FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Show Discussion => Topic started by: Jillian Barberie on October 10, 2010, 09:04:46 PM
-
It seems kosmic-ly fitting that the 10th Anniversary of the BEST SHOW fall on 10-10-10
because the show scores a 10 out of 10 all around!
Congratulations to you Mr. Scharpling & your incredible comedy behemoth of a show!
To all who love Tom and THE BEST SHOW feel free to chime celebratory regards & fave moments here!
-
10-10-10? I knew something special was going on.
Now, I know what it was.
Flintstones - Happy Anniversary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knp9-GY6fHE#)
-
Heartfelt congratulations to Tom & Jon, and although I would really like to see the show continue, I will be following them in whatever they do.
There are way too many favorite moments to mention, so I'll share my first listening experience, when I hadn't quite figured out what was real. It was in 2007, I don't remember the date, but it was the show where Hammerhead called for the first time. I suppose most of us have a "This isn't real, is it? It CAN'T be!" moment, and this was mine. It's still one of my favorite calls.
-
My very first experience with the show ever was discovering the show and hearing Tom lay the smackdown on LOTR movie fans, when I was dating a crazy girl who insisted on taking me to see it whilst she wore elf ears and other paraphernalia. It was timely, and awesome, and gave me the courage to speak my mind.
It has since provided me with hours upon hours of the best humor and stimulating conversation ever since. I have always looked forward to each Tuuuuuesday night installment more than just about anything else in life.
-
I first was introduced to the show by my friend Kenny in his dorm room at Emerson College. I was a Suffolk student and making some new friends but felt out of place since I wasn't from their school. He had his headphones on and was laughing and I asked what was so funny. He showed me.
It was the Mets V. Yankees fan bit. This was in 2005 so it wasn't new, but he said if I liked that then I would like the show. Me and my other friends (his roommates) just sat and laughed to the whole thing. It was amazing. I then went home and started plowing through the archives. I was hooked.
I soon started listening live, sharing the show with my friend, and constantly referencing it while friends didn't know what I was talking about.
The Best Show has been a huge part of my adult life and constantly brings smiles. The FOT, the FMU Marathon, the Secret Santa swap...it's all just been so great.
To top it off, last night I got to meet Tom and while I was nervous as all hell, he was really nice and very funny and it was a really awesome experience. And that just speaks volumes about the guy and this show.
So thanks, Tom and Jon and everybody associated with the show. It's the Best.
-
I can't remember the very first time I heard The Best Show, but I remembered early on that I was googling "President Baseball" and believing that Andy Milinakis really was in all these upcoming movie projects.
My favourite Tom moments? Too many to count. But if I had to pick just one, it would be the Dogmo versus the Water Sprinkler story. Funny and touching. I felt honoured to hear Tom share such a private story with us.
-
I first heard "Rock Rot & Rule" shortly after it aired. It was the longest Mp3 I had every downloaded at the time. I remember friends wanting to hear it, but not having enough bandwidth to share it, since most people were still on modems then.
And as far as the Best Show, I heard about it in 2003 since a friend introduced to me to S&W volumes 1 & 2. The Music Scholar and Timmy Von Trimble were the two pieces that had me hooked. I had purchased every S&W CD set available since.
However, I didn't start listening to the Best Show proper until after I joined Twitter in late 2009. By happenstance, I befriended people who all religiously listened to the show, or were related to WFMU. Before, I thought the S&W CDs chronicled a good chunk of the skits, and just assumed that Tom and Jon wouldn't have time to write skits like this almost *every show*. I mean, who would have time for that?
Needless to say I was very, very wrong. First show I heard was the Final Show Of The Decade, featuring a Chef as an in-studio guest, which was Jon. Tom and Jon were just as funny as any of the CDs, I thought "oo boy, I missed almost NINE YEARS OF THIS?", and never missed a show since.
-
The Best Show and Tom have helped me navigate through some rough waters.
It stands as an evolving, hilarious, and touching work of art. I like MC Steinberg.
-
Congratulations, Tom! (I wish I had known yesterday so I could have said so in person. Side note: I met Jon the day before I heard "jazz fart") Ten years is a long time to do anything, much less something at that high level of output and quality.
I'm not exactly sure when I started listening, maybe 2005/2006 or so. I first heard one of the bits on The Sound of Young America- it was something that started fairly normally and had a particularly long leadup, and I think it was the second listen before I got through to the part where I understood why it was supposed to be great. Once I "got" it, I downloaded the last month of podcasts and listened to them straight through, and I've heard every single show since. I think the only check I've ever written was to the WFMU marathon before I was old enough to have a credit card. It seems like nearly everything I've gotten into since (in both music and comedy) links back to the Best Show, even if I didn't know it at the time- it's been such a constant.
-
Thanks to Tom, everyone associated at the station, and the callers and listeners. You've all created an absolutely wonderful experience for me. Best Show has actually gotten me through the WORST period of my life, and you're all to thank.
I've ripped countless episodes to my iPod and walked many miles at night listening. Unforgettable. Thank you thank you thank you.
-
I started listening to the bits in probably 2002-2003, an old board I used to be on had someone that would rip all the S & W stuff. Unfortunately, they weren't ripping the entire show just the bits, and it wasn't until 2006 on a business trip to Patterson, NJ that I listened to a full episode, it was the "How do you want it?" episode. I became obsessed.
