Ranking The Writers of FiM, From Worst to Best (Version 2) · 12:01am Nov 15th, 2016
I did this only once before, after Season 5, but I figured the list could be updated now that some new writers have been added and some of the old writers have had a chance to try and change the impressions they've gotten. So if you're interested, here's the original version. Like always, I mean no disrespect to the DHX staff, and just like before I'm not going to be counting Lauren Faust, or Jayson Thiesen and Jim Miller. For Faust it's because she just wrote the pilot and the episode after it, then stood back and let the show take shape from the executive producer seat, while Jayson and Jim are part of the show's editing staff (and Jim has occasionally voiced characters in the show, such as Sombra). So with those little tid bits out of the way, let's see who ended up where and what changed from last time.
David Rapp (Episodes written: Newbie Dash (Collabed with Dave Polsky for story), Flutter Brutter (Meghan McCarthy credited with story), Where The Apple Lies (Collabed with Meghan McCarthy for story))
Why he's on the bottom: It might seem a bit unfair to poor David, since last time the bad writers were at least above the writers with no impression, but David sticks out like a sore thumb due to his past writing credits. He hasn't written for cartoons at all, only live action crime dramas, and there are things you can do in live action you can't do in animation and the same holds true in reverse. It's great that he wants to broaden his horizons, but especially for a show like this he's way out of his league and there's really only so much the DHX staff can do to help him. Perhaps if any of his episodes were outright solid, or at least really good (the best of them, "Flutter Brutter" barely crosses the line into good territory) I'd say he'd be worth another chance, but I think it's best if he just tries his luck elsewhere and admit this didn't work out for him.
Betsy McGowen (Episodes written: Power Ponies (Collab with Meghan McCarthy and Charlotte Fullerton))
Why she moved up: No impression is better than a bad impression, but that also means there's nothing to really talk about, especially when your episode was a double collab and it's impossible to tell what you contributed. Considering Betsy's past work, maybe it's for the best she left no impression, but then again Neal and Nick wrote for Johnny Test and they both left an impression.
Teddy Antonio (Episodes written: Keep Calm and Flutter On (Credited with story, Episode written by Dave Polsky))
Why he moved up: Apparently, Teddy was actually a fifteen year old Brony when he got picked to write this episode, or at least that's what LittleshyFiM claims in his "Cinemare Sins" video for "Keep Calm and Flutter On" (he provided a document in the video that supposedly is Teddy revealing this fact). I don't know if that's true or not, and regardless it doesn't change the fact that he's the only other writer who to date hasn't left any impression.
Neal Dusedau (Episodes written: Princess Spike (Story by Jim Miller and Jayson Thiesen), What About Discord?, Applejack's "Day" Off (Collabed with Michael P. and Will Fox for story))
Why he moved down: Neal really shouldn't have come back, he hasn't really improved from the terrible impression he left in Season 5 and his writing has not improved either. The only thing that he seems to have "improved on" is that now he actually attempts to explain his plot holes instead of just ignoring them. But plot holes can seldom just be explained away, it's better to avoid them by thinking through your story and implications carefully (and why editors exist, an outside eye can catch things you may not have been aware of).
Chris Savino (Episodes written: Boast Busters, Stare Master)
Why he moved up: At least Chris showed some signs of improvement in "Stare Master" compared to "Boast Busters", even though it's probably for the best he didn't come back. Plus, I've seen people say "Boast Busters" is a good episode, whereas I've never really heard anyone praise any of Neal's episodes. At least Chris maybe did something right, and plus the show was young and trying to find its identity, though Chris is lucky his bad episode didn't get the show killed. Six episodes in, the only truly outstanding episode had "Applebuck Season" and even then there wasn't anything that really made the show stand out in comparison to stuff like Adventure Time and Young Justice which were starting to come into their own.
