everyone loves this guy, and for good reason! He's written Cutie Mark Chronicles, Sonic Rainboom, Return of Harmony, Secret of My Excess, and the list goes on. My only gripe with him is his admitted weakness at writing Fluttershy, which is pretty noticeable in episodes like Luna Eclipsed and Magic Duel. Still, he can write almost any kind of story and is one of the two best writers for Twilight Sparkle (the other being Meghan) and he has yet to write a bad episode.

 

Dave Polsky - Polsky has a unique sense of humor, and it can definitely be a bit hit and miss. He's not the best at delivering morals, as seen in Feeling Pinkie Keen, but he certainly writes a good Pinkie Pie rivaled only by AKR's, and Too Many Pinkie Pies is a favorite episode of mine. I also thoroughly enjoyed Over A Barrel and Spike At Your Service. He knows how to make hilarious exchanges of dialogue amongst the main characters. I look forward to seeing more of his work.

 

Merriwether Williams - She does not deserve her somewhat bad rap. I for one enjoyed MMDW, Hearth's Warming Eve, Putting Your Hoof Down, and Dragon Quest. Wonderbolts Academy is the best Rainbow Dash episode yet. In fact, I would even go so far as to say she writes the best RD of any of the writers. She is a master at pacing, humor, and character development.

 

Corey Powell - She's off to a phenomenal start. Sleepless in Ponyville is probably my favorite season 3 episode, and when giving Just For Sidekicks a second look, I realized what a gem of an episode it was as well. I don't have much else to say because like Savino, she's only written two episodes, but I am impressed. She's a really promising writer so far.

Edited April 14, 2013 by Sugar Cube