Joss didn't write many episodes overall in the later seasons-- Waiting in the Wings, Once more with Feeling, Lessons, Spin the Bottle, Chosen, Conviction, Smile Time, Hole in the World & Not Fade Away; these episodes don't feel half-assed to me. I think they are great episodes, but he was spread too thin between Buffy, Angel, Firefly & everything else in his life. So it's a shame all three shows suffered because of it but they were still well done imo, in spite of being created/aired at the same time.
I think many other writers contributed greatly to the series' anyway besides Joss so who cares if he cared, I still like what other writers did as well, if not more than Whedon. Marti Noxon wrote Surprise, The Wish, The Prom (she wrote the class protector award!), Bewitched Bothered & Bewildered which has one of the best Cordelia moments ever when she tells off Harmony, Living Conditions, New Moon Rising, Forever, Consequences & Villains- all great, well written episodes in my opinion; her episodes have great dialogue. Marti also directed Forever which I think was pretty beautifully done. The only episodes that Marti wrote in S6 were Villains, Wrecked & Bargaining p1. Bargaining p1 isn't extraordinary (p2 always makes me cry w/Buffy & Dawn reuniting) but Willow breaking down after the car wreck in Wrecked always makes me cry (even if more bc of Alysons acting than Martis' writing). The seasons development with Buffy & Spike was surely Joss' overarching direction, not Martis just because Whedon gave her power to run the show day to day.
Doug Petrie wrote some of the BEST episodes of Buffy & Angel - and he only wrote two episodes of Angel (In the Dark & The Trial- both great); On Buffy, Petrie wrote some of my better episodes of Season 7 (Beneath You, Get it Done & End of Days) some of the absolute best of s3 & the entire series (Revelations, Bad Girls & Enemies), and some of the best of the series overall with This Years Girl, Checkpoint, Two to Go, No Place Like Home & Fool for Love. Even Petries lesser episodes are still decently good (The Initiative, The Yoko Factor, Weight of the World, As You Were, Flooded & Bring on the Night).
Steven S. DeKnight wrote some of my absolute favorites with Blood Ties, Spiral, Shells, Inside Out, Hell Bound, Dead Things, Deep Down & Apocalypse Nowish.
Drew Goddard wrote some iffy ones (Never Leave Me, Lies my Parents Told Me & Why We Fight) but also some of the absolute best imo with Conversations w/Dead People, Dirty Girls, The Girl in Question, Lineage, Origin & Selfless.
David Fury wrote a great closer to Season 6 with Grave and some of the most underrated episodes in both Buffy & Angel (The I in Team, Real Me, Crush, Disharmony, The Price, The House always Wins, Peace Out, Just Rewards, Destiny, You're Welcome, Power Play... even Go Fish imo.)
Jane Espenson wrote great episodes Band Candy, Earshot, The Harsh Light of Day, A New Man, Pangs, Intervention, I Was Made to Love You & After Life (Buffy's heaven confession to Spike) and she practically saved Season 7 by writing Same time Same Place & Conversations with Dead People alone. Her other s7 writing contributions Sleeper, Storyteller, First Date & End of Days are decently good if not great too.
So I didn't mean to hijack the thread, just wanting to point out that even if Joss wrote some great episodes and created the series to begin with, many other artists and writers contributed to the series' in the later seasons regardless of Joss' involvement.