Michael P. and Will Fox (Episodes written: Gift of The Maud Pie (Collabed with Josh Haber for story), Applejack's "Day" Off (Collabed with Neal Dusedau for story), P.P.O.V. (Pony Point Of View) (Collabed with Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt for story))
Why they are low: I couldn't find any sort of background on these writers, but so far they've just bounced from one bad situation to another in terms of writing. Not once did they get a truly good writer willing to help them out, even Josh Haber was more interested in satisfying his urge to see Rarity be in every episode, rather than viewing "Gift of The Maud Pie" independently and realizing that Rarity's inclusion hurt the story. Giving these two Neal Dusedau and two other medicore writers for their next two episodes also didn't help, since the Fox Brothers only had experience with Rarity Neal got to call most of the shots for "Applejack's 'Day' Off" and that did not end well for anyone. And while Kevin and Chris got help from Michael Vogel for their previous episodes, they most certainly weren't prepared to help the Fox Brothers with their episode. These guys could really benefit from having someone like Michael Vogel or Meghan McCarthy helping them out, someone who can truly find the time to help them live up to their full potential.
F.M. De Marco (Episodes written: 28 Pranks Later (Meghan McCarthy credited with story))
Why he is low: It's not surprising a writer for Littlest Pet Shop would transfer to this show, they shared the same studio and a lot of the same creative team and voice talent. Heck, Merriweather Williams herself wrote for the show and arguably had more success there. But Marco's work on Littlest Pet Shop was mostly medicore, and he definitely didn't do himself any favors by getting stuck with an attempt to fix "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" that really only fixed half of the problem. Maybe he could improve if he got to write an episode that wasn't trying to be a revisit of a really bad (or even really good) episode from a past season, or if he had someone take the time to catch him up on what he clearly missed in his likely rush to write this episode.
Merriweather Williams (Episodes written: The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, Hearth's Warming Eve, Putting Your Hoof Down (Collab with Charlotte Fullerton), Dragon Quest, Wonderbolt Academy, Spike At Your Service (Collab with Dave Polsky), Bats!)
Why she moved up: Merriweather moving up is because of other writers being added and ranking lower than her. Merriweather by all accounts should've been a great writer for this show, she wrote the best episodes of Seasons 1-3 Spongebob Squarepants and by all accounts she was a great writer for Adventure Time. The former of which remains a well loved classic, and the latter of which is credited with reviving interest in western animation in the 2010's and touching off a new golden age of sorts. But she arguably hit her high water mark with Wonderbolt Academy and then slid downhill again pretty fast. It's a shame she didn't work out, but hopefully she'll at least go back to Spongebob now that Adventure Time is wrapping up and Spongebob is undergoing a transformation of sorts (people are calling the post second movie era since the show is technically still on its ninth season).
Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt (Episodes written: The Times They Are A Changeling (Collabed with Michael Vogel for story), Viva Las Pegasus (collabed with Michael Vogel for story), P.P.O.V. (Pony Point Of View) (Collabed with Michael P. and Will Fox for story))
Why they are low: Michael Vogel was capable of helping these two out, but it seems that they may not be able to help others out or even do well on their own. And in a show like this, that's not a good thing. Even the best of writers have to be capable of working unassisted sometimes, if you always need someone to hold your hand then you're not going to get a lot of opportunities to write. Plus, solo episodes of this show have almost always been more well recieved than the dozens of collabs. Perhaps part of the reason why Season 6 is so devisive among fans is because it featured a ton of collabs.
Cindy Morrow (Episodes written: 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, Apple Family Reunion, Tanks For The Memories)
Why she moved up: I really do wish I could rank Cindy higher, but the bad from her still outweighs the good, and when she drops the ball she really drops the ball. She's good at writing heartfelt emotion, and she did that perfectly in Season 2, but in Season 1 she tried to dabble in comedy which is something she just isn't capable of writing, and in Seasons 3 and 5 her stories were hurt either by her own decisions, or by the decisions of the DHX staff. I have to seriously wonder why she's never attempted to collab with Dave Polsky, considering comedy has always been his strong suit and more recently he has proven capable of writing serious stories. I still want to hope Cindy can come back and improve, but chances are she's left for good now.
