The Best Show on WFMU

the caller from the pretaped show last week with the story about being a kid and realizing that the colorful cartoon character shorts he'd been wearing to school and church were actually boxer shorts, oh man

caller: "i've gotten over it."
tom: "no you haven't."

and because i want to have a thread to talk about the best show every week

lol

I need to carve out time to listen to the actual show, but man that's tough to do for such a long stretch. I really start to fade fast on podcasts over 90 minutes or so. I mean I've heard bits and pieces over the years and I listen to the Best Show Gems, but I feel like I miss out not hearing the full show more often.

i get that. i listen at work while i'm doing boring mindless stuff.

i can't be the only ilxor obsessed with this show

I used to listen to it a fair amount when my job involved a lot of driving. I like it. Not as good as seven second delay imo.

ha i was heavy into 7sd for a while but haven't listened in a few years

very into it but it's hard to find the time for the whole thing. esp love the running gags in wurster's calls - stuff like always getting ap mike's name wrong or referring to prison as "the hut"

you know, out near where the lady foot locker used to be

hahaha

- the "voice modulator"
- WFMU is a high school radio station
- the death threats
- "yeah. why?"
- "whuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut?"

etc etc etc etc

i will confess i have never listened to the whole show :( only the "gems"

Four Loko Christmas specials have been my fave bits, just for the general buttondown unhingedness of John Hodgman when he's drunk

Or when he'll Bad Company his own friends

the bad company thing kills me every time

i get that it's a long show and the wurster calls are the obvious highlights but listening to the whole show is like watching a baseball game, there's something great about sitting down and watching a whole baseball game instead of just the highlights. they're both fun but it's different kinds of fun.

I feel similarly about seven second delay actually, there's a great zen anti-comedy to the show that you miss if you just listen to "the funny parts"

like andy's show ideas are not just funny in themselves, they are funny because he takes like 20 minutes just to get them going

I feel like I'm the only person who doesn't like Wurster's calls.

I love the first hour but I rarely last for the whole three hours.

feel like gary the squirrel is a good addition to the cast of characters

#snacks

the bad company thing kills me every time

I only listen to a full episode once a month or less but so glad I happened to catch the first Bad Company episode

and when the other caller verbed it: "oh, you're not going to Bad Company me are you?" as it was already swelling underneath him. "No of course not, you're good," says Tom as he quickly fades it down...

well this thread was a nonstarter but the ever-expanding sound collage blob blows my mind every week

andy's show ideas are not just funny in themselves, they are funny because he takes like 20 minutes just to get them going

absolutely.

that and the way he can put a rape joke into a Pete Seeger advance obit.

Wait WHAAAAAT? No thread for Scharpling and Wurster?

Friends of Tom forum thread on identifying the pieces used in the sound collage

Comedy Jamz!

It's been really fun hearing it evolve from random Frankie Teardrop talk to where it is now. It's to the point where it's beginning to sound like a Negativland mix.

Would love to hear a comp of just Frankie Teardrop talk. One of my favorite little moments from the past year was Tom's fantasy of DMX's dogs mauling DMX but not before one of them tuns on an iPod with its snout to play Frankie Teardrop in the background.

I sure hope he's on tonight...seems like he's been out more and more lately. And why Depravity's Rainbow doesn't sub for him is beyond me, I can't deal with "Hatch"

Ending on Dec. 17:
http://splitsider.com/2013/10/after-13-years-the-best-show-on-wfmu-will-end-in-december/

When I first saw that the show was ending, I assumed it was because Tom had specific alternate plans, but it doesn't sound like he does. I haven't listened to the announcement yet though.

Apparently discussed on the Scharpling and Wurster thread last night.

I remember late last year he was talking about not getting any recognition for the show, over the course of a couple of shows, and it sounded like he was about to quit. Guess he's actually doing it.

makes ya wonder what the bar of recognition is these days

He's complained about lack of recognition for years, it's part of the schtick. If he was really worried about it, he wouldn't have done the show for 13 years.

he was talking about some podcast award thing. the show after he complained about it sounded like he didn't want to be there, like he was checked out. it was actually kinda sad.

when he was dropping hints about L.A. and being flown out there first class, I was sure it was for some great gig but yeah, sounded more like he didn't have something definite lined up--but maybe he does and he's not ready to pull the trigger on telling.

I guess at least I have like 11 years of unheard archives to tide me over for a while.

I've been thinking that.

but it's not the same :-/

maybe now i'll finally check it out. the length of one show seems overwhelming, much less all the archives + new shows.

Best Show Gems can be a good entryway to the show though as noted upthread there's a certain pleasure to listening to the full three hours.

Last week's episode was a really good one, despite only having a short Wurster call, if you're looking to start somewhere. Though I don't know how much sense the sound collage will make to a newcomer, and that's like 20-30 minutes of the show.

He's working on the Chris Gethard show for IFC, "Stupid Life."

is that actually a go? hope so. <3 gethard too

Josh Kantor ‏@jtkantor
"The Best Show on WFMU" is going off the air. I'll play their theme song on organ at the World Series.

I listened for the first time in awhile last night, and what's overwhelming is more than 18 minutes of it

just search for his rant about post-Jackie Brown Tarantino maybe (around time of IngBast)

tried searching for "tarantino scharpling" but don't see any rants. I do see a morbs post from 2010 on the first page of results though.

kewl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9N3MacZfwg&feature=youtu.be

First thing on BuzzFeed I've ever been tempted to repost/link, kudos to Matty P: http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/signs-youre-from-newbridge

Sad news (TBSOWFMU has been a pretty central and essential part of my comedic intake for the past decade) but also good if it means Tom & Jon are moving on to bigger and better things. I'm about a year behind on the show. Guess this is the kick in the seat I needed to get caught up.

Getting caught up is nice but I encourage you to listen to the live broadcast a few times instead of just listening to the archive.

Yeah I need to try to listen to some of the last episodes live.

He's working on the Chris Gethard show for IFC, "Stupid Life."

― Allen (etaeoe), Wednesday, October 30, 2013 11:52 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Word from the man himself over on the FOT board that Gethard's show was not picked up by IFC...too bad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Universe

http://youtu.be/Fh9tz_nKYYU?t=1m5s

How do I get ahold of the archives, iTunes only goes back to July

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/BS

Is there a way to download those, though?

probably, but I don't know what it is

Cool thanks! I'm just hoping they come out with an app or something. Discovering this show has been a treat

I am a regular on the Friends of Tom board, and I get the feeling more than one serious fan is sitting on the complete run of the show in MP3 form, but it is maddening because I just can't come out and ask--seems like bad form, especially since Tom seems to read everything on there. I would pay ALOT to FMU for a complete set, for like an upper level contribution to the station!

Seems like people would pay for an archive app like WTF or This American Life

There's a website somewhere with, if not all, at least a hefty portion of the shows in MP3 form. I'll see if I can find the link when I'm not at work.

Thanks, old lunch...the FMU site has them listenable on a pop-up player, I've never tried to download them individually and not sure if it's possible (don't think it is)

They used to be accessible from the FMU site via a secret webpage, but I don't know if that's true anymore. I wound up converting a ton of older shows to MP3s from the .rm files that they used to archive.

cool

Whither "Bad Company"?

