Which writer is as good as Lauren?

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

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?

[Scootalove 10,684]

M.A. Larson and Meghan McCarthy are good writers, but it just takes some practice for a writer to have good or great episodes depending on what they do best.

[Megas 27,140]

My favorites tend to be Amy Keating Rogers and Cindy Morrow, and unfortunately the latter isn't here for season 4

and tbf, the only episodes Lauren wrote herself were the pilot episodes, and those is generally considered the weakest 2-parter only competing with the Crystal Empire

[RWB2 17]

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.

[Mywas 687]

Faust is a terrible writer. They I said it you little Faustworshippers

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

 

 

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.

I disagree, Season Three was by far the most ill thought out season. I know of alot of people who will say season three sucked. It sucked because it was rushed just so they could focus on the Equestra Girls movie. Just look at Magical Mystery Cure. It had so much potential yet the writers rushed right through it. If you look on the forums for Season 3 episode 13 discussion i bet 90% will say it was rushed. Lauren Faust has experience behind her. She knows what will get more viewers. Half of the fandom will say they got into MLP: FiM because of her and her works with PPG and FHFIF. 

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

1

 

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.

 

I actually liked a lot of those(Baby Cakes just reminds me of Toon Disney so damn much) but I agree with the point. When I try to think of episodes I would call low points all I come up with is Mare Do Well, and that was in the massively praised season 2. 

 

Shoot, I actually liked what we got in S3 because it really snapped off the last of the "little kids show" bonds and started to just feel like a general cartoon. 

Edited November 23, 2013 by Shoboni

[Hive King 1,998]

Lauren Faust is overrated when it comes to writing episodes. Remember the crap fest that was the pilot episode and the Ticket Master? Both were the worst episodes of Season 1. Lauren may have some up with the idea, but I see no reason to say she wrote good episodes.

I actually liked a lot of those(Baby Cakes just reminds me of Toon Disney so damn much) but I agree with the point. When I try to think of episode I would call low points all I come up with is Mare Do Well, and that was in the massively praised season 2. 

Agreed, I liked Dragon Quest and Putting Your Hoof Down.

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

Lauren Faust is overrated when it comes to writing episodes. Remember the crap fest that was the pilot episode and the Ticket Master? Both were the worst episodes of Season 1. Lauren may have some up with the idea, but I see no reason to say she wrote good episodes.

Agreed, I liked Dragon Quest and Putting Your Hoof Down.

 

Is it bad I actually like the first episodes? Though I agree with the sentiment the Crystal Empire and the Wedding were better.

 

And yeah, I actually find the first season to be pretty average with just a few high spots here and there as far the show goes and I think it didn't really hit it's stride until season 2. 

Edited November 23, 2013 by Shoboni

[Hive King 1,998]

Is it bad I actually like the first episodes? Though I agree with the sentiment the Crystal Empire and the Wedding were better.

 

And yeah, I actually find the first season to be pretty average with just a few high spots here and there as far the show goes and I think it didn't really hit it's stride until season 2. 

It's fine, but they were terrible compared to the other pilots. I disliked the first episode because of the incredible ease of the plot, the pathetic villain, and the spoiler in the second episode

[RWB2 17]

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.

[Hive King 1,998]

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.

Iron Will is Hercule basically and made that episode as did Badass Fluttershy. I can see your point though. 

 

I hated Boast Busters because it had Trixie. Ughhhh! I hate her so much! Oh yeah, and it was badly written

[Forlong 1,725]

What are you even talking about?  Lauren only wrote three episodes.  Friendship is Magic part 2 is just poor, and Ticket Master was a horrid train wreck.  There was obviously no point in her staying.  Megan isn't as good a writer as Lauren, she's better.  Get over it already.

 

Also, it's normal for a show's creator to leave after a few seasons.  You can get over that too.

[Moonlight 7,279]

I thought Lauren Faust wrote terribly for the show but nevertheless here are my three favorite writers:

 

1. Meghan McCarthy (Favorites include: Call of the Cutie, Green Isn't Your Color, Lesson Zero, Sweet and Elite, A Canterlot Wedding, The Crystal Empire, and Princess Twilight Sparkle.)
2. M.A. Larson (Favorites include: Sonic Rainboom, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, The Return of Harmony, Ponyville Confidential, and Magical Mystery Cure.)
3. Cindy Morrow (Favorites include: Winter Wrap Up, Sisterhooves Social, Family Appreciation Day, and Hurricane Fluttershy.)

