Top 5 Favorite BTVS & ATS Writers

Mrs Gordo

Mrs Gordo

Bangel extremist...
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Rank your top 5 favorite writers for both BTVS & ATS. Feel free to elaborate. I'm basing mine on TV shows alone but for all of you comic book readers feel free to include comic book writers as well:

Top BTVS:
1. Joss Whedon
2. Marti Noxon (Before she came EP)
3. David Greenwalt
4. Douglast Petrie
5. Jane Espenson (In small controlled doses)

Top AtS:
1. Tim Minear (with a bullet I might add)
2. David Greenwalt
3. Joss Whedon
4. Mere Smith
5. Jeannine Renshaw
 
I don't think I have enough knowledge of the writers to make a list, but I would like to give a shout out to Marti. She wrote Dead Man's Party, New Moon Rising and The Wish, then she lead the show through two very brave and mostly successful seasons. Pat on the back.
dcai0830 said:
Marti Noxon (Before she came EP)
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This is off topic, but what do you think of IOHEFY?
 
Grace
Grace
You didn't ask me, but I'll tell you anyway that IOHEFY is my personal favorite episode of the series. :)
WillowFromBuffy said:
This is off topic, but what do you think of IOHEFY?
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It's a good episode. Not making any of my top episodes of all times list but I like that it allowed Buffy to process some emotions and gives the audience some insight as to what she is feeling. It gave us an opportunity to see Angelus possessed by a ghost that was in love and then we get to see his reaction to that feeling of love which is an interesting view on the demon. It shows us that Buffy is still extremely vulnerable with regards to her feelings for Angel and part of her is still holding on to hope that Angel will come back - at the end when they kiss she says "Angel?" as if she thinks for one second it might be him but of course its not and heart break resumes. I think DB does a great job with the scene at the school.
 
1. Joss Whedon
2. Douglas Petrie
3. Marti Noxon
4. Steven S. DeKnight
5. David Fury

I'm judging these writers on the episodes they wrote, I don't actually know much about them.
 
dcai0830 said:
It's a good episode. Not making any of my top episodes of all times list but I like that it allowed Buffy to process some emotions and gives the audience some insight as to what she is feeling. It gave us an opportunity to see Angelus possessed by a ghost that was in love and then we get to see his reaction to that feeling of love which is an interesting view on the demon. It shows us that Buffy is still extremely vulnerable with regards to her feelings for Angel and part of her is still holding on to hope that Angel will come back - at the end when they kiss she says "Angel?" as if she thinks for one second it might be him but of course its not and heart break resumes. I think DB does a great job with the scene at the school.
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It is a good episode. Great acting. I can see how it became David's audition tape.

I guess it was a warning sing that Marti likes to take her stories into seriously muddy territory.
 
I always look at the writers of episodes I really like - maybe I'm a weirdo. 🙂
 
Yeah I don't really know television writers outside of my favorite show, so, like WFB, I'll just give a shoutout to the awesome AtS writer, Ben Edlund 😀
 
dcai0830 said:
I always look at the writers of episodes I really like - maybe I'm a weirdo. 🙂
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I'm the same!

Buffy :
1. Joss Whedon
2. Marti Noxon
3. Douglas Petrie
4. David Greenwalt

I can't really pick a 5th because the contenders left all wrote a couple of episodes that I really really dislike and I'd say they're all on the same level.

Angel :
1. Tim Minear
2. David Greenwalt
3. Mere Smith
4. Steven S. DeKnight
5. Drew Goddard
 
Joss is definitely #1 for BtVS, especially since he punched up or heavily rewrote episodes without getting a credit. I like Marti Noxon and Jane Espenson, too. Tim Minear for sure on AtS, along with David Greenwalt.

Except for those five, I don't see a lot of patterns in my favorite episodes -- they're spread out over lots of writers.
 
Joss is obviously the best, and he wrote most of my favorite episodes.

Marti Noxon wrote quite a few awful episodes (Goodbye Iowa, Bad Eggs, Living Conditions) but she also wrote some fantastic episodes that really stand out. (The Wish, B B & B, Wild at Heart, I Only Have Eyes for You)

Douglas Petrie wrote Fool for Love, so I have to give him some love.

David Fury didn't write any that particularly stood out to me, though his episodes are usually solid.

Drew Goddard only wrote 5 episodes and I love them all.

Stephen S DeKnight was apparently the person they went to when they need something dark, and he went above and beyond. (Blood Ties, Dead Things, Seeing Red)
 
In no particular order (other than top).
Joss Whedon
Marti Noxon
David Fury
David Greenwalt
Jane Epenson
 
Fool for Buffy said:
Marti Noxon wrote quite a few awful episodes (Goodbye Iowa, Bad Eggs, Living Conditions) but she also wrote some fantastic episodes that really stand out. (The Wish, B B & B, Wild at Heart, I Only Have Eyes for You)
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It’s funny how Marti has some of the early best and early worst. I also have a tough time seeing her writing style whereas I can recognize Joss and Tim and Greenwalt pretty quickly.

I think she is inconsistent but she has some early great ones in there for me WML, innocence, Passion.

My whole thing with Marti is she needs someone to balance her out. She seems to have wild ideas and there is little restraint. I see that in BTVS Seasons 6/7 and I see that in her show Unreal. Good stuff but it needs a counterpoint. So I maintain she ruined Buffy 🙂
 
@HowiMetdaSlayer he is not blame free but - they (the writers) talk about how he would walk around with a little chart about how much less involved he was supposed to be throughout the last two seasons so he was trying to be more hands off and I wonder how things would have played out had that not been the case.
 
HowiMetdaSlayer
HowiMetdaSlayer
I give a fair amount of the blame to Joss too ;)
dcai0830 said:
It’s funny how Marti has some of the early best and early worst. I also have a tough time seeing her writing style whereas I can recognize Joss and Tim and Greenwalt pretty quickly.

I think she is inconsistent but she has some early great ones in there for me WML, innocence, Passion.

My whole thing with Marti is she needs someone to balance her out. She seems to have wild ideas and there is little restraint. I see that in BTVS Seasons 6/7 and I see that in her show Unreal. Good stuff but it needs a counterpoint. So I maintain she ruined Buffy 🙂
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You had me till the last sentence. I agree her writing style is hard to identify. That's why all her episodes are one-offs. And absolutely she needs someone to balance her out. Her ideas go crazy and end up so hit or miss. Though you mentioned Innocence and Passion, which I believe she is story editor rather than the chief writer. And that's a huge distinction. Joss wrote those with Marti contributing, and I think that's where she succeeds the most.
As far as Marti ruining Buffy, what are you referring to specifically? If this is a season 6/7 issue, I know your stance. If not I'm curious.
 
Fool for Buffy said:
As far as Marti ruining Buffy, what are you referring to specifically? If this is a season 6/7 issue, I know your stance. If not I'm curious.
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Yes just general Season 6/7 opinions. Do you know that Marti’s Twitter bi-line is “I ruined Buffy, I’ll ruin you too”? Lol she’s joking obviously but I like it lol.
 
Although I see so much Joss in Surprise idk how much credit Marti gets for that one.
 
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