Pssst: awfulsome(dot)com/tbsowfmu/.getoffmyphone/

Thank u

Thought it was funny how Tom was ragging on the Seinfeld2000 guy a few weeks ago and then in last week's episode went on a riff with Hodgman and Braunholer that was basically a Seinfeld2000-esque updating Seinfeld thing.

Yeah but it was funny

That's what I said.

No that's what I said

I know you are but what am I

GQ! It's strange to read this when you were packing t shirts with the guy in East Orange, NJ in 1998.

http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2013/12/goodbye-to-major-tom-the-gq-exit-interview-with-the-best-show-on-wfmus-tom-scharpling.html

I KNEW Dr. Morbius was Spike!

HAHAHAHA

Immediate Follower just blew my fucking mind

"Hello, Scharpling."

That's a theory that's been posited multiple times over the years.

I called the show once, maybe 6 years ago, and he hung up on me p quickly. I don't hear it much.

I'm kind of loving Spike refusing to turn up for the final festivities.

There's a listening party here for the final episode but I'm not sure about going. I only have like two IRL friends who are into Best Show and neither of them seem very interested in the party, and a bar is probably not ideal listening conditions. Though the communal aspect could be cool?

Communal aspect would be great fun, & you can listen to the podcast later if you worry you missed something

No 4 Loko no dice.

I KNEW Dr. Morbius was Spike!

HOLY SHIT

are you guys kidding about Morbius being Spike? I actually asked him recently if he was AP Mike he said no

i'm Dr Morbius, u goddamn idiots

What's your take on Jennifer Lopez?

I heard that they're the same person but I also heard that we're goddamn idiots so I don't even know what to believe anymore

* hates Hillary Clinton
* makes up "humorous" nicknames for celebrities
* lives in NYC

*loves soap operas

*always looking for Debbie

*total stan for doo-wop

* annoying

GQ! It's strange to read this when you were packing t shirts with the guy in East Orange, NJ in 1998.

http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2013/12/goodbye-to-major-tom-the-gq-exit-interview-with-the-best-show-on-wfmus-tom-scharpling.html

― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, December 11, 2013 3:58 PM

OK, so Dr. M is NOT Spike, then

* loves John Wesley Shipp
* is black

The prosecution rests.

Wurster's on a live WTF episode up today.

Nice, will check that. Fogelnest files also had a great best show special last week.

The WTF ep was mostly about his drumming which was weird since the end of the Best Show was obviously the impetus for having him on. The Fogelnest Files episode was great.

The end of the Best Show wasn't announced until months after that episode was taped - he's usually wayyyy behind on the live eps.

Oh well then I guess it was just the impetus for him finally getting the episode up.

That Fogelnest Files episode was cheap fun-- I'm totally OK to listen to two dudes just run through favorite Best Show clips for an hour. FWIW the Fogelnest Files with Gary the Squirrel and Andy Kindler is A++, basically just Gary ragging on Jake and Andy rather than Mike.

wait a second, I just figured out who this Spike persona is -- that guy has been phoning NYC radio shows for at least 30 years. He's still not me.

My voice is not queeny, either.

RIP Weirdos Exposed.

My theory now is that Dr Morbs is Fred from Honolulu....getting warmer?

I wonder how the final episode will go down. Tom has seemed pretty uncomfortable with the eulogizing in recent shows, and lots of regulars have already said their goodbyes. I'm sad to see it go - but it feels like time.

I wonder how the final episode will go down. Tom has seemed pretty uncomfortable with the eulogizing in recent shows, and lots of regulars have already said their goodbyes. I'm sad to see it go - but it feels like time.

Spike/Morb, @LaurieFromMiami, Philly Boy Roy, …

Trying to catch up through the last few weeks before tomorrow; happy to hear Fredricks call in, a little bummed that we'll probably never hear from him again and the last thing he was talking about were "frequencies." :/

Really doubt Spike will be on the last show, I think he missed his chance. My guess is no calls at all, don't think Tom wants to risk additional eulogizing. Maybe even just three hours of Scharpling and Wurster wrapping up Newbridge.

think Paul F Tompkins will call in?

Getting misty eyed already....I really hope they leave the archives up

wfmu site is saying they will

that's good, thanks

I'd rather pay for a real (downloadable, mobile accessible) archive.

We're doing best show bingo at a bar!

Bad Company on the first call!

the callers took a nosedive like a month or two ago, it's weird, all of a sudden one loser after another

AP Mike's revenge.

PHILLY BOY ROY IN STUDIO!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWmMVDXxowk

jesus christ this call is brilliant

well actual tears in my eyes now

ugh yeah

The Fripp/Tony Levin shit was top shelf

Huey Lewis heartbeat sample in the sound collage still manages to freak me out a little.

yeah, this is completely gutwrenching

The final collage:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/4f11de6bee9de1c6da870a51dff62884/tumblr_mxzju3Qzs71r39bvko1_1280.jpg

:-(

Great fakeout there.

yeah huge lol as soon as i recognized the tom waits, i knew something was up

A very enjoyable and emotional finale

yeah the collage was amazing

tom was p emotional

played one of my all time fav quotes:

"You might not like Mr.Bungle musically, but you gotta respect what they're doing"

I took photos of TS turning pink while singing Bad Co or some other '70s warhorse at the fundraising finale a few years ago, and they're pretty scary.

Apparently Spike called in to the "Talking Best" aftershow on Redundancy Radio (another WFMU program). Haven't listened yet.

Ended up going to a listening party w/ a friend last night; sound was too muffled to hear much of the collage / Comedy Jams, all the more frustrating since you could hear random snippets of calls.

A+ ending, was also interesting to hear the hows and whys of those first few years.

A dude from Polica wore a homemade "Best Show for Life" t-shirt on Jimmy Kimmel last night.

Had been wondering about that Pink Floyd bit in one of the sound collages, this was new to me and awesome:

It's a phone conversation between two guys named Derek and Kurt. Kurt made and recorded the call during which he knew just the right questions to ask to get Derek to say some of the greatest things I've ever heard. Based on references made I've been able to determine that the call is from 1993. I first heard it sometime in the late 90s/early 00s. The call was the equivalent of "Rock, Rot & Rule" among touring metal bands of that time.

The entire call is nearly 45 minutes. I cut it up into individual tracks as there are a few times that Derek puts Kurt on hold for a couple of minutes. I uploaded the call to my Google Drive. Have at it!

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bw-_rbWKUrXSZnd0T1pxbVlpLTQ&usp=sharing

Gilly one-noting you into the fuckin ground IMO

I'm sorry to do this m@tt but I believe it was TROWER who was one-noting you to the ground

Hahaha iirc Gilly landed the helicopter directly on my fucking face.

Hey JRN... no worries, don't want to slight Grower!

