Favorite writers?

[Misha]

Who are your favorite Buffy or Angel writers? It's no secret that Joss enhanced the scripts he didn't write, but I noticed you can kind of guess who wrote which episode of Buffy if you pay attention.

I've had this debate before, and honestly I think it depends on my mood. I also haven't watched That much lately. But there are a few who stand out for me.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

There are script credits listed on imdb.com. You can click on the writer's name and the episodes he wrote are listed. For example, Steven S. DeKnight wrote Seeing Red, Dead Things, All the Way, Spiral and Blood Ties.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Without a question David Greenwalt

 

[thetopher]

For Buffy:

Jane Espenson- Funniest writer on the show. From 'Band Candy' to 'Storyteller' she rarely disappointed.

Dan Vebber. He only wrote two as far as I know but those two were 'Lover's Walk' and 'The Zeppo'.

Also Douglas Petrie for Bad Girls alone. (all those Fuffy moments). Plus Spike saying 'Is everyone here very stoned.' in 'Weight Of The World'

For Angel: David Greenwalt and Tim Minear.

 

[sk]

I would say my favorite is Jane Espenson.
She was the first one I took notice at and I kinda looked forward to watch her episodes.
Can't really say that about anyone else beside Joss himself.

Really like Tim Minear's work on Firefly though.
But I don't even know what episodes he wrote on Angel.

/SK

 

[NothingVentured]

All the episodes are written by all the writers. The plots, act breaks and even beats are broken down by the whole writing troupe in the writers room. The individual writer, more or less, just writes the dialogue for the ep. Something might happen in an episode X writer did that Y writer came up with. F. Ex. the balcony in Dead Things was a Joss idea. Halloween was basically rewritten by Marti although she gets no credit.

With that in mind, I think Forbes deserves more credit than she gets. She did the most with the least to work with--2 of her scripts were basically FU's to the network by Joss and she made them bearable.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

I think i enjoy a lot of Jane Espensons writing. Maybe I'm bias cause i really like her work on Once Upon a Time. Doug Petrie gave us Fuffy so that makes me like him. Wasn't Marti Noxon the one pushing Spuffy? I can't get behind that. But if she had a lot of influence of Halloween I'll forgive her cause that's one of my favorite eps of the show.

 

[thetopher]

All the episodes are written by all the writers.

True...up to a point. But there is a corolation between writer and type/quality of episode.
JE's episodes are always comedy-heavy and she writes some characters very well. example in S5 she wrote 'The Replacement, Triangle, IWMTLY and Intervention' which are all very funny/humourous focussed (as opposed to big drama).

Other writers have certain strengths (big dramatic plot twists or dark angst) which is why they're given certain types of episode.

Wasn't Marti Noxon the one pushing Spuffy? I can't get behind that.

Not just that but s2 'Bad Eggs', s3 'B&TB' or s4 'Living Conditions'. Personally I think MN is one of the weakest regular writers on the show.

 

[NothingVentured]

True...up to a point. But there is a corolation between writer and type/quality of episode.
JE's episodes are always comedy-heavy and she writes some characters very well. example in S5 she wrote 'The Replacement, Triangle, IWMTLY and Intervention' which are all very funny/humourous focussed (as opposed to big drama).

Other writers have certain strengths (big dramatic plot twists or dark angst) which is why they're given certain types of episode.

No, it's simply true. No need for a qualifier. The events of an episode and their tone and beats--even dialogue itself--is done in the writer's room. It's true that certain writers were given certain episodes to write, but that's not the writer that's the favorite. It's the type of episode.

Take your favorite writer and your least favorite episode. Nothing would change if A wrote B. If Jane wrote Bad Eggs, it would still be about some egg monster in the basement of the school. If Joss wrote it, it would still have the stupid metaphors, characterization and logic issues.

 

[thetopher]

The events of an episode and their tone and beats--even dialogue itself--is done in the writer's room.

Not always. Some writers have written certain episodes at home (they've said as much on DVD commentaries and in articles) and also some writers are simply absent from the writer's room (like Joss often is) because they're doing something else so they can't contribute that much to the scripts.

The fact remains that you can tell certain writers by the episode they write. JE does consistantly funny episodes for example. Marti Noxon does pretty dark, episodes with heavy-handed metaphor and often writes guys as a**holes.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

JE's episodes are always comedy-heavy and she writes some characters very well. example in S5 she wrote 'The Replacement, Triangle, IWMTLY and Intervention' which are all very funny/humourous focussed (as opposed to big drama).

Two of my favorite eps of S5 and I like the other 2, so really JE is the only thing I like about that season.

Not just that but s2 'Bad Eggs', s3 'B&TB' or s4 'Living Conditions'. Personally I think MN is one of the weakest regular writers on the show.

Oh this explains a lot. I'm sure the only good parts in those eps came from Joss or someone else. I like B&TB, but only for the Oz stuff, which probably wasn't hers. So, yea I'm going to say she wasn't the best writer on the show. No idea what shes writing now.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

No idea what shes writing now.

She's not 'writing' anything. She's running her own show. And has been show runner for a few things for awhile. Most of the former writers have went on to produce their own things. Her current show is UnReal. The Buffy family tree is actually quite large.