Top Five Strongest Writers of FiM, Version 4 · 5:39pm Oct 27th, 2019
You know the drill, and this is going to be the last of the official ranking lists that I've been putting out since the show wrapped up with Season 9. I know there's still the Equestria Girls special that's been leaked, and it airs this coming Saturday in the U.S. I may review it early or I may wait until it hits U.S. airwaves since it's so close. Anyway, I covered the weakest writers in my opinion and now it's time to cover the strongest. Here's the third version, from a year ago. Now let's see what changed.
5. 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! (Collabed with Meghan McCarthy and Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco for story), Fame and Misfortune (Rewritten by unknown author)
Why he moved down: Larson's still a polarizing fan favorite, and it's not his fault he's moving down. Others are being rearranged and added, so he's moving down a space. Larson is by no means perfect, he has a fair deal of episodes I find to be a bit lacking and "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" used to be my all time least favorite episode of the show. But particularly in Season 5 when he hit he hit big! An interview he gave a few months back has cleared up the story surrounding "Fame and Misfortune". His initial plan for a Pinkie Pie episode never got past the initial pitch before Hasbro rejected it and told him to make it an attack the critics episode. Larson reluctantly obliged but ultimately wasn't satisfied and shelved the project. After he left the show, someone else found his script, tweaked it to fit Season 7, and then published it. All the while Hasbro told Larson about it and he pleaded with them not to air it to no avail. I have to wonder if some of the other early writers on the show had similar problems with Hasbro and that is why they left.
4. Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco (Episodes written: Castle, Sweet Castle, Rarity Investigates! (Collab on story with Meghan McCarthy and M. A. Larson), The Hooffields and McColts, Gauntlet of Fire, Top Bolt (Collabed with Meghan McCarthy for story), Celestial Advice, All Bottled Up, A Royal Problem, The Perfect Pear, The Beginning of the End Parts 1 and 2, Movies written: Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree)
Why they moved down: Don't get me wrong, "The Beginning of the End" was still very much enjoyable, but it really didn't seem like a fitting farewell for Lewis and Songco. I have to ask why they only brought back for one two parter and then that was it. Considering we had a few one shot writers, couldn't we have instead given one of the scripts there to Lewis and Songco for them to do? I mean heck, why wouldn't you give them "The Ending of the End" even if you were saving Josh Haber for the final episode? They definitely got better after getting pointers from Meghan McCarthy and M. A. Larson as can be seen with how greatly they improved starting with "The Hooffields and McColts", but "The Perfect Pear" probably would've been a stronger send off for them, especially considering how weak they turned out to be as story editors.
3. Amy Keating Rogers (Episodes written: The Ticket Master (Collab with Lauren Faust), 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, 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: Well as it turns out, "The Ticket Master" was going to be the original pilot for the show when it was under the working title of "My Little Pony Adventures" (a test reel from 2008/2009 surfaced earlier this month, featuring Tara Strong as not only Twilight Sparkle but also Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash). Lauren Faust originally wrote it herself, assuming the show would be 11 minutes long. Most likely, after she got hired on by Hasbro she became emboldened to push for more adventure stories and "Friendship is Magic Parts 1 and 2" were meant to serve this new direction. I bring all this up because when Lauren came back to this episode later, she apparently hired Amy Keating Rogers to pad it out to fit the 22 minute run time. From there, Amy would go on to be the first writer to get her own episode, and of the old guard she was the one who (alongside Meghan McCarthy) hung around the longest. I think she was buoyed greatly by her successes in Season 5, particularly "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" and "The Mane Attraction" which were fantastic swan songs for her. I still don't know where she ended up at Disney or if she's been involved with any of their cartoons.
2. 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 (Collab with Michael Vogel), Uncommon Bond (Collabed with Kevin Lappin for story), Shadow Play Parts 1 and 2 (Collabed with Nicole Dubuc for story), Molt Down, Father Knows Beast, School Raze Part 2, Sparkle's Seven (Collab with Nicole Dubuc, Story written by Tara Strong, Ashliegh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha. St Germain and Cathy Welsuck), Common Ground, Student Counsel, Dragon Dropped, The Big Mac Question (Collabed with Michael Vogel), The Last Problem, Movies written: Equestria Girls: Friendship Games)
Why he returned: Meghan McCarthy's designated successor as show runner, Josh Haber definitely got a lot of flack even early on because of his writing. He did mostly improve, but I'll admit that there's one troubling area that I think he never quite got better at, writing for Rarity. Rarity was always the one who gave him trouble, and yet in his solo story editing tenure he kept trying to pus her into every episode even when it wasn't needed. After he ended Season 8 with two big duds in the form of "Father Knows Beast" and "School Raze Part 2", Haber really redeemed himself in Season 9, aside from "Dragon Dropped" he didn't have a single dud attached to his name. If not for how much baggage he carries from Season 8 and to an extent Season 5, he probably could've reclaimed the top spot.
1. Michael "Mike" Vogel (Episodes written: A Hearth's Warming Tail, Spice Up Your Life, Stranger Than Fanfiction (Collab 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 (Collab with Josh Haber), School Daze Parts 1 and 2 (Collab with Nicole Dubuc), The Mean 6, What Lies Beneath, Frenemies, The Summer Sun Setback, The Big Mac Question (Collabed with Josh Haber), The Ending of the End Part 2, Movies written: My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) (Co-Collab with Meghan McCarthy and non pony writer), Specials written: The Best Gift Ever)
Why he was added at the top: After "The Mean 6" became the first true dud of his writing tenure, he bounced back and improved so considerably. He wrote the only other student six episode of Season 8 and one that really made us wish they'd been focused on more, then he gave Season 8 something of a redemption when he penned "The Best Gift Ever". And in Season 9 he managed many big episodes quite well, including the best episode of Season 9 "Frenemies", the villain team up we'd always wanted. It seems like he was often left with clean up duty, and it does seem a bit concerning that some writers got their jobs because they were friends with him. But Michael himself was truly incredible, and lifted himself up over even Josh Haber as a result of his final writing performances.
And there you have it, come back tonight when we'll close out these daily blogs with a wishlist for Season 10 that will be featured in the IDW Comics.
I will miss those!