It seems that the Friends of Tom message board on the FMU site has disappeared...which sucks.

omg, I've been looking for the rest of those phone calls for years. thanks!

https://twitter.com/BadGuyZero/status/420099251700776960

http://www.avclub.com/article/inside-the-final-days-of-the-best-show-on-wfmu-201219

I'm loving AP Mike's weekly Skype thing...

scharpling @scharpling
We want to bring back The Best Show. We're hitting some walls. If you want it back, tweet #BringBackTheBestShow and let everyone know.
about 6 hours ago

Totally unsurprised. I wonder how many times Ken F. asked him "are you sure you don't just want to take six months or a year off?"

That's obviously a joke.

?

Anyone know what the shitty thing was that happened to Tom that he referenced on Facebook and Twitter yesterday and today? If it's personal, then it's none of my business, but it sounded more like a plan for BestShow2014 fell through.

Huge gear theft at the post office, apparently.

Oof.

Fuck, really? He tweeted about a Brooklyn post office last week

asking if anyone had a connection

Where did you hear that?

A since-deleted Tweet, 'bout 4 am East Coast time.

That fucking sucks

Someone should start a Kickstarter

poor dude can't catch a break. any details?

I think people have suggested crowdfunding to him a million times, he hasn't seemed interested in that option so far.

The tweet went down really quickly, but if I remember it correctly, he was going to do the show completely DIY, and the fancy computer and network equipment he needed and had just purchased is what got disappeared.

There's got to be a way to track that through USPS though

anyone know if there's been any kind of falling out or tension w/ wfmu? i know terre t is 'taking a break' from the show.

If you listened to her last few shows, she talked about wanting to come back repeatedly, and she did her last show at the record fair. The Scharplings still say nice things about 'FMU all the time. I think (and this is pure speculation) that Tom wasn't setting up a Best Show II podcast as much as a new podcast network in which Terre will be involved, and that's why he needed so much equipment and why the crash hurts so bad.

ok, i was hoping not

OK, Tom just posted on Facebook:

It's fine. I appreciate people caring and wanting me to go forward. But so that there's not a ton of speculation about it, the house in which I was planning to resume The Best Show got broken into and all my equipment was stolen. I'm back at square one in so many ways. Really dispiriting. It feels like the wind is out of my sails and I'm just exhausted.

No crowdsourcing, no Kickstarter. It's not about the money right now.
32 mins · Like · 1

Tom Scharpling Seriously, I won't accept one cent. So please don't organize anything. I'll let you all know when it's time for money.
31 mins · Like · 10

....and a much more encouraging note from the FOT board a little later:

Here it is in a nutshell.

The house that I was hoping to do The Best Show out of - which has been a completely safe and secure place for ages - was broken into over the weekend. All the equipment I had for the show - which was not everything, but was a lot of stuff - got taken.

I am pretty dispirited right now. Trying to figure out where I'm gonna do the show from. Not sure whether I can trust this location anymore. So yeah, I'm back at square one. It really sucks and I'm mentally and physically exhausted from dealing with all this shitty stupidity.

But I'll be damned if I'm gonna let some shitty thief derail The Best Show. Fuck that. We might be back at square one but we'll just start over.

And this isn't an issue of money right now. So please - PLEASE! - nobody start anything to generate money. It won't make the show come back any faster. It's a question of security and safety and picking up the pieces. And don't worry; there will be plenty of chances to throw your money at Best Show 2014.

Thanks for all the kind words I've gotten. It lets me know that I'm doing the right thing by getting up off the mat and getting this thing back on track and any other cliches I can think of.

Onward and upward --

Tom.

that sucks :(

We're down now. To remove any sense of vagueness or concern from everyone's lives who have seen my cryptic writings and aren't sure what's going on, the house I had been hoping to use as the future home of The Best Show was broken into a week ago and all the equipment got stolen. We didn't have a full studio built but it was still thousands of dollars of stuff.
At this point it's not even about the stuff, even though that blows royally. It's about not having a location. So you could say we're not even at square one anymore.
And we don't need any help and there are no plans to do any sort of kickstarting/crowdsourcing. Trust me - there will be stuff for sale, and when we need you to buy it, you won't miss the messages. I'm just suffering from exhaustion from 13 years of asking people to donate, and it's time for me to try a different model for now.
Yeah, we're down. But we're not out. The Best Show IS COMING BACK. There's no way some lowly creep knocks us out of the box. We're coming back and we are going to take the whole thing over.
One way you CAN help is to keep your eyes on my Facebook and see if I ask for any insight or help with something specific.
Hang tight. We're gonna do this. Nothing can stop The Best Show.

why the hell did he stop doing it in the first place?

he wasn't getting paid

Not only not getting paid but putting a lot of his own money into. I'm sure it's been frustrating to see podcasters starting to make a living doing something roughly similar to the thing that you're shelling out cash to do.

ah ok i figured he was getting paid

https://twitter.com/matt__byrne/status/518032455769812992

Sweeeeet.

http://m.mixcloud.com/Scharpling/10-10-2014-birthday/

http://thebestshow.net/

That illustration of Philly Boy Roy is amazing and I want it.

Between this and the Numer -- uh, secret project, it's going to be a very Scharpling and Wurster Christmas.

http://www.pinterest.com/howsyrface/mick-nick-pick-mick-nick/

http://numerogroup.com/products/scharpling-wurster-the-best-of-the-best-show

Hoooooly shit that looks amazing.

Just ordered it obviously...but there's a 2nd secret coming soon I think, maybe finally a start date for the new show? Listening to the show from the first 2000 episode has been amazing, except Petey sucks!

two more https://twitter.com/scharpling/status/522808678110744577

Listening to all of the episodes from the start was such a daunting task but well worth the investment. The only downside of this box set is that there are so many wonderful non-Wurster call moments that are equally deserving of archival treatment.

They would need permission from the callers I would think to do that, tho

Even just stuff like Coffin Talk and the Four Loko show.

so my 2 calls in the history of the show are unavailable, eh?

Nah, I think everything (with the exception of a handful of shows) is still streaming in the WFMU archives.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x29aun7_newbridge-tourism-board-newbridge-we-re-comin-to-get-ya_fun?start=5

And I don't think you should skip those first five seconds, so.... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x29aun7_newbridge-tourism-board-newbridge-we-re-comin-to-get-ya_fun

See also: Wait WHAAAAAT? No thread for Scharpling and Wurster?

Zachary Brimstead needed to weight about 300 more pounds.

Otherwise, Gold.

@scharpling
My college football rankings are in! And "college football" came in at #1 on the list of my least favorite sports!

i lol'd

TS is the focus of about 10 mins of the WFMU docfilm Sex and Broadcasting, incl a sequence of him taking several of "the worst calls ever." (likely to be distributed in 2015)

Not sure what sex has to do with WFMU?

film explains it

whatever puts asses in the seats!

that's what i thought too, but it turns out to be a legit title.

WFMU DJs have been secretly fucking on-mic for ages.

even by themselves (cf Kenny G)

I'm looking forward to seeing it...

Teaser podcast now running

http://thebestshow.net/

Teaser podcast removed an hour or two before Ned's post.

How was it?

It was almost more of a test session to see how sound levels would get. Kinda fun! Board vet Mackro was one of the callers.

