Looking at MLP : FIM episodes by writer

[Handren]

When compiling the information for this post, I realized simply how many great episodes this show has had, IMO. I've never seen this many genuinely classic episodes in the FIRST SEASON of any show.

It really feels like the writers know these charachters by heart already, and don`t need time to "get used" to them as I've seen with many other shows which show a noticable jump in quality in the second season.

Anyway, here's a good lsit to go by if you want to look at them this way as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...Magic_episodes

Lauren Faust:

Episodes: Friendship is Magic parts 1 and 2, co writer of The Ticket Master, Series Creator

Not really much to say here, since she's the show creator and presumably supervises all the episodes. I really love the mythology she's created and I really would love to see more of it, as well as the expanded version of Nightmare Moon's reign she originally wanted.

Amy Keating Rogers:

Episodes: co writer: "The Ticket Master" Writer: "Apple Buck Season" , "Bridle Gossip" , "Fall Weather Friends" , "A Dog and Pony Show"

I have to say she's probably my second favorite writer on the show, in that her episodes really delve into what I think separates FIM from all other shows aimed at its demographic, the level of thought put into the charachters. I think Applejack might be her favorite, as she starred in two of her episodes. Though she was able to treat rarity with the same level of thought in "A dog and Pony show." All in all, she's one of the writers who made the show the success it is with older fans.

Cindy Morrow:

Episodes: "Griffon the Brush-Off" , "Winter Wrap Up" , "The Show Stoppers" , "Owl's Well That Ends Well"

Cindy, Girl, what happened to you!? Your first two eps were freaking ICONIC. Show Stoppers was okay, pretty good, but this newest episode was really.. kinda mediocre. Hopefully it's just a one off thing because those first two she did were probably some of the most memorable episodes of the entire series! Winter Wrap Up had that great song and everyone loves all of the charachter exploration and potential future enemy in Gilda. Hopefully she just had a bad day with the owl thing.

Chris Savino:

Episodes: "Boast Busters" , "Stare Master"

Heh, now THESE are episodes written by a Brony. Tons of conflict with all the charachters playing off each other excellently and both ending with a face-off against a powerful mythological creature. Do more, man! ROCK ON.

Meghan McCarthy

Episodes: "Dragonshy" , "Call of the Cutie" , "Green Isn't Your Color"

It's unfair of me to judge her since Fluttershy is my favorite pony and she basically wrote two of the three episodes that explain why. CotC, while many see as less than others but still good, I think is a very good episode and introduced the world to Solid Applebloom. One of the best on the show. Great charachter interaction and development. More form her please!

Charlotte Fullerton

Episodes: "Look Before You Sleep" , "Suited for Success" , "A Bird in the Hoof"

I see she's a fan of Rarity, eh? She's my second fave tied with Twilight, so that's cool. Suited for Success is one of my top favorite episodes because it exemplified the show's greaters strength, charachter development. I'd say that Bird in the hoof is an above average episode, both due to Twilight overreacting, Fluttershy Being Fluttershy, and the "reborn" Philomena looking really cool. The episode itself could have been a bit better, but enjoyable overall. LBYS was fairly forgettable, but also fairly enjoyable, so I`d never shy away from her episodes.

M. A. Larson

Episodes: "Swarm of the Century" , "Sonic Rainboom" , "The Cutie Mark Chronicles"

Well, here we are. The man(woman?) that basically single-handedly made the FIM fandom what it is today. The Ponycraft2 video would have been impossible without SOTC, an already great episode for, once again, letting the charachters be themselves reacting to a situation is simply entertaining for this show. Then, he writes BOTH sonic rainboom episodes, which puts him into the category of writers like Lauren Faust and Chris Savino who take an already excellent cast and setting setup and try to make it as EPIC AS FREAKING POSSIBLE. His episodes pretty much made the show, in the minds of fans, an epic tale on the scale of one piece just WAITING to happen. I WANT to see Rainbow Dash become the best flier that ever lived, joining the wonderbolts. I WANT to see Rarity become Equestria's best fashion designer. i WANT to see Fluttershy come out of her shell while still being her loving self and make friends with all the animals. I WANT to see AppleJack's farm become a huge success and grow the world's best apples. I WANT to see Pinky Pie just be her random self along with the adventure and make everyone happy. and most of all, I FREAKING WANT to see Twilight Sparkle become the most powerful unicorn that ever lived, saving the world again and eventually surpass celesita herself. M.A. Larson, thank you.

Dave Polsky:

Episodes: "Feeling Pinkie Keen" , "Over a Barrel"

Well... hmmm... geez... Awkward.. I'll start by avoiding the elephant in the room and talk about over a barrel, which was fairly cool in expanding the show's mythology and had a lot of good individual moments. However, the scene at the end, I gotta say, was really awkward, with the conflict between settles and natives being represented by a pie fight, it just really didn`t sit quite right with me knowing the history of how things really went down in the west. Polsky's episodes seem to emphasize the show's weaknesses rather than its strengths, and unlike the other writers, who write the show as Mrs. Faust intended, for all ages to enjoy, I'd say his are the only two i`d say are written more for kids specifically given the subject matter. feeling Pinkie Keen, like OAB, is an episode I am ultimately torn on. We had two classic moments in the show, Derpy Hooves dropping anvils on twilight and Rapidash Twilight, as well as that badass hydra in this episode! Let me say I have no problem with "Pinkie Sense" existing in a world with dragons and Unicorns and magic being common. It's just, the way the episode was written didn`t sit well with me. Are we seriously supposed to take Pinkie Pie as an allegory for a religious figure? I don`t know. All I know is that FPK feels a lot like the family Guy episode in which the cast of Star Trek: TNG cameoed. The Star Trek cast scenes were great and funny, but they were put into an episode whose message just didn`t sit right with me.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

There's been a bit of discussion on this topic here: Episode Authors - but I got the impression from it that people can have significantly different opinions on what episodes count as top tier. I think it would be more useful to plot the distribution of people's ratings of different episodes rather than just looking at the straight mean.

As for Feeling Pinkie Keen, I have to mention this thread: Feeling Pinkie Keen: The Debate - I don't think at all we are supposed to take Pinkie Pie as an allegory for a religious figure, quite the opposite actually. Pinkie Pie's sense is in Predicting Future Events, which is the exact and specific definition of science.

[Handren]

That topic actually makes a lot more sense for this post. Could a Mod possibly merge the topics?