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The Best Show with Tom Scharpling

Internet radio show/podcast hosted by Tom Scharpling From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Best Show with Tom Scharpling
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The Best Show with Tom Scharpling (formerly The Best Show on WFMU) is a combination music, call-in, and comedy Internet radio show and podcast hosted independently by Tom Scharpling since 2014, which previously aired on New Jersey–based radio station WFMU from 2000 to 2013. The show's slogan is "three hours of mirth, music, and mayhem."[1]

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The Best Show on WFMU first aired on October 10, 2000, occupying the 9 to 11 p.m. time slot. The current incarnation of The Best Show continues to air on Tuesday evenings on YouTube from the studios of Forever Dog in Los Angeles.[2]

On December 27, 2016, the show began accepting donations through Patreon, providing ancillary content and spin-off shows.[3] The show has also spawned an Adult Swim special and several album releases on Scharpling & Wurster's Stereolaffs label, Third Man Records and a 16-disc Numero Group box set.[4]

The show is known for its deeply dedicated, card-carrying fanbase, who call themselves "Friends of Tom" with listeners and callers from the United States, Canada, the U.K., Sweden, Japan, New Zealand, and Tasmania.

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Background

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While a DJ at WFMU, Tom Scharpling took the first scripted on-air from longtime friend Jon Wurster, who at the time was the drummer for the band Superchunk. Posing as the fictional Ronald Thomas Clontle, he claimed to be the author of a book called Rock, Rot & Rule, hailed as "The Ultimate Argument Settler" in which he irrationally classifies various music acts into ones that "rock," "rot" or "rule". Actual callers starting phoning in, irately debating Clontle’s arrgoance and historical inaccuracies.

After that, the duo started to envision a radio show devoted to that type of humor on a weekly basis – inspired partially by the Upright Citizen’s Brigade and the East Village alternative comedy show, Eating It.

The Best Show on WFMU (2000–2013)

Scharpling hosted the first episode of The Best Show on WFMU on October 10, 2000. Starting June 5, 2001, the show was expanded to three hours filling the 8 to 11 p.m. slot, later moving to 9 p.m. to midnight on June 15, 2010.

The program featured a roster of genuine callers, as well as calls in-character from musician Jon Wurster, best known for his tenure as the drummer for Superchunk (with occasional in-character calls from H. Jon Benjamin, Jon Glaser, Peyton Reed and others).

Wurster adopted a variety of personae hailing from the fictional and surreal New Jersey suburb of "Newbridge." Frequent characters include "Philly Boy Roy" (an unflinching supporter of all things Philadelphia), "Timmy von Trimble" (a genetically modified, two-inch-tall racist), and "The Gorch" (a senior citizen who claims that the character of The Fonz on the TV show Happy Days was based on him, without permission).[5]

Regular callers and in-studio guests of note have included Todd Barry, Andy Kindler, Aimee Mann, Kurt Vile, Paul F. Tompkins, Ted Leo, John Hodgman, and Patton Oswalt.

One of the show's appeals comes from Scharpling's slow burn takedowns of pop culture minutiae such as Billy Crystal's "jazz man" routine, and an infomercial promoting the Gathering of the Juggalos festival, which inspired an SNL sketch. Similarly, some of the more memorable segments have come from Scharpling recalling his trip to a Beatles convention and an awkward encounter with Patti Smith.

A worldwide audience listened to the show live through WFMU's Internet stream with episodes also archived on the radio station's website. The Best Show began podcasting its shows, with the music removed due to licensing restrictions, on January 26, 2006.

In October 2013, Scharpling announced his intention to end The Best Show, with the program's finale airing on December 17.[6][7]

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Tom Scharpling and guest Nardwuar in 2023.

The Best Show with Tom Scharpling (since 2014)

On December 16, 2014, Scharpling revived the program independently at thebestshow.net, recording from a studio in Jersey City.

The show featured a greater emphasis on lists and call-in segments, as well as featuring producers Mike Lisk, Jason Gore and Pat Byrne.

In 2015, Scharpling & Wurster made an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers.[8] The pair voiced characters on an episode of The Simpsons in 2016.[9] Scharpling detailed the genesis of the show in his best-selling book, It Never Ends.[10]

The show currently takes place in Los Angeles from the Forever Dog studios in North Hollywood. This new iteration of the show includes a live video stream on Twitch, a greater emphasis on musical performances and two 24-hour episodes, which have featured the likes of Bill Hader, Conan O'Brien, Jarvis Cocker, Nathan Fielder, Bob Odenkirk and Sarah Squirm.