Tom was cool on chakicast

Friends of Tom website forum section has a lot of the test session up as an mp3

This has now also been taken down (replaced with a stream) :(

Too bad

Annnnd...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B46Laz9CYAE1qlG.jpg:large

woah, I listened to the whole thing, I didn't know Mackro called in! I knew he was joking about the "late April" start date on Saturday, but I am surprised to see the official launch this soon. Happy though!

im caling in tonight (maybe)

cue the Bad Company

so how is it doing? haven't had a chance to listen yet.
the only flaw I see with the new style is less random/drunk NJ callers who just happened to be listening to WFMU by chance, this is going to be all folks who sought out Tom... but those random people were less and less part of the dynamic as the show went on anyway.

uh there are way more crazy/drunk callers than ever before believe it or not

it's on the internet the internet is full of crazies

it's great btw

v v v great

wurster in full effect is a joy

Wurster is on an unbelievable roll, these calls since he's been back are so great

Haven't heard last week's yet, but the first two are great. The Philly Boy Roy call was wonderful, but I think the highlight so far was the Bad Companying of the dude calling in to laugh at the previous Bad Companying.

amazing, so good to hear

Tom doing a Spike impression at a casino... "hiiit mehhhhhh"... I almost fell out of my chair

Scharpling posted this this evening. It is worth a careful, thoughtful read.

http://blog.scharpling.com/february-23-2015/

Poor guy

Goddamn do I sympathize. Four years after a string of similarly bad shit and I'm barely staving off the fear of another shoe dropping. It's amazing that he's been able to do the show through all this and that it's still been good, but I'm glad he's willing to do what he needs to do to take care of himself.

This Fall special happening right now is quite something.

Last few weeks of Best Show have been really really good, despite only brief Wurster calls. Tom has been in a much better mood, having pals like Julie Klausner and Jake Fogelnest around probably helped. I'm a little glad he hasn't had any celebrity interviews recently; it was cool he had Kristen Schaal and Ellie Kemper on but he's not really a great interviewer.

Dunno about that -- he is a genuinely good interviewer of musicians (not so much on the Best Show, but on the now on hiatus Low Times), and his interviews with Kemper and John Oliver (apparently also pals) were quite excellent -- and his interview of Turtle from Entourage was fantastic!

Yeah I felt like the Julie Klausner epsiode was the first v.2.0 show to really fire on all cylinders. Tom seemed way more loose and comfortable. The "Touch Me" riffing was killing me

Also banishing the Wheel of Crystal to the sound collage is a good move

I did like his interviews for Low Times. Maybe the difference is interviewing in person vs. over the phone? I don't know.

I just talked to Tom! And told him my embarrassing celebrity story from yesterday! Now I feel embarrassed after talking to celebrities 2 times in 24 hours.

Oh cool. I haven't listened to last night's yet. I can't imagine ever calling in, it seems too scary and I never listen live anyways.

It got way less scary when he did 90% of the talking at the beginning! I shouldn't have read twitter after tho.

I've avoided the urge to call for twelve years, which is probably for the best.

How do you feel about these newish Best Show trends:
* Charley Morgan calls
* accusing the last caller of the night of being a peeper

Also how did you feel about AP Mike's Sun Kil Moon parody?

CM: at times really funny mostly due to Tom's response, at times I completely phase out and stop paying attention because it feels like it's not going anywhere.
Peeper: Funny every time, even though it took me until this week that he does it to EVERY last caller. how did i miss that?
APM vs SKM: I was amused.

Also some other things that are newish (i think? at least new to the new best show):
- everything has two horns, utter classic
- lists are a bit of a crapshoot
- bowling alley confessions a bit of a crapshoot too
- i guess the whole thing with a live 3-hour call-in show is that it's all going ot be a crapshoot anyway
- mapleface must come back

just hearing the two horn sounds makes me laugh now

Oh yeah two horns was instant classic.

I love the two horns. Everything else I'm unfamiliar with because I'm about two months behind (because I'm in the home stretch of finally listening to all of the WFMU shows...just heard AP Mike's "Hi, I'm Dennis!" in context and nearly died).

The Half Hour of Power rules. The word is tomorrow's is all time hysterical.

I love that Charley Morgan has nothing to say and yet keeps calling.

I'm already getting a little weary of Charley Morgan, but him getting drawn into AP Mike's world this week was promising. Also dropping the f-bomb made his long story worth it.

I find the lists pretty entertaining. Bowling alley confessions is mainly funny because it's supposed to offer absolution but Tom just ends up getting pissed at people.

really loving Gary the Squirrel's Hollywood aspirations tanking so badly that he's just burning bridges right and left. His appearance with Patton Oswalt/Lisa Jane Persky was an all-time classic. The recasting of the "Trejo" sitcom with Jim Gaffigan had me in tears.

would imagine the issue with bowling alley confessions is that the people have been on hold for 30+ minutes and weren't calling for that.

also, the hang-up on Brad two hours into the YLT episode is just so glorious to hear.

I like all of these new trends a lot.

I really hate it when Tom gets down on himself/the show though. He's probably ambivalent about doing the show, but his hand wringing is kind of lame.

I dig how purposeless the Charley Morgan calls are. They're just him wandering around, thinking out loud. I imagine him calling from a dark room, three Scotches in, just rambling.

oh and the AP Mike blood story was amazing

I really hate it when Tom gets down on himself/the show though. He's probably ambivalent about doing the show, but his hand wringing is kind of lame.

I hear you on this but he's been doing it as long as I've been listening to the show, it's just part of the deal. Like how after his dad died he said he might do the show less frequently, then I think he took one week off and has done every single week since then.

That stretch in 2010 before he took his long break was the only time that it was seriously overwhelming. Like, he was clearly pretty much hating the show and the fun ground to a dead stop.

I like this show best when it moves rapidly between the smart and the stupid, and the last few episodes have been great for that. Charley Morgan is maybe a good example of that -- he's not got a lot to say and says it and is kind of a joke of a non-celebrity, except that the tiny handful of roles he's had have been solid bits in amazing projects. I thought Scharpling and LJP brought out the best in Patton Oswalt, too.

Oh also the Half Hour of Power is killer

Definitely.

I lost it a few times during this half hour of power. mike is straight fire right now.

he might need to get a promotion to p mike.

I would buy a Free AP Mike t shirt

So, I wrote this:

http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Best-Show-comes-to-S-F-with-song-born-in-6469137.php

Tom's two interviews with Marc Maron are great. He talks a lot about the "theater" of radio. Makes me think the show's not doing too bad, which I was worried about.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aZL6lcmUpnY
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HJIA_uo7AwI

I'm on Zing, but if those are videos from the Seattle show, someone screengrab & MSPaint circles & arrows round the back of my & Mackro's heads

Those are years-old interviews with Marc Maron.

1/2 Hour of Power rather low energy doing it before rather than after the main show...also, not to pander and it's end of summer, but good to have at least one woman in there in the future

Mrs. Dudio has been on board pretty consistently. Would love to hear more Terre T., but I suspect she has scheduling issues.

Mrs. Dudio has been on board pretty consistently. Would love to hear more Terre T., but I suspect she has scheduling issues.
--Three Word Username

She is, and she is very funny indeed. The show always gets better when smart funny women are involved, and it's clear that Scharpling knows that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8MiF7m_v8U

I saw their show dead dad's club in mtl after I called the show and Tom told me I have to and my god, they are just two of the most talented, funny, touching performers and also are insanely kind and gracious and they're the best.