Tom and Jon are my friends. They don't know me, and they might not even care for me if they did, but it doesn't really matter. I brag on them to people like they are buddies. I refer to their schtick like I would if recalling a friend's exploits. Even my fiance, who only has a passing interest in the program refers to Tom like he is my old college roommate. She is constantly accusing me of lifting jokes, voices, and mannerisms from "Tom". For ten years the good guys have been winning. Congrats!
-
The Best Show has been such a pleasure for me. My wife can attest to how angry I get when the web feed goes out and I can't listen live; I pout like a four year old who doesn't get his way. It is pretty embarrassing, really.
And as douchey as the internet can be, this forum is an anomaly, loaded with smart, funny, talented, generous folks who I have never met that I consider friends.
Congratulations on ten years of unique, brilliant broadcasting, Tom!
-
And as douchey as the internet can be, this forum is an anomaly, loaded with smart, funny, talented, generous folks who I have never met that I consider friends.
I concur. I even met some and still consider them friends.
-
Ever since 2007, or was it late 2006, I have listened to the podcasts, religiously downloading them on Friday mornings.
Usually I'm quite asleep when the live show starts on Tuesdays, but early on for a couple years there, I had a morning shift that I'd have to start at 3:30, and sometimes I "cheated" and listened to the show live.
TBSWFMU has truly changed my life for the better.
No, the BEST.
-
Heard a podcast based on a co-worker's recommendation in early '07 and couldn't figure out why the show intro music played for so long or why the DJ was back announcing music that I didn't hear him play. Think I ended up turning it off. It's not that I didn't like it - I just didn't know what to make of what I was hearing initially. A few weeks later, I heard Tom's take on those "Whopper Freakout" commercials and I fell in love with The Best Show. It's been a weekly tradition ever since. There ain't none funnier.
-
Ever since I stumbled upon the broadcast of a birthday party for a child named Petey on my radio, I have been hooked on the Best Show. I've turned so many friends onto the show, and I've made so many friends from the show. Tom, Jon, Mike and all of you FOTs that I've met over the years have all been insanely nice and supportive and great and I want to thank all of you for everything. If it weren't for the Best Show, I would have been a much different person than I am today. Tom rules.
P.S. Someday I will get the Sajak creedo tattooed on my neck.
-
To top it off, last night I got to meet Tom and while I was nervous as all hell, he was really nice and very funny and it was a really awesome experience. And that just speaks volumes about the guy and this show.
Where did you meet him, and did you ask him about the show's future?
I'm embarrassed to say I never heard of TBS or Tom until someone sent me a clip of the now classic riff he and PFT did on the Insane Clown Posse. This was in July of 09. I thought it was hilarious and did some Wiki-ing of Tom and found out about his fake calls with Wurster. Being a longtime Phil Hendrie fan, I dove right in and fell in love with the Newbridge-verse and TBS.
I've now bought every S&W album and listen every Tuesday.
-
I'd been listening to a couple of other shows on the station for a year or so, but I wasn't aware of TBSOW. On April 19, 2005 I tuned into WFMU just to see what was playing. Tom had Bishop Pablo Fontana on the show. I was completely captivated by the whole exchange. It was only during the following week's show that I discovered the FOT site and the old board and realized I had been fooled.
I probably would've found out about the show from someone or other eventually, but I was extremely lucky to have stumbled upon it by chance like that, especially during such a fascinating call. What a proper and awesome way to get introduced to the show.
So funny and great and rewarding. Best Show for Life!
-
I was a relative latecomer to the Best Show having first discovered it about four years ago. There have been a handful of times in my life when I have said to myself: "This is what I've been waiting for" and the first time I heard The Best Show was one of them (The others are the first time I met my wife, the first time I met my dog, and the first time I saw Get a Life).
Over the last four years The Best Show has made me laugh, introduced me to new things and wonderful people and basically been a force of good in my life. I would like to thank Tom, Jon, Jillian Barbarie, All of the AP's and everyone who has been associated with the Best Show, my life is better thanks to you.
-
This show has brought me more enjoyment over the last 4 years than any other piece of entertainment in any format. Thanks Tom and Jon (and all the amazing FOT)!
-
I've been tuning in for about two years now, and i'll tune in for as many more years as Tom wants to go for. But a hearty congratulations to Tom, Jon, Mike and everyone else for 10 years of the single greatest radio show to ever hit the airwaves!
-
I love you, daddy.
-
I started listening to the Best Show about three years ago. I never would have thought I could like a radio show as much as this but it's now one of my favorite things in the world. Congratulations to Tom and Jon on ten great years!
-
Can i ask Everybody here to please call in with your fave funny stories or just warm regards for Tom on his 10th Anniversary show tomorrow please? Thank you so much!
-
But did he not tweet that Mike and Therese will be filling in?
-
Hi Sarah,
Yes, Mike and I will be filling in- but in honor of the 10th anniversary we would love for as many people to call in with favorite Best Show moments. Hope to hear from as many of you as possible!
Thanks!
Therese
-
Ah. It was the "his" that confused me (I am tired and thus in literal mode). Now I understand.