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Guests

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Actors

Artists & Animators

Comedians

Filmmakers & Writers

Musicians

Writers & Authors

Other

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Critical Reception & Influence

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The Best Show is widely regarded as a seminal and highly influential precursor to the modern comedy podcast. Airing for years before the podcast boom of the mid-2000s, its format—featuring a host, recurring characters, listener call-ins, and a focus on building an intricate comedic universe—provided a blueprint for many successful programs that followed. Scharpling has joked, "If this is what I birthed, what hath I wrought?”[12]

Notable fans of The Best Show include Conan O'Brien,[13] Neal Pollack,[14] David Cross,[15] and Aiden English.[16] Musician Kurt Vile wrote a song about calling into the show

Rolling Stone has frequently listed the show on its "Best Podcasts" lists, adding "New Jersey-based extravaganza The Best Show on WFMU rivaled the laugh-per-minute ratio and creative imagination of any late-night TV talk show, but with none of the budget."[17]

The New York Times called the show hugely influential, praising the show's "the conversational, slow-burn comedy."[18]

Vulture called Scharpling & Wurster one of "the most consistently funny and hardworking teams in comedy"[19] and listed The Best Show as one of "10 Essential Comedy Podcasts That Shaped The Genre.”[20]

Legacy

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The Majority Report

On February 11, 2003, Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder appeared on The Best Show to discuss the political atmosphere of America. The chemistry between them as radio talents was evident, and their agreement on many liberal political views made them kindred spirits. In the summer of that same year, Garofalo was approached by representatives of Air America Radio to be a radio personality for their programming. She insisted that they hire Seder and that he share the hosting responsibilities. Less than one year later, The Majority Report was born.

Big Dipper reunion

On his January 20, 2004, radio program, Scharpling had been derisively talking about the VH1 show Bands Reunited. This discussion led to Scharpling facetiously declaring his goal of reuniting the beloved (though relatively unknown) 1980s Boston indie-rock band Big Dipper. In the following weeks, the concept of a "Big Dipper Reunion" had become a recurring in-joke on the program. Scharpling began calling the members at home to convince them to reunite. In 2008, the group reunited for a live concert. In advance of several reunion shows in April 2008, Merge Records released the 3-disc Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology on March 18, featuring liner notes by Scharpling.

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Numero Group's Best of the Best Show box set cover art.

The Best of The Best Show box set

Released by The Numero Group on May 12, 2015, The Best of The Best Show is a retrospective box set of Scharpling and Wurster calls, culled primarily from the show's 13-year run on WFMU, on 16 discs and a USB stick with bonus material. It also includes a book featuring essays written by friends and associates of the show and notes on every included call by Scharpling and Wurster themselves.[21]

Adult Swim's "We're Newbridge" special

In 2014, Scharpling and Wurster created and produced a television special for Adult Swim (as part of their project Infomercials), based around their characters and the town of Newbridge entitled The Newbridge Tourism Board Presents: "We're Newbridge, We're Comin' to Get Ya!".[22] It aired on November 3, 2014,[23] and presents itself as a tourism video advertising Newbridge, New Jersey. Created by and starring Scharpling and Wurster, as well as Robert Cuthill, Julie Klausner and Gilbert Gottfried, the special highlighted the show's fictional setting of Newbridge, New Jersey with live-action portrayals of several characters from the show.

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Spin-offs and Patreon exclusives

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Through the Best Show's Patreon, the show has spawned numerous spin-off shows:

  • Best Show Gems / Best Show Bests - A "greatest hits"-type program featuring highlights from The Best Show.
  • Ask Tom / S&W Q&A - Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster answer submitted questions out-of-character.
  • The Half Hour of Power / The Four Horsemen - A bonus Best Show focusing on "Four Horsemen" Pat Byrne, AP Mike Lisk & Jason "Dudio" Gore and friends of the show.
  • Meet My Friends the Friends - Patreon exclusive featuring a fictionalized version of Scharpling hosting a Friends recap podcast as his life slowly begins to unravel. The podcast has covered several seasons of the show, while creating multiple spin-offs like Quantum Leap review podcast Takin' the Leap with Jason Gore, and the SmartLess parody, Dumbmore.
  • So Far / Rubinesque - Patreon exclusive limited podcasts in which the Best Show crew takes a year by year look at all of the works of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, together and apart, as well as the discography of Rick Rubin.
  • Make Mike Marvel / Mike-A-Mania / Take Brett Out To The Ballgame - AP Mike reluctantly watches the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and every WrestleMania with comedian Brett Davis, including all of the shows, short films and a trip to Disneyland's Avengers Campus. Later, AP Mike forces Brett to watch the 2025 Mets season.
  • The John Gentle Show - Comedian Brett Davis hosts a college radio show as his poetry professor character, John Gentle, from The Special Without Brett Davis.
  • Gary The Squirrel - Patreon exclusives wherein Gary the Squirrel, a Don Rickles-esque squirrel portrayed by Scharpling conducts interviews, trains the Best Show staff on improv or broadcasting, and comments on pop culture.
  • The Sad Mirage - Scharpling and "AP Mike" Lisk discuss various somber topics.
  • Lights Out - The Best Show staff share ghost stories, nightmares, and various other horror-related occurrences in their lives with the lights out in the studio.
  • Ahoy! - Tom Scharpling and Harri Woliner discuss life while driving around Los Angeles reviewing fast food fish sandwiches.
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See also

References

External links

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