Therese is the only talk show/call-in host that has never made me scream at the radio.

Therese has such a great on-air personality--totally winning.

Therese is a great off-air personality as well.

This is a little esoteric, but I just discovered through work-related means that the Society For Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing of America (S.E.B.S.Q.S.A. for "short"), which was mentioned in one of the first Zachary Brimstead calls and which I always assumed was a Wursterism, is an actual organization. I felt like the walls of reality were dissolving when I read that.

I feel bad that the show hasn't taken off more. I hope he is able to keep it going.

has it really taken off that little? or does he play that up for comedy? i mean, he's also not reaaaallllly monetizing it either.

he really needs to start charging

the uhh yeah dude guys got like $10,000 a month when they started their patreon, kind of a good model maybe?

I think the "3 listeners" thing is a little bit schtick, but long-time listeners know Tom struggles with depression when the days get shorter, and I also think he's writing on a sitcom and just overworked in general, so every little indignity feels huge. So he uses it.

https://twitter.com/scharpling/status/706385459065315328

I have never called but maybe I should keep my 5-year-old up late to call in tonight.

It happens so infrequently but I love when kids call in. Particularly the one kid (who I presume Tom knew) who called in as Molly Molesworth and a dying old man.

I have never called in either, because I'm already pretty good at the self-administered variety of masochism.

I've only ever listened live once or twice but yeah I would need a really good on-topic story before I'd even think about calling.

feel like you can call without an agenda/story tonight with a baby or Grammy

Reminder: Tom and Jon on The Simpsons tonight.

Thank you for reminding!

I've been trying to find a particular Wurster call for a while now but haven't been able to manage (even searching through the detailed recaps): guy calls and says he's taking Oldzonareveren to prematurely age to get back at his dad? Feel like he called himself a Yearlie maybe? Think the call was from the last few years of the show (think the call ended with either a bomb or someone falling asleep after some Blue). Does this ring a bell for anyone?

Tom is co-hosting Prove it All Night's WFMU marathon show on Saturday. PLEDGE!!!!

great ep this week, julie klausner always seems to bring out the best in Tom. best musical performance of the new version of the show. the woody allen riffing at the end was the obvious highlight but I also loved Tom's imitation of Barack Obama reading Dilbert to the American people.

hey i've been out of the loop on this

is wurster still phoning in?

Yes. He does take a couple shows off when touring requires.

wish there was still a 'best show gems' podcast :/

There is! It's part of the Best Show podcast feed, not a separate podcast, but it's called Best Show Bests.

YEEEEEE HAWW!!!

Saw from Tom's feed that Alan Vega died; would kill to have a supercut of all Frankie Teardrop Challenge talk.

good god the woody allen/pokemon riffing at the end of this week's. woody allen watching soon-yi playing pokemon go on a pop tart was all-time hilarious.

glad to hear tom advocate the same "barb from stranger things is overrated" perspective I was pushing on ILX a couple of weeks ago. i feel vindicated.

also it's been nice seeing pretty much every Half Hour of Power regular show up on Difficult People this season

I died at his riff on "that Belle and Sebastian song, 'Rooty Tooty Fresh 'n Fruity'" during the Scottish guy's call in the most recent ep

Last couple of weeks have been great. The Beach Boys flashbacks are hilarious, Sal from Impractical Jokers was a good sport last week, and there were some hilarious "duh" calls this week.

big changes:

best show 24/7 channel soon
no more ads, he's taking donations instead
tom's getting a dog

Whoa, guess I better get caught up if I'm gonna listen all day every day (finally made my way through all of the WFMU shows only to fall a year behind on the new show).

no more ads is exciting for me, tom is terrible at getting through the ads, obviously hates doing it, and i bet he'll make way more money from straight donations anyways

"Best Show: support the show, brah"

the uhh yeah dude guys got like $10,000 a month when they started their patreon, kind of a good model maybe?

― nerd shit (Will M.), Wednesday, 2 December 2015 16:33 (one year ago) Permalink

Best Show is set to pass the El Chapo Trapo chaps on committed donations, proving once again it's the VU of podcasts, only 2,000 listeners, most insanely devoted, and half of them with podcasts of their own.

klausner, davenport, AND clements in studio tonight, should be a good one

I don't understand Patreon, but is Scharpling now earning 19k a fucking month (that's the Patreon tally at present)? Jesus, what a sweet deal that is...

minus the costs of producing the show, but yeah. i consider it back pay for doing the show for about 14 years for essentially nothing.

He's got a staff and costs -- it's still pretty great!

i made this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c45X1PHm1g

haha nice work, been listening through the 2010/2011 episodes recently and almost every week theres a joke about the ridiculousness of a trump presidency that is now just tragic.

As I noted on I guess the S&W thread, many of Wurster's old characters that were hilarious because they were such outrageous caricatures of awfulness are now kind of depressing because they're fairly accurate renderings of certain American citizens.

What Were Once Caricatures are Now Portraits

I love the Best Show 24/7 streaming station he has now. It's good to hear shows from like 2000-2001, when it was truly bizarre and unexpected

tom scharpling on the first episode of "the podcast for laundry" with brett davis is good if you miss angry/flustered tom from the earlier hollywood handbook episodes

i was wary of james murphy on the best show after some of those post-relaunch interviews of celebrities who tom doesn't know personally, but it was a really good ep. they are obviously simpatico, and having him in the studio instead of on the phone probably helped.

i really really enjoyed that!

book

https://www.vulture.com/2019/01/the-best-show-tom-scharpling-memoir-book.html

Rot

I really like how Tom’s affection for RAtM and Limp Bizkit closely mirrors Ronald Thomas Clontle’s musical evolution in Rock, Rot and Rule.

I thought Tom's assessment of RaTM as either the best bad band or the worst good is rather astute.

'worst GOOD band' rather

And finally the Andrew Dice Clay interview sees it’s standalone light of day. Assuming it coincides with his first unintentional on-air fbomb

Tom accidentally swearing on 7/24 is a real joy

part of the joy of tom going on hollywood handbook is hearing him swear

I really like how Tom’s affection for RAtM and Limp Bizkit closely mirrors Ronald Thomas Clontle’s musical evolution in Rock, Rot and Rule.

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Friday, August 9, 2019 7:52 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ha true, not to mention "the Music Scholar" bit!

Argh, that’s the one I meant!

Thanks to Rock Rot & Rule I now use 'rotting' as a verb for sorting through records to decide if they're worth selling.

AP Mike's latest song, On Broadway, is unbelievably good, heavy, deep stuff. Go to his bandcamp page if you haven't heard it.

the Greg Cartwright solo set on newest "Best" is so, so good

Agreed, incredible. I had just gone back into the archives to listen to it recently before it popped up on Bests a few days later, funny enough.

yeesh what's going on

not feeling this "slice of life"

what's the deal? i'm months behind

I haven't listened, but Mike and Dudio and someone else have been filling in for Tom while he's busy (up until this week where he did an episode from LA)

tom was on hollywood handbook again this week if you need your scharpling fix

It's with great sadness that we say goodbye to a beloved friend of the show, Robert "Avalanche Bob" Cribbie. It was an honor to be a small part of his life and he will always be a part of Best Show history.