-
Nine years, thanks for the good times Tom.
-
I've been listening to the Best Show for a while, but this is my first post on the boards. I can't say enough about The Best Show, to anyone who will listen. Congratulations to Tom and Jon and anyone even remotely involved with the greatest show ever to be broadcast anywhere. And now, because I know how much Tom loves it, I will cut myself off in the middle of typing "have a good n
-
I only discovered The Best Show in mid-2009, but now, as cliched as it sounds, I can't imagine life without it. Nothing makes me laugh harder, but more amazing to me is the degree of emotional attachment I feel to the show and everyone involved. As others have said, the show has seen me through a fairly rough year, and Tom truly makes me feel that I, too, can DO IT. No one is there for the underdog like Tom and Jon. Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed to this universe.
-
I have only been listening for about 2 years, but the show and FOTDOM have become and important part of my life.
I am graduating from college in a few months, and had a moment of panic at the beginning of this semester when I realized that I had a lot of stuff to get together. I am not exaggerating when I credit Tom's calls to "DO IT" with my securing a job just a few hours ago. It's with a company that has a soul and is the exact place that I want to be.
Tom is the Queen.
-
I have only been listening for about 2 years, but the show and FOTDOM have become and important part of my life.
I am graduating from college in a few months, and had a moment of panic at the beginning of this semester when I realized that I had a lot of stuff to get together. I am not exaggerating when I credit Tom's calls to "DO IT" with my securing a job just a few hours ago. It's with a company that has a soul and is the exact place that I want to be.
Tom is the Queen.
Good Show Lothar. And God Save The Queen.
Do you get to keep your beard?
-
Thank you, Tom and Jon.
-
Shout-outs to Jon Benjamin, Matt Walsh, Andrew Earles, and anyone else I forget for contributing hilarious characters and classic skits 'n' bits in the early years as well.
-
You guys are great! Life would have completely sucked if I couldn't look forward to Tuesday nights.
-
I think I was introduced to The Best Show via a one of Jesse Thorn's podcasts a couple of years ago, and it's been full-FOT ahead since then.
Tom and Jon and Mike and Co. via the podcasts and the archives have gotten me through many days in the two-fisted, white-knuckled world of book keeping with my sanity mostly intact.
I listen to a lot of podcasts and radio from around the world, and I can proclaim with absolute confidence there ain't NOTHING else like The Best Show.
LONG MAY IT STEAMROLL!!!
-
I came shamefully late to this party, because I've been listening to WFMU since college, and yet somehow never heard The Best Show. I have no idea how this was even possible. The first episode I ever heard was when Patton Oswalt was in studio 2007. It was definitely one of those "where has this been all my life?" moment, the same feeling I got when I saw Kids in the Hall and Mr. Show and MST3K for the first time, where something just pushes every single one of your buttons all at once.
-
Happy Anniversary, Best Show. Ten years and we still want more. xoxo
-
Thank you Tom & Co. for giving me something to look forward to every week. I've been listening to TBSOWFMU for a few years now and I hope to be listening to it for many more years to come.
To all the talented people who are responsible for The Best Show, I say keep up the outstanding work!
Happy 10th Anniversary!
-
I've only been listening since early 2009, but I can't imagine life without The Best Show. My brother Brian's roommate (Dan from Hoboken, quality caller) kept recommending it to me, and one day I finally checked it out. This is the only time Dan's been right about anything in his life, but when you're right you're right. The Best Show has introduced me to so many great things: I wouldn't love Ted Leo, Paul F. Tompkins, or Death Wish 3 if it wasn't for Tom and Co. The Best Show is something I am crazy in love with: I always thought Beyonce was laying it on a little thick in that song, but now I understand how she feels.
Here's to many more successful years (on and off the WFMU airwaves), Tom and friends.
-
The Best Show is, hands-down, my favorite comedy thing ever. It's absurd how much amazingly funny material Scharpling & Wurster have put out for 10+ years. Just so much incredible material, from the calls, the comedy world-building and character-building, the long term jokes, the interactions with the callers and the often most underrated but most satisfying part of the listening experience: Tom just going out there for three hours and being hilarious on whatever subject he's thinking about.
Some of my favorite moments from the show are the topics and the digressions Tom takes that touch on those "I can't believe somebody else knows about/notices/likes/gets driven crazy by that!" moments and details, the parts of the Best Show that couldn't or wouldn't exist if it was in any other format.
I got to briefly experience some of the magic up close this year during the premium DVD location filming, and I can happily report that the two of them are that funny and that quick in the moment. More than that, while there are many talented people who have done work I've loved over the years yet would dread meeting, they were just great people who couldn't have been nicer to us that day.
-
I started listening back in '03 after Evan Dorkin mentioned Tom's Howard Dean/Cronos mash-up on his blog. When I first heard the show, I wondered why the host would tolerate a guest openly threatening his life, but then I went to friendsoftom.com and all was revealed. I listened off and on for the next few years, but when I went to college in '05, that's when I became a dedicated FOT, listening every week, scouring the internets for classic S & W bits (I couldn't stand the old RealPlayer archives), donating during the marathons, etc.