Corey Powell (Episodes written: Sleepless in Ponyville, Just For Sidekicks, Rainbow Falls, Inspiration Manifestation (Collab with Meghan McCarthy))
Why she moved up: Many of the old writers are moving up since new writers have been added that are ranking lower. Corey at least was popular when she debuted in Season 3, then she fell from grace hard a season later with "Rainbow Falls" and while she showed signs of improvement with "Inspiration Manifestation" the damage had already been done and perhaps because of that she hasn't come back yet.
Charlotte Fullerton (Episodes written: Look Before You Sleep, Suited For Success, A Bird In The Hoof, May The Best Pet Win, Baby Cakes, Putting Your Hoof Down (Collab with Merriweather Williams), Power Ponies (Collab with Meghan McCarthy and Betsy McGowen))
Why she moved down: Fullerton is unquestionably the black sheep of the show, bashed to seemingly no end by the fandom, and the only writer in Season 1 who never worked with Lauren Faust on any previous endevors (even Chris Savino at least knew Lauren from when he took over on Powerpuff Girls and the show ran into seasonal rot and fell from grace). And as I've said before, she really doesn't deserve that hate. Sure, she started off very badly, but she came back and improved significantly with "Suited For Success" and "Baby Cakes" and "Putting Your Hoof Down" are very overhated (some of the reasons are justifable, at least for "Putting Your Hoof Down", "Baby Cakes" largely just gets bashed because of Fullerton and the admittedly clunky worldbuilding attempt). And even "May The Best Pet Win" and "Power Ponies" have some good things going for them.
Noelle Benvenuti (Episodes written: Maud Pie, Made in Manehattan)
Why she moved down: Noelle deserves a chance to try and redefine herself, especially now that she's hopefully moved on from losing her mother over two years ago. "Maud Pie" and "Made in Manehattan" are so vastly different they might as well have been written by two seperate writers.
Natasha Levinger (Episodes written: Pinkie Apple Pie, It Ain't Easy Being Breezies, Make New Friends, But Keep Discord, Scare Master)
Why she stayed in the middle: I'm really worried about Natasha, a writer who seems to have forgotten their own continuity is always cause for concern. "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" established a more assertive Fluttershy in Season 5 up until "Scare Master" threw it out the window, and it would take "Flutter Brutter" to correct that mistake. With Natsha also only having written one episode where Fluttershy wasn't present, this raises concerns about whether or not she's any good with any of the other characters. She seemed to handle them well in all her episodes, more or less.
Ed Valentine (Episodes written: The Cart Before The Ponies (collabed with Michael Vogel for story), The Fault in Our Cutie Marks (Josh Haber and Meghan McCarthy credited with story))
Why he stayed in the middle: Ed's pretty much in the same boat as he was a season ago, with one more good episode and one medicore episode added to his resume. He seems to have improved on his major flaw (his set ups taking up half of the episode's run time) but that might be because he's had other people to help him out. If he were to write on his own again, hopefully he could do a good job and get to the main plot within the first three or four minutes. The CMC are definitely his strong suit, but the mane six are still a big "IF" for him.
G. M. Berrow (Episodes written: The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows)
Why she stayed in the middle: Berrow's still a very good writer, she even recently got praise for a well written chapter book on Starlight Glimmer. But she's only gotten the one episode of the show to show off her vastly underrated writing skills. I really do hope she can come back and write more episodes, but it's possible her work with the chapter books (she's going to be introducing a series based on the CMC in 2017) keeps her too busy to come into Studio B and write episodes.
