When - How - Why (did you start listening to the Best Show)

[Dorvid Barnas]

Great thread, P.O.B!

I found the show through the internets, like this:

Mr.Show ---> bobanddavid.com ---> pattonoswalt.com ---> aspecialthing.com ---> AST chat --->

I met Tom in that chat - he was using his real name so I assumed he was a big shot, like Jack Szwergold. He was!
If I recall, I was depressed and drunk and posted angrily about Sarah Silverman, so I'm sure I gave a bad first impression.  I assume he doesn't remember any of that, though it was around that time he abandoned the AST chat.  I blame Jack Szwergold.

The bit that got me addicted wasn't a Wurster call - it was Tom contemplating the death of CBGB.  Over the course of that half-hour rant, I came to realize that Tom was the greatest radio personality of all time. I ordered all of the discs, started plowing through the archives, and am now a near-completist. 

I'd never heard of WFMU before the Best Show, though now I'm obviously indebted to them. (Literally - I haven't paid my marathon pledge yet but I will. I swear. I have to make like Zach G. and wait 'til I get my money right.)

[cron]

I read an extremely positive review online somewhere of Chain Fights, Beer Busts,...  I'm not sure where, listened to sound clips as well.  Shortly thereafter I googled the show and delved into the archives.

[dicebourbon]

Through fluxblog. I heard "Timmy Von Trimble" and "Judge Davies", then late last year I finally realized it was a whole three-hour show that had a podcast. And now I'm hopelessly addicted.

[Tim K in DC]

My cousin Henry, who had unsuccessfully tried to turn me on to the Jonesy and X-Ray show or whatever it's called (I tried and I tried but I just don't get it), managed to convince me to check it out a couple of years ago. I was a fan of the Cherry Blossom Clinic for a few years prior to that, but never had made the connection.

[John Junk]

Tom Scharpling is sort of like the antithesis of Glenn Jones.

[Sarah]

I like both, although sometimes the music on Sunday afternoons is a little dreary.

[Miss]

A comedian I am a fan of generously sent me the CD's as a gift a couple of years ago, when I was really sick and depressed about life in general. I started listening and I haven't stopped since. I finally got to the podcast about a year ago exactly, and nothing cheers me up like it does. I know I always sound like a pile of sadness, but I really do spend a lot of time at home. I am extremely sensitive to the Sun and to fluorescent lights, so it's hard for me to go anywhere without feeling sick to my stomach. After awhile, staying at home that much starts to really get to you. Nothing seems too important, because since you can't do anything most of the time, you don't seem too important.

The Best Show always helps me to just get the f over it. Laughing makes the constant pain and anxiety worth it.

[paul]

moved to new brunswick summer of '02 to go to rutgers. found out that i could get wfmu on my boombox, which was great cause i'd been addicted to Greasy Kid Stuff for a year or 2 and now i could listen to it without the internet (which was great cause i didnt have the internet at the time). so i listened to WFMU a lot, and pretty much immediately after that i became addicted to both AD&D With Donna Summer and TBSOWFMU.... and i think both shows contributed greatly into turning me into the messed up freak i am now!

[John Junk]

I like both, although sometimes the music on Sunday afternoons is a little dreary.

I like Glenn Jones and X-Ray to a point.  I guess what I mean is that they do sorta similar things, but tom and jon's stuff is almost like a meta-comment on the kind of stuff Glenn and X-Ray do.   ....maybe?

[Emily]

JONE-z's cool.

I used to love Aerial View and actually I remember getting hooked on that show as a teenager.  Eventually Aerial View lost its appeal for me.  A little too much bitter punk-rocker for my tastes I guess.  I haven't heard what Chris T is doing on the web-only content.  Is it good?  is he still doing it?

i didnt follow it to the web. it was just the perfect friday show to catch after work.

I was a big fan of Lady Talk also.  They usually gave pretty good advice.  They would get a lot of sad hippies calling that show.  I thought Kelly Jones was pretty damn funny.  I kinda stopped listening after awhile, but my suspicion was that that show fell victim to a post-boobgate windfall.  Am I right?

i dont know what a post-boobgate windfall is, ... but i also enjoyed the show & think kelly jones is a very funny lady.

[John Junk]

Post-boobgate refers to that period of time immediately following Janet Jackson's nipple being exposed during the Super Bowl when the FCC had a hairy canary and clamped down on anything remotely approaching toilet talk by using crazy-ass fines that would effectively ruin WFMU if any of them were incurred by the station, thus necessitating a less-than-zero-tolerance policy that Tom has been quite good at maintaining, but that maybe Lady Talk wasn't so good at (just a theory!!).

I'll never forget Jonesy's record-breaking broadcast.  I can't believe some FWD took the title from him.

[Sarah]

I guess what I mean is that they do sorta similar things, but tom and jon's stuff is almost like a meta-comment on the kind of stuff Glenn and X-Ray do.   ....maybe?

I rarely bother to think that hard about anything that entertains me; I'm just pathetically grateful for it.

[John Junk]

My older brother got me in the habit of trying to constantly deconstruct fun stuff by dissecting Guns 'n' Roses, Public Enemy, De La Soul, and The Cure lyrics for my "benefit".

[Sarah]

Oh, you poor baby.  I'm lucky enough always to have been able to bully my older sisters.

[MC Steinberg]

I had listened to WFMU for a while where I was TV-less and looking for entertainment in other media. I got hooked via Greasy Kids Stuff, and heard Best Show resulting in confusion. Then I looked into S&W and fell in love, especially when I saw an interview with them in The Onion.

In all seriousness, that Onion article changed the course of my life completely. Good guys win.