I'm a huge fan of podcasts now, but it was Tom who trained my ear to "visualize" pure audio. What I mean by that is I, like most everyone in the US born after 1970, never really developed an appreciation for the "theater of the mind" school of broadcasting, growing up as I did awash in mainly visual media - television, comic books, the internet etc. - so, aside from a few rare exceptions like the Stan Freberg box set I got one Xmas, I never grasped the amazing possibilities of what can be done with a wholly aural medium.
But Tom & Jon's bits have, over the course of ten years, woven an entire fictional town in my mind from the ground up. And more than a few S & W routines have precisely the thing Freberg bemoaned was disappearing from radio in the late 60s' - images, created with the raw spoken word, that would take significantly more money to do in a visual medium (i.e. The GG Allin Skyscraper, Hippy Johnny's Mellow Grove Commune, The Toolbelt Killer, etc.). And because I've received this training from listening to the Best Show, it makes podcasting (the theater of the unfiltered mind) that much more enjoyable to me, especially shows that try to create their own "theater of the mind" atmosphere, like Comedy Death-Ray Radio and SuperEgo.
So thank you, Tom. Podcasting is medium with nigh-limitless potential, and you helped me realize the potential it had before the medium even existed. I'll keep listening as long as you keep broadcasting (and the fill-in hosts too).
-
Thanks, Tom. Thanks, Jon. Thanks, AP Mike. Thanks, Jillian Barberie. Thanks, callers.
(http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/images/scharpling-tompkins-ted-leo-video.jpg)
-
Thanks to Tom, Jon and Mike for putting on such a great, enduring show. I listen to about 20 hours of The Best Show a week while I work, going back in time through the archives. I'm amazed at how consistent it is, and how I never know what to expect. It's such a singular comedy experience. There ain't nothing like it.
-
I'm following the #BestShow10 hashtag on twitter. It's really quite heartwarming reading all the shoutouts to the show, all the favorite moments, characters, quotes, etc. From so many people. What an amazing universe Tom and Jon have created, what a fantastic community of people it has spawned. What a show.
-
I first stumbled upon The Best Show in 2004 and nothing has been the same since. Thank you Tom, Jon, and every guest and caller that has made the Best Show, the best show. Cheers!
-
I first started listening in 2005 when TL posted on his site that he had called in. After first listening, I thought the show was really strange but all I know is I wanted to listen more. Much, much more. Thanks Tom and everyone else!
-
I started listening to the best show three years ago, around the same time as Scratchbomb tuned in.
I have the show to thank for some of the best laughs I've had in years. It was a catalyst for me volunteering every so often for WFMU, which I wish I could do more often. I've met some of the nicest people, and have made some awesome friends because of the community built around the show. It is even indirectly responsible for me learning to knit (sounds like a stretch but I got witnesses), and because it was on right before Evan's show, turned me into an EFD believer.
The world is a better place for me with the Best Show in it. Tom, thank you so much.
-
Congrats Tom and Jon!
It's been around 3 years that I've been listening and considering how much of the archives I've listened to I can't even begin to imagine how much TBS show has brightened my mood and days during that time. I've been bringing it to work where I've hooked others, me and my brother talk about it often and I've gotten friends to listen as well. Basically everyone cool in my life is now as big of a Best Show fan as I am.
Here's hoping we can get another 10 great years because things have only been getting better as time has went on. ;D
-
A finer radio program has never been. Thanks to you, Best Show, I've enjoyed every Tuesday far beyond the expected quotient. I wish you a happy 10 and give you 10 more to grow on!
-
The Best Show is, quite simply, the best. I've expressed my adoration for the show many times, on these boards and elsewhere, but I'll always remember how the show, and mp3s of S&W bits, and the FOT boards kept me sane in 2007 and 2008, when I was doing a lot of traveling. I remember sleeping in a creepy airport hotel outside of PDX airport, not really knowing where I was, but having a particularly great episode with Ted Leo guesting. It kept me from losing my mind.
-
As promised in the chat, here's a link with a buncha clips I sent in for the 10 year extravagahnza. I tried to include something from every year, although I don't have anything from 2000 or 2010, and I tried to stay away from bits that from the CDs or Best Show Gems. Also, I chopped down a few of these, thinking they'd need to be in manageable chunks for rebroadcast, so a couple are not at super full length. But hey, here they is:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ojz4em (http://www.sendspace.com/file/ojz4em)
And since Wes requested "Blueberries for breakfast", here's that gem:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dams47 (http://www.sendspace.com/file/dams47)
-
What one man can do, another can do. It has been a hilariously inspiring 4 years listening to the Show for me. and I wish Tom & Jon would consider blessing the next ten years of airwaves with something as awesome as The Best Show. Like say... The Best Show. Namaste
-
Here's clips that David from DC compiled:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/kmixjv (http://www.sendspace.com/file/kmixjv)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RYIV6A44 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RYIV6A44)
Second link is awards show stuff. have at it!
-
Tonight was fun. I've recently moved to a place I am still uncomfortable in, and I found a bit of community and home again by listening to all the lovely recollections and sharing of memories.
And I really needed some Philly Boy Roy!