Scott Sonneborn (Episodes written: Somepony to Watch Over Me, Trade Ya, The Cutie Map Parts 1 and 2 (Collab with M. A. Larson, Story by Meghan McCarthy), Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? (Story written by Jim Miller and Jayson Thiesen))
Why he moved to the middle: Being absent from Season 6 means Scott didn't get to leave much of an impression, and that also means it's hard to tell if he's going to be able to write on his own or not, assuming he comes back. Considering some of the controversy and backlash against "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep" Scott may not think it's worth his time to write for the show again (and for what's it worth most of the backlash went way beyond the realm of reason, LillyPeet labeled it the worst episode of the entire show solely because of the revelation of the Tantibus).
Dave Polsky (Episodes written: Feeling Pinkie Keen, Over A Barrel, Too Many Pinkie Pies, Spike At Your Serivce (Collab with Merriweather Williams), Keep Clam and Flutter On (Collab with Teddy Antonio), Games Ponies Play, Daring Don't, Rarity Takes Manehattan, Twilight Time, For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils, Equestria Games, Appleloosa's Most Wanted, Brotherhooves Social, On Your Marks (collabed with Josh Haber for story), Newbie Dash (collabed with David Rapp for story, episode written by David Rapp))
Why he moved down: Ouch, poor Dave fell from grace nearly as bad as Corey Powell did in Season 4, which is ironically the very season in which Dave started to become a fan favorite writer. I suspect it was because Season 6 was full of callbacks to Season 2, and Dave didn't return until Season 3 (and at the time he did so very reluctantly, before he managed to shed his comedic ways and tackle more serious stories), so he had no idea of how to write as if he were making an episode for a season he missed out on. Maybe next season, especially if Meghan comes back to the editor's seat and Dave is allowed to write on his own again, he'll do better?
Meghan McCarthy (Episodes written: Dragonshy, Call Of The Cutie, Green Isn't Your Color, Party of One, Lesson Zero, Sweet and Elite, Hearts and Hooves Day, A Cantelort Wedding Parts 1 and 2, Crystal Empire Parts 1 and 2, Princess Twilight Sparkle Parts 1 and 2, Three's A Crowd (Collab with Ed Valentine), Inspiration Manifestation (Collab with Corey Powell), Twilight's Kingdom Parts 1 and 2, The Cutie Map Parts 1 and 2 (Credited with story, Episode written by Scott Sonneborn and M. A. Larson), Rarity Investigates (Collab on story with M. A. Larson and Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco), Flutter Brutter (credited with story, episode written by David Rapp), 28 Pranks Later (credited with story, episode written by F.M. De Marco), The Fault in Our Cutie Marks (credited with story alongside Josh Haber, episode written by Ed Valentine), Where The Apple Lies (collabed with David Rapp for story, episode written by David Rapp), Top Bolt (collabed with Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco for story, episode written by Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco) Movies written: Equestria Girls, Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks)
Why she moved down: Meghan was absent this season for the most part so she could work on the MLP movie due out next Fall, and as a result she contributed only to a few collabs, most of which were medicore or only decent. It's unknown yet if she's going to return to the editor's seat for Season 7, or if she's still busy with the movie. It's possible she may come back for half a season like she did in Season 5, and in that case she'll probably be more likely to edit the second half again. I'm glad she's passed the torch to other writers for the Equestria Girls franchise, it has improved significantly in her absence and it's growing at a tremendous rate.
Nick Confalone Episodes written: Party Pooped (Story by Jim Miller and Jayson Thiesen), Hearthbreakers, No Second Prances, The Saddle Row Review, Dungeons & Discords)
Why he moved up: Nick really came into his own season, managing to branch out and try new things. And to his credit, all three time he tried he pretty much succeeded. It's still clear that he's more comfortable with comedic lighthearted stories as "No Second Prances" indicated serious stories, while not a complete weak point for him, are outside his comfort zone and he'd much prefer not writing them. Maybe he could collab with Dave Polsky or Cindy Morrow and leave the serious parts of an episode to them, while he works on the comedy? He still needs to write focus episodes for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy though, so we'll have to see if he decides to try and tackle them next season, and if he understands how to write them well in said focus episodes.