RIP to a true original who never gave up.https://t.co/XDbpQYmsah pic.twitter.com/JJotS239Yg

— The Best Show (@bestshow4life) November 21, 2019

RIP

did i skip every single one of his calls after the first few? yes, i did. but still, RIP

RIP to a true Weirdo

SKIBBLABBLEDIBBADABBADIBBASKABBLABBLABBADACKADIGGASKABBARRRrest in peace, Avalanche.

there was one call where tom actually got him to talk about his past for a while and it was really interesting, i wish they had done more of that

oh no!

I'd like to hear that call

RIP

Probably was the same episode where I remember Pat Byrne thinking out loud on air about figuring out how to reissue his 50s recordings

yeah sorry i have no idea when it was. probably a few years ago.

Aww, RIP

Got a real kick out of AP Mike asking him if he had ever been on a snowboard before a few weeks back.

That actually kind of irked me...maybe in the very beginning Tom did a little of that sort of thing, but even when he made fun of him he went out of his way not to embarrass him—he was sweet and mostly patient.

That Mike dig seemed like punching down—he obviously was not a snowboarder.

Anyway RIP yodel diddy doo

it was because he was yodeling about snowboarding wasn't it? Those things have been around a minute..

Yes, that’s why. That was the whole joke—he was glomming onto snowboarding to create a niche.

just like snowboarding did to surfing. fair play.

love having nathan fielder on as a guest and spending an hour and a half talking exclusively about air hockey

This is going to be so good

I HAVE A NEW PODCAST WITH MY FRIEND @julieklausner CALLED DOUBLE THREAT!!! It premieres 4/6 and there's a preview ep up now! @DoubleThreatPod @ForeverDogTeam

⬇️ SUBSCRIBE NOW ⬇️@ApplePodcasts https://t.co/cZweGbvPOM@Spotify https://t.co/xZ0X3WN8Yr

— scharpling (@scharpling) March 23, 2020

Yes! I think Tom is always at his best when she's on, he feeds on her laughter

Not the biggest fan of hers but no denying she brings the energy level way up when she's on the show.

I kind of love the new best show format of tom just driving around monologuing to himself and occasionally throwing a mic cable out the window

yeah and the 3/20 (21?) sound collage was kind of mindblowing

I like that he now has to mix these in advance

Yes! Love Julie on The Best Show and elsewhere. Their riffing on the Cheesecake Factory from (I think) a 2018 episode was the most I've ever endangered myself by laughing too hard while driving.

best show on hiatus

the eps of double threat i've heard have been very funny

On the day I change my dn to a Best Show ref. That cannot be coincidental.

When did Scharpling start doing so many impressions? Dude is Rich Little all the sudden.

I wanted to love Double Threat but it just felt a bit lazy, like let's just read the news and bag on everyone.

i haven't been listening to the best show (or any podcast really) regularly, has tom talked at all about being stuck in LA? is terre t with him or back in NJ? seems like a tough situation

also what did ap mike say on twitter that everyone is mad about? fred from honolulu is beefing with him and i'm seeing implications that the hiatus is a direct result?

Stopped myself posting here today when I was paying the critique of Alec Baldwin interviewing Woody Allen. This show is like Tom venting his worst impulses. Maybe Best Show is the better for it. You can imagine the other guys making fun of him for all the negativity.

(was about newest "Double Threat")

I'm not on the Best Show Facebook, but I heard that Mike was trying to hush police abolition talk because it could hurt Biden beating Trump

That was a few days ago. I see now it's spilled over to Twitter..... Hiatus? Dang

hooooo boy the mike/fred/fb group friction is... something

mike tweeted to the effect of "stop being radical or trump will win again" and ppl got mad and he doubled down in a pretty shit way

the fb group got into arugments about it, which is incidentally like 80% white dudes, some agreeing, some disagreeing, some (and tbh the loudest/most angry minority) saying "TOM SAID THE SHOW ISN'T POLITICAL, KEEP POLITICS OUT OF THIS GROUP" which is hilarious because while tom keeps it immplicit it absolutely is a *political* show (albeit not a "politics" show). fred posted on the fb group for the first time... ever maybe? and read everyone for absolute fucking filth, which was fair, and let slip that there's a SECOND, SECRET best show fb group just for BIPOC/women/trans/nb ppl bc the main group is such Bad Company (lol) (also, incidentally, the name of the group) which made a few white guys mad also. it has been a series of temper tantrums and meltdowns since then. i don't think tom saw all of that but he must have seen mike's descent on twitter and yeah it was ugly. idk how many people unsubbed simply due to mike's comments (unsubbed as in the podcast, the patreon, the group, everything) but it's more than a couple. everyone's so mad. i've just been reading and kinda shaking my head and occasionally clowning the poor boys who can't make the same dave grohl "THAT GUYS EFFIN AWESOME" joke every 48 hours. why am i even on facebook jesus christ

Abolish social media

Thank you for that, Will, cuz there's no way I'm going to look into any of this stuff. If this is to be believed, there hasn't been a big loss of Patreon subs yet. I noticed Tom tweet that Patreon money is going to go to charity while the show is on hiatus, and he is still going to make some subscriber-only content.

So this has got nothing to do with the other "WFMU" thread here, and that meltdown? What other "non political" media has gone to shit this month? Might be worth a thread.

There's been a consistent culture clash between the pre- and post-Steven Universe fans. I mean, I'll be clear: Mike was completely wrong, dumb, and aggressive with his take, but I genuinely think he meant no harm and thought he caused no harm while talking down to a bunch of people who take his words as real harm. But it wasn't the show, and I don't think the hiatus is punishment as much as necessary to save the possibility of Scharpling-hosted comedy radio in the future. He's got PLENTY going on and doesn't need joking with his old friend Mike to be salt in anyone's wounds, so leave it for another time.

I forgot to mention that Mike is in the FB group too and was vvvv much stirring the pot

I'm far enough behind on the show (ran the gamut on FMU but still only about a year and change into the independent iteration) that I didn't even realize Tom had a Patreon until this thread hipped me. Well, I just pitched in to make up for the dumm oafs who are bailing out.

"So this has got nothing to do with the other "WFMU" thread here, and that meltdown?"

Well, Laurie from Miami, whose contributions since her return have primarily been about trash television and how sexually evolved she is, is tweeting about it, having decided that WFMU is worse than Conde Nast and must be destroyed, but no one is responding at all. No word on where the producers of Vanderpump Rules stand on BLM.

Abolish social media

― A White, White Gay (cryptosicko)

I wanted to love Double Threat but it just felt a bit lazy, like let's just read the news and bag on everyone.

I feel the same way, wish I liked it more but I feel like its the kind of podcast Tom would have made fun of 6-7 years ago - two comedians just kind of aimlesly riffing on and on until they bump into something funny. Although if there's an ongoing Best Show drought I suppose I'll find a way to get on board

I'm trying the Woody Allen episode of Double Threat, and a huge amount of it is just the two of them making fun of him by making general quacking noises in a "Woody Allen voice".