-
Here are the clips I sent for use on the show:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/92lq8n (http://www.sendspace.com/file/92lq8n)
-
I discovered the Best Show three hours ago and hated it immediately
This is my favorite radio program of all time. Knew about the Scharpling & Wurster CDs for ages but caught on to the show proper four years ago, voraciously devoured the archives and am anxiously awaiting more. I really don't have much else to say other than that, but I'm just glad the show's there, you know?
-
It was Kid Ebay that brought me into the fold ("You don't like the diamond?"). Now I'm hooked. But Tom, you do what you've got to do buddy.
-
I've been a fan of Ted Leo forever; somehow the on air cover of Rock and Roll Dreams'll Come Through ended up on my computer. For a few months I thought the song was real, one day I decided I wanted to hear the original. I googled Barry Dworkin, found friendsoftom.com, started listening, and have been hooked since.
Not only is The Best Show one of my favorite things, but it has introduced me to all sorts of great music and comedy I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise.
Kudos, and kudos again.
-
Got into the show after buying all the pre-Hippy Justice CDs based on Mark Prindle's reviews. I worked my way through the archives and have been on board since. This whole time, I've been afraid to call in!
I love The Best Show so much, I couldn't possibly name a favorite moment. This cracks me up every time I hear it, though:
Barry Dworkin: "It could be the cool dog that just hangs out at the gas station, or it could be the dog that'll rip your nuts off."
Caller: "That's the dog I thought it was."
Salut to Tom, Jon, Mike, Terre T., and everyone.
-
I've been a fan of Ted Leo forever; somehow the on air cover of Rock and Roll Dreams'll Come Through ended up on my computer. For a few months I thought the song was real, one day I decided I wanted to hear the original. I googled Barry Dworkin, found friendsoftom.com, started listening, and have been hooked since.
This is almost exactly how I stumbled upon the Best Show except I downloaded the mp3 from Fluxblog. I had to know why Barry Dworkin and the Gas Station Dogs were America's Beatles.
Thank you for all the laughs Tom, Jon, and the rest! And congratulations on ten years!
-
I've been listening for five years probably. The Best Show is the best thing going and I feel privileged to be alive during it's run. Like Sid Caeser's show of shows, it will be talked about for decades to come! Also, on a personal level, it's meant a lot to me and helped me through some hard times. I know Tom likes to talk about the Paul Stanley cliche of helping out the little guy, but it's true, things like Kiss and the Best Show really help a lot.
-Ajax
-
Everyone has put it so well, but I wanted to add something - I listen to episodes at work all the time, and I will push "stop" on my ipod with a theatrical sigh if I have to go to a meeting or something.
Has anyone noticed or find it funny that even Paul F Tompkins and Ted Leo have this issue too? They both talk about doing whatever they can to listen live and squeezing in as much as they can before they have to go out on stage to do their shows.
-
Hi everyone!
Thanks again to everyone who submitted clips and called in last night. (You're all called out by name on the show's playlist page) Mike and I went into the show with the intention that it be a Best Show love fest and you all did not disappoint. Have I mentioned that the Friends of Tom are top notch? It bears repeating!
Therese
-
I got into the show through an AV club interview. After seeing so many quotes from people whom I respect, I impulsively bought all three CDs available at the time. Never regretted that for a single moment, the best impulse buy I made since I first heard "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone" and bought Ted Leo's first two CDs.
But I didn't listen to the show in forever. I remember glancing at the archives right in the middle of the whole Sirius thing, and I thought that was actually happening, which seemed odd. But again, I didn't listen. Don't remember when I decided to start listening, but as it dawned on me that the CDs were just a TINY, TINY portion of what Tom has done in 10 years, I was just amazed.
Since, I've listened to the archives a few times over, and while I've only listened live a few times, getting the new Best Show archive is usually the highlight of my week.
I'm going to say it, what one man can do, another CAN'T do. Tom, you are one of a kind. When the show disappears, I don't really expect to find anything quite like it ever again.
-
...And I really needed some Philly Boy Roy!
PBR's call last nite reminded me that the show where he described the "Running of the Cheesesteaks" was one of the first full-length shows I listened to (July 11, 2006 in the archive). And I remember being astounded at how hilarious that call was.
That led me to search the archives for Philly Boy Roy calls ... I put several PBR calls on a cassette tape which I played on road trips (... or CASSette tape, as Barry Dworkin might pronounce it).
I admit that in the early days of my listening, I tended to fast-forward shows to JW calls. But as I got deeper into the show, I grew to appreciate the rhythm of the show as a whole ... the ever-expanding Best Show universe. And I've found it's been a pleasure to discover all the folks who call into the show, both real and semi-real (I'm still not sure where Spike falls in that spectrum).
P.S. It took me several shows before I figured out that Newbridge, the town, is not to be found on any maps of New Jersey. What's the matter with those NJ map-makers?
-
I just want to say the phrase "I googled Barry Dworkin" might be one of my favorite things ever.
The FOT truly are awesome folks. Because I live in Ohio I don't get to interact with too many FOTs in person, but when I made the trip to attend the last gathering, I was astounded how nice everyone was.
-
When they played "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" at the end, I was imagining a Magnolia-type scene where we see all of the different Newbridge characters interrupting their usual depraved behavior (crippler hits, hoagie shellacking, fudge eating, etc.) to start singing along.