Michael "Mike" Vogel (Episodes written: A Hearth's Warming Tail, Spice Up Your Life, Stranger Than Fanfiction (Collabed with Josh Haber), The Cart Before The Ponies (collabed with Ed Valentine for story, episode written by Ed Valentine), The Times They Are A Changeling (collabed with Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt for story, episode written by Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt), Viva Las Pegasus (collabed with Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt for story, episode written by Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt), Every Little Thing She Does, To Where And Back Again Parts 1 and 2 (collabed with Josh Haber)
Why he is high: Like I said before, I want to put him higher than he already is, but part of me is worried that maybe he got too much praise too soon and that in actuality "A Hearth's Warming Tail" might have turned out so well because he had to tell the bare minimum of an actual story. He's collabed well with Kevin and Chris, and seemed to collab well with Josh first time around, but other than that his works haven't been flawless and there's been stuff that gives me cause for concern. Most noticeably how he handles Rarity, Starlight, and Spike. He made Rarity hold a huge idiot ball in "Spice Up Your Life" (and possibly that combined with a villain ball for "The Cart Before The Ponies"), completely misunderstood Starlight in "Every Little Thing She Does", and I'm certain he was responsible for Spike slipping up and getting captured instead of being allowed to help save the day in "To Where And Back Again". Maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic, in spite of those flaws he hasn't had a bad episode yet in my book, but I'm a little concerned he's losing his touch if his later works are anything to go by.
M. A. Larson (Episodes written: Swarm of The Century, Sonic Rainboom, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, The Return of Harmony Parts 1 and 2, Luna Eclipsed, Secret Of My Excess, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, It's About Time, Ponyville Confidential, Magic Duel, Magical Mystery Cure, The Cutie Map Parts 1 And 2 (Collab with Scott Sonneborn, Story written by Meghan McCarthy), Slice of Life, Amending Fences, Rarity Investigates (Collab on story with Meghan McCarthy and Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco))
Why he moved down: M. A. Larson is still a fan favorite and he still ranks pretty high overall, but being absent for Season 6 meant he had to move down when some other writers moved up. Larson's absence in recent seasons has largely been because he's moved on to other works and it seems he may not be coming back ever again, but Season 5 was a good send off for him in terms of writing and the fans still love him. Heck, he even got to appear on "Bronies React" for their video on the Season 5 premiere. Despite the jokes we may have made about him (and to be fair, I'm sure it wasn't his decision to make Twilight an alicorn, he had to make the best of what he was given), I think we truly mean it in a positive way when we say "Thanks, M. A. Larson".
Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco (Episodes written: Castle, Sweet Castle, Rarity Investigates (Collab on story with Meghan McCarthy and M. A. Larson), The Hooffelds and McColts, Gauntlet of Fire, Top Bolt (collabed with Meghan McCarthy for story), Movies written: Legend of Everfree)
Why they moved up: Wow, these two went from one of the worst writers on the show after their first episode, to one of the best writers on the show at the end of this season. "Gauntlet of Fire" alone would've been enough to justify bumping up to the top stop, but as I said before they kind of seemed to lose it a bit with "Top Bolt" and Sky Stinger, though maybe it was more Meghan McCarthy's fault. As it stands, I'm hopeful they're not sliding back downhill again, but for now they've shown there are still some things they need to work on.
Jennifer Skelly (Episodes written: Buckball Season)
Why she is high: It may be a bit unfair to put her so high since she only wrote one episode, but that one episode was pretty good from a writer who was plucked from the depths of obscurity. Time well tell if Jennifer's high ranking is a fluke, or she's on her way to becoming one of the show's best writers. I hope she at least continues to be as good as she was with "Buckball Season", maybe a little bit better.
