This page ranks directors based on the average quality of their episodes according to Loyalists and Jumpers. All data below take into account when an episode aired and whether it was one part of a two-part episode. More detail is on the Directors Ranked page.
The Joss bonus represents how many more points an episode that this person directed would get if Joss Whedon directed it instead. High numbers suggest that Joss Whedon could have done a much better job with the episodes that the director directed. Lower numbers suggest that the director is almost as good as Joss Whedon. By definition, Joss Whedon gets a 0 on this statistic. This interpretation assumes that the director of the episode is the main cause of the episode's quality.
| Rank | Loyalists | Jumpers | ||
| Director | Joss Bonus |
Director | Joss Bonus | |
| 1 | Joss Whedon | 0.00 | Joss Whedon | 0.00 |
| 2 | Nick Marck | 17.56 | Nick Marck | 7.53 |
| 3 | Michael Gershman | 19.75 | Michael Lange | 15.30 |
| 4 | Michael Lange | 21.14 | Michael Gershman | 18.46 |
| 5 | Other Directors | 30.18 | Other Directors | 26.50 |
| 6 | James A. Contner | 31.19 | James A. Contner | 27.55 |
| 7 | David Solomon | 37.46 | David Semel | 33.54 |
| 8 | David Semel | 38.33 | David Solomon | 36.16 |
| 9 | James Whitmore Jr. | 42.91 | Bruce Seth Green | 36.37 |
| 10 | Bruce Seth Green | 42.93 | David Greenwalt | 41.36 |
| 11 | David Grossman | 42.98 | James Whitmore Jr. | 44.91 |
| 12 | David Greenwalt | 46.16 | David Grossman | 45.25 |
| 13 | Douglas Petrie | 56.42 | Douglas Petrie | 45.39 |
Loyalists and Jumpers generally agree on who directs the best episodes. James Whitmore Jr. and David Greenwalt are the only two directors who are two ranks apart on the two lists above.
The smaller Joss Bonuses for Jumpers suggest that, in general, Loyalists prefer Joss Whedon episodes more than Jumpers do. This is especially true for "Chosen." When this is taken into account, the data above show that Loyalists also prefer James Whitmore Jr. and David Grossman more than Jumpers do, and Jumpers prefer Douglas Petrie and Nick Marck more than Loyalists do.
Overall, the writer of a particular episode explains 17.0% of episode quality for Loyalists and 14.9% for Jumpers.