-
I imagined the FOTs singing it to Tom... there's been a few nights where The Best Show saved me in one way or another. (Nothing that heavy, but it will definitely cure a bad day!)
-
I would have liked to have heard this one (http://friendsoftom.com/themecontest/GoodGuysWin%28BadGuysDie%29%28ThemeToTheBestShowOnWFMUWITHTomScharpling%29.mp3) again, too. I've always found it very rousing.
-
To top it off, last night I got to meet Tom and while I was nervous as all hell, he was really nice and very funny and it was a really awesome experience. And that just speaks volumes about the guy and this show.
Where did you meet him, and did you ask him about the show's future?
Sorry for the long delay! I met Tom at the Paul F Tompkins show in Boston last weekend. He did a little intro thing behind the curtain with Paul that was hilarious. I stayed after the show to meet Paul, get a CD and chatted with him for a while (also a true stand up guy...pun intended) and as I walked out of the theater down the stairs I turned a corner and suddenly there was Tom and I kind of made a food of myself by stopping in my tracks, eyes wide and going "OH...WHOA!" to which Tom replied, "Oh, I'm sorry." It was a great interaction, and I am glad I got to meet him.
As for the show, I didn't want to pry, but somebody else asked and he said a few more weeks probably.
-
I'd also like to add, I wish I could have called in last night to say something but alas I got home around 11:50. I think one of the best things the Best Show has recently done for me is the "Do It Philosophy." This year I have decided to not think too much about stuff and just do it, like Rollins and Tom say. I'm a pretty nervous and shy guy, and worry too much about all the things that COULD go wrong if I do something. Do It has led me to taking risks I may have been too nervous to take and i always feel immensely satisfied when i just say "don't think about it, do it." to myself and go for it.
I hope that didn't sound too corny.
-
I've been listening for about 3 years now and probably have about another six months under my belt in the archives. I don't post here much, I occasionally join the chat but I do lurk quite a bit. I have never met any other official FOT'S but I can honestly that some of you are my favorite people in the world.
To have so many great people converge around one thing, I think is a testament to how special The Best Show is.
This show means so much to me and reading though everyone's posts here today I started to well up a little because TBS means so much to so many other people as well. Its just so awesome
So thanks to everyone here on the boards, Tom, Jon, AP Mike, and everyone who's ever contributed to the show in any way no matter how small.
-
I've noticed a lot of people saying they got on board about the mid-2000s. Same here. So I wanna thank Matthew Fluxblog for posting Timmy von Trimble and the Music Scholar (I think it was those two) in the midst of those depressing Bush days, because it was something totally new and hit all the right notes and really lifted my mood. From there, it was a few keystrokes away to Prindle's site and, especially, Omar and the Recidivism recaps. That all made me realize just what an astounding thing this already was.
So then I listened every week and delved into the archives and ordered the CDs & a t-shirt and e-mailed a bit with Jon and interviewed Tom a couple times and he was awesome and he helped me out with a favor once I got to shake his hand after a Ted Leo show last year.
And I've found myself wishing on so many occasions that there was an easy sorta Vulcan mind meld that could initiate my uninitiated friends into this whole vast and deep and amazingly experiential thing that's been going on for so long, and has become such an integral part of my week.
But there's not, really. I can preach and proselytize (which I do!) but I just have to hope they take my word for it, and plunge into this rabbit hole on their own.
-
I want to thank Jesse Thorn for turning me onto The Best Show, when he played "Kid EBay" on an installment of The Sound of Young America-- but I really fell in love with Tom after he got a kidney stone live on the air.
And after falling in love with Tom, I fell in love with all the regular callers (yes, even Spike) and the rest of the FOT. It's the only reason why I'm on Twitter-- you guys are freaking hilarious and so sweet to each other.
-
I got into the Best Show through that Sound of Young America interview too! Though when working through the archives, I remembered I had first heard a clip of the show as an extra on one of the Home Movies dvds. Tom interviewed Loren Bouchard and Jon Benjamin (speaking entirely through a talk box to protect his valuable vocal chords) and it seemed insane when out of context of what the show is. Little did I know how much Best Show awesomeness awaited me.
It's been great to hear/read the collective Best Show love letter over the past week from all the FOTs.
-
I didn't start listening to the Best Show until mid-2009, when a high school acquaintance of mine continually tweeted about it. He's a cool guy, I respect his taste, and I thought OK, I'll download an episode and see. The first episode I heard was the one where Tom was making fun of Brad Benson, the ex-Giant car dealer, for about an hour. I was HOOKED. I've listened to every episode since and have been delving through the archives when I can.
The Best Show is truly the best.
-
I've posted this in a few places, but just in case you missed it: a tribute to Ten Years of the The Best Show.
http://scratchbomb.com/2010/10/the-best-you-can-do-is-be-worse-than-the-best-show.html (http://scratchbomb.com/2010/10/the-best-you-can-do-is-be-worse-than-the-best-show.html)
-
My internet's been down, so I'm late to the party, but just wanted to chime in. I've been listening to the show for about six years - I found WFMU when I was in the seventh grade, and I'm almost 20 now. TBS has been an enormously important part of my life for a really long time; I can think of few things that have been so good to and for me as it's been. I've learned so much about music, comedy and GG Allin from Tom, Jon and co., and I've made so many amazing friendships through the boards and the FOT community-at-large. The Best Show has introduced me to some of the best things and people I know, and I feel incredibly lucky to have had it (and you guys) in my life for so long.