Amy Keating Rogers (Episodes written: Ticket Master (Collab with Lauren Faust), Applebuck Season, Bridle Gossip, Fall Weather Friends, A Dog and Pony Show, Best Night Ever, The Cutie Pox, The Last Roundup, A Friend in Deed, MMMystery On The Friendship Express, Pinkie Pride (Collab with Jayson Thiesen), Filli Vanilli, Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3, The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, Canterlot Boutique, Crusaders of The Lost Mark, The Mane Attraction)
Why she stayed the same: It's only been a season but already Amy's absence is hard to process, she was probably the longest lasting writer on the show, and the one who was given the honor of working directly with Lauren Faust on an episode. I don't know what show she ended up working for once she left for Disney, but chances are it was either Milo Murphy's Law (created by the same people who gave us Phineas and Ferb) or Star v.s. The Forces of Evil. "The Mane Attraction" was a terrific send off for Amy, but we're still going to miss her, she gave us some of the most memorable episodes of the show and Season 5 truly put her up there with the likes of M. A. Larson and Meghan McCarthy for the show's best writers. So, who could top her this time?
Josh Haber (Episodes written: Castle Mane-ia, Simple Ways, Leap Of Faith, Bloom and Gloom, The Cutie Re-Mark Parts 1 and 2, The Crystalling Parts 1 and 2, Gift of The Maud Pie (collabed with Michael P. and Will Fox for story, episode written by Michael P. and Will Fox), On Your Marks (collabed with Dave Polsky for story, episode written by Dave Polsky), Stranger Than Fanfiction (collabed with Michael Vogel), The Fault in Our Cutie Marks (collabed with Meghan McCarthy for story, episode written by Ed Valentine), To Where And Back Again Parts 1 and 2 (collabed with Michael Vogel) Movies written: Equestria Girls: Friendship Games)
Why he moved up to the top: I'm putting Haber above Amy by a hair, simply because he hasn't written a single truly bad episode (Amy has "Bridle Gossip", "The Cutie Pox", and "Filli Vanilli" though her good episodes easily outway her bad ones), and because he's also probably going to be around for future seasons. Supposedly he's been drafted to write for a new Skylanders cartoon, so he may not return for Season 7. If he does and remains the story editor, hopefully he's learned his lesson about trying to put Rarity into every episode just because he likes her so much, and that while he may like her he's not the best expert when it comes to telling if she is or isn't in character.
And there you have it. Come back tomorrow when we take a look at the Top Fifty Best Episodes of FiM!
For me, it goes:
1. Mike Vogel
2. Amy Keating Rogers
3. Josh Haber
4. David Rapp
5. Meghan McCarthy
6. MA Larson
The rest shuffle around.
4302626 I get all of them, except David Rapp. I know some people like "Newbie Dash" but "Flutter Brutter" and "Where The Apple Lies" are still up for debate.
4302698 For me, Flutter Brutter is easily Fluttershy's best episode of the entire series.
And Where the Apple Lies is the best AJ episode of the entire series, even if it wasn't what most people were expecting.
4302698 Newbie Dash's hate is more fans just flipping out because Rainbow Dash was, shock of shocks, in the wrong for the second time and they have a hard time accepting that. The Wonderbolts were actually PEOPLE and in the army. And before you say this out of character for her? She juts figures they're a stunt group and want her to preform amazing. She doesn't really GET doing a routine. Wonderbolt Academy was a SCHOOL for her more or less. Rainbow Crash affected her more because it was her ROLE MODELS who didn't REALIZE that it was such a big insult for her. Rainbow acted like her 'season 1 self' because she was that eager to get of the nick name. Oh but it's just okay to defend the person in the wrong as long as you can insult the Wonderbolts and talk about how much THEY'RE bad people as though it was SUCH an original idea. This is borderline the same reasons people didn't like Mare-Do-Well. Rainbow was actually the bad guy but they didn't want that and decided to heap ALL the show's problems onto Mare-Do-Well instead because that's such an easy thing to do.
What's interesting is that my picks for Best Writer and Worst Writer are both ties. Worst Writer to me is between Merriwether Williams/M.A. Larson and Best Writer to me is Meghan McCarthy/Cindy Morrow.