Edited November 24, 2013 by WheatleyCore

[FNGRpony 655]

Oh Dear God. 

I'd like to comment on the faustian click reminds me of one other fan base from another genre.

 

See my main passion is mma.  and we have one group of fans called "Pride fans" who drown on about the ruin of the sport because their product is shell we say no longer offered.

 

And much like fausts followers (Lol that's catchy).

I do not resent them for having a noble dream.

I resent them for not letting a noble dream die a noble death.  It's over.  she's not coming back.  Please stop talking about this golden era (that never was!).

 

I had faith the show could get by with out faust despite magical mystery cure.  I had two episodes that were the best in mlp

and they had alicorn twilight.  Not good, not great, best eva.  Perfect?  well nothings perfect.

 

But it was as perfect as mlp was ever gonna be.  Bar none.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,329]

Faust has only actually written 3 episodes, and in my opinion those episodes can get pretty corny. Personally I find McCarthy to be the better writer. Also I don't find season 3 as bad as people say it is. I find each season around the same quality. If there is a bad thing about season 3 it's that the flaws seem to be more noticeable with less episodes. Another good writer would be MA Larson to awnser the question about good writers

[hawkflame 3,310]

Megan McCarthy has probably written more of my favorite episodes than any other writer.  Aside from her, I'd have to mention Charlotte Fullerton for having IMO the best handle on Rarity.

[RWB2 17]

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

[Nature's Spell 526]

Meghan and Larson are the best writers IMHO, but the others have done good work too. I give props to Lauren as the creator but not as a writer.

[Dashabel 381]

I don't think your question quite adds up, really; Lauren Faust only wrote Friendship is Magic part 1 and 2. And, let's be honest, they're not the best episodes ever, and are not anyone's favourite by far, I'm sure. That was when the show just started, and well, bronies didn't exist then. I think that saying the episodes in season 3 had dropped quality, then that's your preference. I simply couldn't set them different from the other seasons, they are all just as too as each other, if you ask me. There may be the odd exception, like an episode that was too quickly resolved, much like Magical Mystery Cure, unfortunately. Still, that may just be my opinion.

Plus, I do not doubt any of the other writers. Whilst I believe that no writer is better than the other, Meghan McCarthy, M.A. Larson and Merriweather Williams always do a wonderful job.

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

What are you even talking about?  Lauren only wrote three episodes.  Friendship is Magic part 2 is just poor, and Ticket Master was a horrid train wreck.  There was obviously no point in her staying.  Megan isn't as good a writer as Lauren, she's better.  Get over it already.

 

Also, it's normal for a show's creator to leave after a few seasons.  You can get over that too.

You told it how it is, the reason I adore Lauren is for what she brought, and what she so very marvelously created, but not for her amazing stories, and the engaging plots (lel) 

 

Meghan McCarthy and Dave Polsky

 

M.A. Larson's horribad "Magical Mystery Cure" was bad enough for me to denote him from second favorite to third :V

Edited November 25, 2013 by The Pinkazoid

[Hansel 1,511]

Really? I thought Season 1 was a bit of hit-and miss. In fact, I didn't like the story of the first two episode involving Nightmare Moon, which Lauren wrote herself (the only episodes she wrote herself I think), and I almost stopped watching the show after that. I actually only carried on watching it because of the great characters and visuals. I thought the over all concept was great, but the story was poorly executed.

 

Season 2 so far is my favorite, and I believe she started backing down from the show around the half way mark of that season. I actually really enjoyed season 3 aside from the season final (not because of Twilicorn), though not as much as the second season.

 

I have great respect for Lauren, both as an artists and as a writer, and I admire her work. However, I don't think she's necessarily a better writer then any of the others.

Edited November 25, 2013 by Hansel

[Freewave 1,145]

 

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.

 

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.

[RWB2 17]

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).

[FoxyCryptid 4,328]

What are you even talking about?  Lauren only wrote three episodes.  Friendship is Magic part 2 is just poor, and Ticket Master was a horrid train wreck.  There was obviously no point in her staying.  Megan isn't as good a writer as Lauren, she's better.  Get over it already.

 

Also, it's normal for a show's creator to leave after a few seasons.  You can get over that too.

 

I don't like bad-mouthing here because she's done a lot for us and we wouldn't have it without her.

 

but yeah, that's not the best track record. Those are by no means bad, but their not exactly the shows best either. 

 

 

I like Megan myself, most of my favorite episodes end up being ones she wrote.