8PM EST. It's our country, too. pic.twitter.com/Xob2XXGGjb

— The Best Show (@bestshow4life) November 2, 2020

!!

do we know that it's not another "Bests"?

Whoa.

I'm still fairly behind and only just listened to the 2016 election show a little while back. It was...triggering.

wasn't that the fake "vintage" show?

Yeah, the conceit that started breaking down halfway through as reality began to intrude.

Jason said on FB that it's a new ep tonight

Yeah, the conceit that started breaking down halfway through as reality began to intrude.

Honestly one of the most astounding acts of broadcasting ever.

indeed

a completely amazing hall of fame feat that i can never bring myself to listen to ever again

It's funny that this new episode comes almost exactly (+/- 2 days) 23 years after the original broadcast of the OG Rock, Rot & Rule episode which brought Tom from a regional audience to a national audience, and here 23 years later Tom has basically morphed from "Tom the straight guy" into a more basic Ronald Thomas Clontle.

i mean he's still the straight guy in wurster calls. everyone's fine with him talking shit about billy joel for years and years but they get awfully touchy when it's steely dan's turn

i haven't really been listening to any podcasts but i was excited to listen to the show live last week and then all i got was 20 minutes of him talking to the oreo lady before i had to turn it off

I just find his taste in music so difficult to parse. I don't mind him hating on Steely Dan, but I'm kinda amazed that he seems to like Car Seat Headrest. Like, really?

his appearance on analyze phish was v frustrating and the less i hear him talk about music the better. steely dan shits on billy joel from a great height, i say this as someone who listened to every record by both lol

lol yeah i did a double take when he mentioned car seat headrest too

tbh the thing i miss most from the 'old days' is the music talk, even if his taste is hard to parse and sometimes infuriating i'd rather hear him argue about records with people than talk about oreos or whatever 10 times out of 10

matador probably sponsors the show or at least sends him records to play

yeah ive assumed that since he left fmu he cant afford blanket broadcast licensing with ascap/etc and must have worked out individual deals with merge/matador/whoever else

Fair play and I don't blame him, but even within Matador I feel like there's better stuff to hype than Car Seat Headrest.

first time hearing that band tbqh, can't remember a thing about it other than the name.

my musical taste aligns with his pretty closely but he does have some odd opinions that don't gibe with my own. my problem with "call in and defend steely dan" isn't that i think steely dan is perfect but that it's a boring concept for a show. people have been arguing about steely dan for like 50 years, what else is there to say at this point? but maybe it's funny, i haven't listened yet.

It's not. That's the real problem with it.

i'd rather hear him argue about records with people than talk about oreos or whatever 10 times out of 10

― turn the jawhatthefuckever on (One Eye Open), Wednesday, November 18, 2020 3:58 PM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

100x otm

or candy bars wgaf?

his musical taste seems to have evolved on a pretty similar path to other aging indie rock/underground dudes from his cohort ive seen, where they end up listening to three basic categories:

-classic rock stuff they liked as a kid but spent their 20s and 30s hating/being embarrassed by
-albums by friends (or friends' labels)
-a random dartboard of new stuff that makes them feel like theyre not totally unplugged from whats happening (Lana Del Rey, etc)

(I'm a bit younger than him but not exempting myself from this eventual path)

i think of this genre as “journalist rock” i.e. when some blogger you really like decides to do a youtube embed because it’s Friday and you’re like..... oh no

I stopped listening to the Best Show a while back because I got tired of Tom's incessant whining about how underappreciated he is. I realize that's at least partially a bit, but it just got too tedious. And I was a big enough fan to have pre-ordered the Scharpling & Wurster box set.

okay, I *finally* got to the end of the show and admit I laughed more than I thought I would at his cover of "Deacon Blues". Wish Drag City would have used Tom's vox on the Callahan/Oldham/MacKay cover from a few days ago.

And also, he's right: Just listen to Can instead.

Yeah that was funny. Easily the best bit of the show.

I'm not sure who but a basic RTC couldn't written RTC... but your revive made me laugh, Al

could've*

I mean, he’s basically evolved into the Wurster “Musical Scholar” character who evolves into repping Limp Bizkit.

Really enjoyed his rant in last week’s episode about how people should be getting less conservative the older they get.

ITT we complain about the Best Show being the Best Show I guess?

Show would be great if Tom would stop complaining and if that one guy would stop calling for half an hour at a stretch pretending to be different people who somehow all have the same voice.

i think of this genre as “journalist rock” i.e. when some blogger you really like decides to do a youtube embed because it’s Friday and you’re like..... oh no

rude to call out Drew Magary like that

social media suggests tom and terre aren't together anymore and he's with a different woman now? i haven't listened to the best show in a long time, has he discussed this at all?

no. he went out of his way to avoid ever referring to his marriage before, i would doubt he would discuss it now

kinda figured as much since he's been in LA for over a year now and hasn't mentioned Terre or Dogmo even in passing in about as long or longer, but yeah, it would be out of character for him to mention anything about it directly on the show since he had (has?) that running gag about being married to Jillian Barbarie for so long to shield against personal talk.

I also just assumed this was the case because of the move

His new squeeze posts a fair deal of him/them on her IG.

His new squeeze is the creator of Netflix's "Twelve Forever" and was an animator on Powerpuff Girls.

Not being in New Jersey anymore is an even bigger shock to me.

I was truly sad to hear, at the end of this week's show, that regular caller "Kat from Raleigh" had passed away. Kat always seemed liked a genuinely sweet person, and I was always happy when they showed up on the program. RIP.

As an update to my post from yesterday, Cat's family (I had the spelling wrong yesterday) has set up a Go Fund Me for a memorial scholarship at North Carolina State University: https://gofund.me/41c5f0cc

the fb group had some very nice remembrances of them in the comments

i didn't preorder tom's book and now it appears to be backordered everywhere except amazon :/

I ordered mine from Amazon due to a gift card I got for my birthday (and my being out of work til the Fall). Hasn't shipped yet.

Yeah, I saw the same thing when I checked a couple of independent stores so I bit the bullet and ordered from Amazon. Mine showed up in less than 24 hours, so there is that...

Didn't realize the preorder was shipping a full week before the release date! Started reading before the holidays and just picked it back up. Some dark and revelatory stuff in there.

nabbed mine off the shelf at an indie store, guess i got lucky. no spoilers but two distinct "holy shit" revelations for me (both within the fist 100pgs iirc?)

My biggest “holy shit” moment came exactly 104 pgs in.

Yes, although that bomb was softened somewhat by the ones he dropped in earlier pages.

I've started relistening to the earliest episodes this week after I finished reading Tom's book. The first episode is indeed very rough but I wish he wasn't so insistent about it never being heard again because it features the first Todd Billups call, which is an all-time Wurster character imo. Not sure how far I'm going with this (having already heard all of the WFMU episodes) but it's interesting to hear some of this stuff with hindsight.

Just an aside: it's, uh, pretty impressive that in 2001, when people were fishing for info on the as-yet-unnamed second Star Wars prequel, Wurster (in the guise of a psychic) got the name of the third prequel exactly right, four years ahead of its release.