Also, without the show how would I know about
(http://www.guitarz-for-ever.com/images/BumbleF2.jpg)
or
(http://waxturds.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/zardoz.jpg)
?
-
I'm almost 20 now.
How dare you!
-
Hahahaha
-
This was my contribution to BestShow10 hash tag on Twitter. Jillian Barberie asked that I share it will all of you.
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/177382577.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1287171630&Signature=7EsegRi%2Bef347M5gfFXpOcF2D9I%3D)
And yes, it's still on Wikipedia. For now: http://bit.ly/bN28N8 (http://bit.ly/bN28N8)
-
I'm almost 20 now.
How dare you!
I don't like it any more than you do.
-
I'm almost 20 now.
How dare you!
I don't like it any more than you do.
Pretty sure that is a double how dare you. Dont fret in what will feel like tomorrow you will be looking down the barrel of 30.
-
I'm almost 20 now.
How dare you!
I don't like it any more than you do.
Pretty sure that is a double how dare you. Dont fret in what will feel like tomorrow you will be looking down the barrel of 30.
(http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Logans-Run.jpg)
-
This was my contribution to BestShow10 hash tag on Twitter. Jillian Barberie asked that I share it will all of you.
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/177382577.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1287171630&Signature=7EsegRi%2Bef347M5gfFXpOcF2D9I%3D)
And yes, it's still on Wikipedia. For now: http://bit.ly/bN28N8 (http://bit.ly/bN28N8)
Love it!
-
This is my first post, but I had to chime in to add to the wonderful things said about The Best Show on WFMU, Tom and FOT.
I discovered Best Show via Jesse Thorn's Sound of Young America back in 2005 and decided to download a few episodes for a road trip my wife and I were taking from our home in Louisiana to Colorado. We would listen to music when she was awake and when she took naps I turned on Best Show. I was hooked from that point on.
The moment we got back home I started listening to the archive from the beginning. I drive for a few hours twice a month to pick up my son (he's almost 16 now) and whenever I played an episode we would share in the laughter. To this day he'll slip a "Wait—whaaaaaaat?" into our conversation. Good times.
I make it a point to welcome Tom & Friends into my life every week and I'm grateful for the commitment and the hard work he, John, Mike and others put into the show. That's all I have to say about that.
-
I did a zine in the '80s and volunteered at WFMU now and then, and first met Tom (as well as such cohorts as Terre T) through those pursuits. However, I never had a chance to tune into TBS until the podcast began. The first couple of episodes were confusing - why is he picking a fight with Poster Children? who is this "Spike?" - but I stuck with it, and it quickly became the only can't-miss podcast I've ever downloaded. I'll delete weeks of This American Life podcasts unheard, but will keep every Best Show podcast until I've listened in full.
Happy 10th anniversary, Tom. Thanks for all the years of great listening. I've never called in, but I'm a huge fan. Here's hoping there's more to come; if not, I'm not along in waiting to see what terrific thing comes next.
-
I don't really come around these parts (as I'm sure you'll notice that I've made about 20 posts in 3 years), but I decided to chime in on this thread.
In March of 2006, I went over a friend's house. He was listening to the Best Show on the actual radio (I grew up in the 90.1 area), specifically the episode where he was talking about Abercrombie and Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries. I walked in, just as the deconstruction of the article started, and knew I was in love with the show when he said "You're lookin totally A&F today dude!" and was talking about people wearing flip-flops and the sound they make. I made my friend not only listen to more of the show, but when we went out to get a slice of pizza, I made him put it on in the car. And that's about when Wurster called as Trent L. Strauss. We got to the pizza place and sat in the car for 20 minutes laughing the entire time until he hung up. I honestly did not know if it was real or not, but it was damn funny. I think once he started threatening Tom, I figured it wasn't real, but nonetheless they had me fooled for a good 45 minutes. So I started going through the archives. I've only gone about a year back from that point in total (the oldest one I heard was Tom's "return" to the air from the "move" to Sirius) but pretty much everything I've ever heard from that point onward is incredible.
I've called a few times. Nothing memorable (except for MAYBE the episode where Tom had people putting together their slap lists - I was the guy that wanted to slap Fox for canceling Arrested Development - Tom rejected my list and made me slap myself). Unfortunately, I don't really have time to listen live anymore, nor do I have time to contribute (besides marathon time, of course). But the Best Show, for me personally, is something I don't need to be active in to enjoy. Hearing Tom's ridiculous reactions to everything give me some of the my biggest laughs.
And here are some of my absolute favorite Best show moments:
- My absolute favorite calls are Trent L. Strauss, Philly Boy Roy (Crawlspaces and Cheesesteaks), Zachery Brimstead (Supernova, Laser Beans, The Fudge Tub, and Racism), The guy who was on To Catch a Predator, Jimmy Crespo, Darren from Work (Aquasitions with Patton Oswalt), Gene Simmions (Newbridge Mayubinatorial Race, Poncake), Pretty much every Marky Ramone call, and every Bryce call ever. Seriously I want a return of Bryce.
