Interesting topic, Ditchy, and many kudus to you (they’re a very elegant and beautiful kind of antelope) for taking the trouble to research and conveniently catalogue which contributions we owe to each writer. I’ll admit that I rarely pay attention to the writing credits of an episode, for any TV show I watch. It’s very shameful, given that writing is the career field I'm hoping to break my way into some day, I should really show a bit more solidarity. You're quite correct that the writers are the largely unsung team members of Foster's. As well as all those overseas animators who work long, underpaid hours...or is that only the case with cel animation?
After reviewing your list and seeing (in most cases, for the first time) which writer is responsible for which, I think it goes without saying that Lauren has accumulated the most impressive resume thus far (that it includes Good Wilt Hunting does her no disservice.
). She certainly has a good eye for humour and heart, and can strike a good balance between the flow of gags and the story arcs and characterisation. So, yay her!
Adam Pava also appears to have a place within my good books - he’s turned out at least two episodes I absolutely love (Cookie Dough and the Sweet Stench of Success), five that I readily enjoy, and two I feel somewhat iffy about (My So-Called Wife and One False Movie), but none that I especially dislike. Even those two aforementioned weaker episodes have their definite merits, they suffer from being uneven as opposed to outright bad. I’m going to have to disagree that his writing talents are basically interchangeable with Mr. McKeon’s. With the exception of MSCW, which went fizzling like Love Hearts in Lucozade, all of Adam’s episodes have strong storylines with clearly-defined beginnings, middles and endings (with OFM naturally excluding itself on that last one). You can usually count on getting narrative coherency and satisfaction whenever he's involved.
Tim McKeon is a
tad more problematic - unlike Mr. Pava, he clearly favours more chaotic storylines with somewhat thinner plots and a more rapid-fire intensity of gags to make up for it (though admittedly they all feel pretty tranquillised when compared with Cheese A Go-Go...a slight blotch on Lauren's record there, along with the Big Cheese, but it's small fry). Sometimes, depending on the strength of the gags and the basic situation that stimulates them, this works a treat (Room with a Feud, the Big Picture), other times it falls flat (Foster’s Goes to Europe), but on most occasions you do get a light-hearted and very enjoyable experience. However, also unlike Adam, Tim gets a couple of minus points for turning out two rare episodes which I
do especially dislike, and interestingly they involve the rather off-putting treatment of the very same character - Bye Bye Nerdie is the lesser of those two evils, but as for I Only Have Surprise For You…yeesh, what an atrocious episode to have as part of your resume. Ah well, the good by far outweighs the bad in your case, Tim.
Craig Lewis is no doubt going to be considered the bad apple here by many. Credit where credit’s due, he has written one of my favourites (Partying is Such a Sweet Soiree), and has claim to shared credits for Berry Scary, one of Season One’s strongest. Bloooo is an enjoyable, if rather generic episode, but otherwise I’d say that most of his single-handed efforts range from the give-or-take to leave-on-the-shelf (Beat with a Schtick, Imposters).
As for the less regular writers, Amy Keating Rogers scores instant points for the Big LaBlooski, as does Megham McCarthy for her co-writing record. I haven’t seen enough of Darrick Bachman to really judge him, but his Season 4 contributions show definite promise. And I have to agree with Ub over Chuck Klein - he deserves limelight for his single contribution, which gave us the wonderful Red and also afforded Terrence one of his strongest roles.
And that's all I have to say about that. For now.