(He also predicts that Dick Cheney would refuse treatment for typhoid and start intentionally spreading it. So he may in fact have access to some hazy window into the future.)

Got about 65-70 pages into it last night, really enjoying it.

Wish a verified purchase of the book could earn me an unblock from Tom on Twitter tho :/

Finished this Sunday night, absolutely loved it and I cannot recommend it highly enough, even to folks who aren't already Friends of Tom. Just as funny as you'd expect, but more touching and affecting that I'd ever have imagined.

So Tom is following Neil's lead and yanked the show from Spotify. Glad to see it.

has anyone kept pace with this as of late? I’ve completely fallen behind by 6 months and even on catch-up I’m not that engaged as I once was. Don’t know if it’s because his material is getting diluted between this and Double Threat. Are there recent wurstsr calls to seek out?

i listen to the “bests” on the podcast but i don’t really know when they’re from

wurster remains one of the funniest motherfuckers alive to me. like i CANNOT listen in the gym, i would injure myself.

i'm still listening out of habit but youre not missing a ton, it definitely feels to be in a bit of a lull funniness-wise. the hardest i've laughed at it in recent years remains the episode a couple years ago(?) where tom switched gears mid-show and spent the whole show talking about peoples favorite nu-metal bands.

the wurster calls remain amazing though, he's been on a very good run lately with a recurring bit where he calls in as bruce springsteen.

I'm about a month behind, just listened to Wurster's second call as Springsteen. It's fine, has its decent moments. The gag of awarding points to Mike, Pat and Dudio has been kind of funny.

i essentially stopped listening several years ago, but that's more about not having time to keep up with multiple podcasts (especially 3-hour podcasts) than with the quality of the best show. i lost touch with most of my podcasts in quarantine when i didn't have a commute any more. i listen to double threat occasionally, when they have a guest or theme that sounds interesting, and tom seems energized on there by having a cohost to bounce off of - especially because he and julie klausner are obviously so simpatico.

I usually end up listening to it in 10-20 minute chunks before bed, which is why I'm behind.

I think the show is still funny, and the running Springsteen gag has had more range than I would have expected; I love when "Bruce" aired his grievances against Prefab Sprout for "Cars and Girls."

Fletchshack: A New Beginin-n-n-n-n-n-n-n

24 hour best show on twitch / bestshow4life started 4 hours ago and it's the onljy good vibes chat I've ever seen on twitch

Caught some of Nathan Fieder this morning, which was funny. Are they going to release it as one 24 hour podcast episode? I takes me half the week to listen to one regular episode, it might be Labor Day before I get through all of this one. Not complaining though, what little I’ve heard so far has sounded fun.

^^ otm, I love the idea but listening do the whole thing sounds very daunting

they've said a few times that it will all be available in some way -- not sure if that means in the podcast feed or something else?

watching it on twitch has actually been rly nice because the nature of it makes me feel like i don't need to hear every second like i do with a downloaded podcast. i might just skip around the recordings to the parts i wish i hadn't missed, whenever it arrives/in whatever format it arrives

Well Tom made good on this (even if the book isn't out in the US yet):

Who can help your guy get a copy of the Jarvis Cocker book and who can help your guy get JC on The Best Show when it comes out in the US?

— scharpling (@scharpling) May 3, 2022

this has to be available on the Twitch channel after. They've put a lot into the camera work. And the chat has stayed good from what i saw!

this one man band closer(?) is killing it

Oh man, I missed this. I do believe that one man band closer is known to many of us

Missed the end of the 24 hour Best Show by 5 minutes because my toddler got to bed late! We tried listening right before bed but Chaki was too exciting for a 3 year old at 9pm. It was a great show. I got to see Mike Watt and the end of the Jarvis Cocker interview

— stuffing and potatoes (@AllieLibrary) July 28, 2022

And lookee that:

😁😁😁 #BestShow24 pic.twitter.com/ek417w5pBq

— Chaki (@ChakiFunkWizard) July 28, 2022

Positive reviews, too

I like Chaki's vibe.

— Mike Lisk (@APMike) July 28, 2022

I'm one of you!

Chaki is kurt?

Yas

aaa! you killed it! :)

Ty 😁🙏🏽

Crossover podcast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmNdTFbrNoE

Oz isn't just a mean POS, he's a mean POS from Jersey, not Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/scmvDuYBmt

— Jessica Clarice 🏳️‍⚧️ יִסְכָּה (@JeSStradiol) August 31, 2022

just thought that any fans of WFMU / John Peel may enjoy my lame mixcloud thing I started cos it was easier than sending friends CDRs.
i do detour into power rangers theme tunes, my pet Azerbaijani guitarist, and playing two records at the same time more than is advisable but hopefully there'S something in there for some of you. no DJ chat, tho. i'm shy *bats eyelids*

Well lookee what got posted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2rONbPrU-8

xpost with On Cinema at the Cinema on ilxor.com

tim heidecker hosted best show last night. it was weird (see below). tom's hosting office hours right now! i already prefer his version of this switcheroo

there was also this very awkward moment, the most awkward, in the last hour of the show. the one best show person that tim was acknowledging (because he was in the room) was the producer, jason, and he announced that the final hour would be a "no complaints" session, in which tim would not be allowed to complain. i think this might be a best show tradition, but i'm not sure, and tbh it seemed like tim wasn't sure either. then, jason announced that the special topic of the hour for callers would be to say what they think the best work tim has made, and then the very worst that he has made, and then reiterated that tim was not allowed to complain. tim seemed very uncomfortable with this, and if he was being intentional/comedic about it, i will say it was one of the greatest, most believable and subtle performances i've ever seen. if it was fake, he fooled me. he just seemed very unsure about the whole thing.

for most of the hour, the 'no complaining' and 'say your favorite and least favorite tim production' rules were fine, with the normal people who called in. (at the same time, they were also doing a worst 20 beatles list/brainstorming sesh, so that ate up most of the conversation). but then, near the end of the show they brought back 2 of the Best Show voices, the two guys on the telephone who were very briefly included as part of the show in the first 10 minutes and then completely ignored thereafter until this very point, near the end of the show. and one of the guys just kind of tore into tim's mistreatment of him on the show, how he had been completely ignored, referencing several times about meeting tim before the show and that how nice it was, but clearly mocking it, clearly it wasn't a good encounter, before the show. it went on for a while and then tim really had no real response -- again, if he was faking it he has become a fine actor, full stop -- and producer jason reiterated that it was a no complaint hour. it was very awkward! but also very gripping.

at the end of the show as they were signing off tim was, predictably, asking for reviews of his performance (one of the best show guys gave him 4 stars, lol), and jason mentioned what had happened earlier and explained that the guy on the phone was just doing a bit and he does it to everyone, that tom would have broken, etc. but tim didn't seem to believe that at all and frankly neither do i!

lol! i am actually going to xpost this to the best show thread because they will know a lot more about all of it, i'm sure.

Only now working my way through the whole 24 hour show, can't believe how great the Mike Watt Stooges set was.

Low-key highlight for me: Chris Elliott calling in to read the convoluted instructions to the Jaws board game.