- On the 1/24/2006 show, someone called in trying to get Tom to answer a riddle about 3 mice in a mousehole. Tom guesses the riddle immediately, and the other guy demands that he doesn't. Tom gets mad, and the whole thing ends with one of the best rope-a-dope GOMPs ever.
- Not sure on the exact show, but someone calls up asking Tom if he'll go to a Grouse hunt, where the DJ will be spinning House and Techno. The guy curses on the air, and Tom dumps him, and starts going off on the guy, and starts doing an impression of a house record. I die laughing every time he says the word "Touque".
- Tom making fun of James. There's a whole bit about someone giving him a tube of Wig Glue that cracks me up every time.
- And of course, the obligatory Cowboy Star, Gathering of the Juggalos, Tom Jameses James, Hest Rope-A-Dope, The World is in the Turlet, etc.
-
I was going to stay out of this thread because I'm a newbie who has only been listenimng since about April of this year and haven't had a chance to really delve into the archoives beyond Best Show Gems. So on one hand I feel like I don't have much to contribute, but on the other hand I have become apretty big fan so I feel like I should say something to show my appreciation.
Until he went to Sirius I was a big fan of Howard Stern. Most people when they think of Stern think of the "toilet talk" but for me it was always more about the people involved in the show. Maybe one episode would have a ton of guests and shenanigans and what not, but then the next episode would just be 4 hours of making fun of Jackie the Jokeman and those tended to be my favorite shows. After Howard went to Sirius I never did find a radio replacement for this strange vibe i enjoyed so much until I discovered the best Show. Yes, it's great when Paul F Tompkins or some other great comedian calls in and it's great when Wurster calls in with one of his bits, but more than that I love it when Tom talks about the Census workers clogging up Panera Bread or when he just chats with Milo (you almost never hear broadcasters talking to kids like they're human beings. They're usually condescending or just trying to be adorable, but with Tom it's like listening to a kid talking to his cool uncle) or Julie from Cincinnatti or Laurie from Miami or Fredricks or Dave from Knoxville (and I still wanna hear Dave's son do his GREASE duet with Tom. I haven't forgotten) or even Spike. They're all just such oddballs in the best sense of the word and they are the spices that make the Best Show soup great.
Favorite bits- Zach Galifinakis and Tom discussing Dungeons & Dragons with Milo. Wurster as the record producer listing all of his "(blank) Sucks" songs in what ended up being a list that took almost 15 minutes to read. The 2 "Bruce Willis" calls (I was especially amused when "Bruce" threatened to cut poor Petey's throat. Taking calls during the Wurster calls is always funny when I hear it on Gems, but I think I can see why they stopped doing it. I can see how it would turn out badly.)
Best Show joke I have adapted in real life- Referring to Hollywood as Weirdowood. Why this tickles me so much I do not know, but it truly does.
-
I miss Tom. But worse than that, I miss Tom sounding happy.
-
I miss Tom. But worse than that, I miss Tom sounding happy.
What a beautiful, perfect thing this is to merely THINK, much less write.
Couldn't agree more.
-
How far back in the archives do I have to go to hear "Rot Rock n roll". ???
am I hearing it right?
-
How far back in the archives do I have to go to hear "Rot Rock n roll". ???
am I hearing it right?
Rock Rot & Rule is not available in the archives. But you can buy it from iTunes or from Stereolaffs here:
http://stereolaffs.com/rockrot.php (http://stereolaffs.com/rockrot.php)
-
Emusic has it as well. http://www.emusic.com/features/spotlight/289_200703.html (http://www.emusic.com/features/spotlight/289_200703.html)
-
Best Show joke I have adapted in real life- Referring to Hollywood as Weirdowood. Why this tickles me so much I do not know, but it truly does.
I live in LA and I've begun using Weirdowood as well. From what I understand, Zachary Brimstead is the first TBS/Newbridge caller to use it.
I also use "Lipstick City" now. I'm having trouble tracing the Wurster origins of that one, though.
-
The Best Show: 10 Years Cool.
-
I first heard "Rock Rot & Rule" shortly after it aired. It was the longest Mp3 I had every downloaded at the time. I remember friends wanting to hear it, but not having enough bandwidth to share it, since most people were still on modems then.
And as far as the Best Show, I heard about it in 2003 since a friend introduced to me to S&W volumes 1 & 2. The Music Scholar and Timmy Von Trimble were the two pieces that had me hooked. I had purchased every S&W CD set available since.
However, I didn't start listening to the Best Show proper until after I joined Twitter in late 2009. By happenstance, I befriended people who all religiously listened to the show, or were related to WFMU. Before, I thought the S&W CDs chronicled a good chunk of the skits, and just assumed that Tom and Jon wouldn't have time to write skits like this almost *every show*. I mean, who would have time for that?
Needless to say I was very, very wrong. First show I heard was the Final Show Of The Decade, featuring a Chef as an in-studio guest, which was Jon. Tom and Jon were just as funny as any of the CDs, I thought "oo boy, I missed almost NINE YEARS OF THIS?", and never missed a show since.
Finally finished the episode this afternoon. Very nice call, Mackro. I almost shed a tear just listening to you.