The Best/Worst Moments of last night's show

[Epic Soundtracks]

I like Tom in his saturnine mode as much as when he's upbeat--fits with my general sense of self and my worldview!

[Lappo]

About Scharpling being down on the show - I think most of that is an act. It's what he does: proclaiming the show's greatness while simultaneously hinting at the thousands of people actively trying to destroy him/the show.
And he has ALWAYS downplayed the popularity of TBS when it suits his purposes. I remember when he first started podcasting the show back in 2007(?) he'd come on every week and say that they had lost a bunch of subscribers, that there were only 3 left, that no one cared. Every week he would threaten to pull the podcast. While (as we all know) the podcast was going from strength to strength. Tom talking about how no one likes TBS is a shrewd way (a la Bugs Bunny) of gearing up the fan base. It also gives him something to fight against.

Because I think Tom is most comfortable being an underdog. That has become harder for him as the show has increased in popularity. There are no more people calling and giving him shit, or going off on their own topic.  The callers of late seem like they are very nice people, but they are also obsequious and dull. And worse, they are dull in the SAME EXACT WAY. Tom has talked about "dudes" and "grey paint," but his talking about it hasn't really brought in much color. The dudes are bad, of course, quite bad; but the ladies have not been much better. 

FOTS say that Zach Mit Hamine was the worst caller ever, but I would have to say the opposite. He was a great caller,  as great as Julie (the all time great imho), as Spike and Petey and Laurie and James and Larry the Perv, because Tom reacted so strongly to him.  The great thing about Zach was that he evolved backwards, becoming more and more of a dumbass, being more arrogant and self righteous as Tom gave him airtime, until Tom just lost it (remember that? it was the best) and screamed at him and (if I remember correctly) broke the Mit Hamine album on the air.
The show needs people like that.  Not those people specifically, but new blood.

Wild Blood.

It does not need another chucklehead calling with a Ringo Star anecdote, or a Billy Joel anecdote or feeding Tom what they think he wants to hear. Fred from Honolulu once said on Twitter that the callers were boring him reaching for the low hanging fruit. I totally agree. Even the Half Hour of Power is not as free-wheeling as I thought it would be when they first started it; mostly you just get some dude asking Tom if it's ok if he likes the Talking Heads or something.

Now these hypothetical new "wild" callers will fail of course; it is their destiny to do so. Scharpling will berate and dismiss them, but from their ashes a hilarious phoenix will rise.

So what Wesley from London calls Tom "being down" I hear as Tom being bored. THAT'S the real killer, and what I worry about the most.

Of course, I'm just talking out of my a-dot; the callers are not something Tom can control.  And he remains at the top of his game; Scharpling and Wurster are funnier than ever. It's just the callers that are frustrating me lately, the horrible horrible callers.

don't worry about it. let tom do what tom wants to do. it's his show. if he's not worried about turning off listeners you shouldn't be either. just listen and enjoy the ride....

I don't wanna sound like a jerk in any way but Tom's been pretty down on the show lately and I'm worried that it might turn off new listeners. I started listening in the podcast era, around last june, and i don't know if i would've gotten into the show as much as i have if the first episode I listened to was someone talking about how the show is a failure. I love the show and I want to to succeed so I don't want new listeners to get scared off or anything.

[WesleyfromLondon]

If it's mostly an act then that's cool. Like I said I'm newer to the show so it's harder to read these things. In the couple of WMFU era episodes I've listened to he was going on about the show being Reagan '84 and unstoppable, so it's kind of a contrast. I just don't like worrying that my favourite comedy dudes are circling the drain or something.

[buffcoat]

Somebody should call in and say something crazy.

The problem is manufactured, desperate crazy. The new kid has the right idea, but he's swinging for the fences because he's 5 and not out of his fully realized sense of being a nut.

Spike was great because of Weirdos Exposed and because of a (surely) clinically diagnosed lack of shame. The great out-there callers have no governor and they aren't pushing any agenda or comedy routine. Julie really did want to talk about her dog or her arrests. Laurie really did want to talk about how her dad bought her art, but in a natural, conversational way.

I loved the guy who patiently explained to Tom what a taco was, then a burrito, then a quesadilla. Those people are born, not made.

[Lappo]

Yes, manufactured crazy is the worst.

And I didn't mean to imply that Laurie and Julie and Spike were 'crazy,' they just had/have a clear point of view and distinct personality.

[buffcoat]

I, too, meant crazy in the best possible way, not as a diagnosis.

[steve-dogman]

Tom's running it down in the episode I'm listening to from 2010 - that's part of the show. The moods of Tom and underdog/champion alternating are some of the best parts. One day the show will end but the beauty is that Tom will do something else great and we have probably close to 3,000 hours of archived episodes to return to.

Also: in said episode I've got on from 2010, a restrained Avalanche-less Bob calls (to praise Garrison Keillor no less). Worst caller ever. The last year or so has brought some good ones into the fold tho - Beadie from Las Vegas, for instance.

[dave in the yard]

Tom's running it down in the episode I'm listening to from 2010 - that's part of the show. The moods of Tom and underdog/champion alternating are some of the best parts. One day the show will end but the beauty is that Tom will do something else great and we have probably close to 3,000 hours of archived episodes to return to.

Also: in said episode I've got on from 2010, a restrained Avalanche-less Bob calls (to praise Garrison Keillor no less). Worst caller ever. The last year or so has brought some good ones into the fold tho - Beadie from Las Vegas, for instance.

Bob does redeem himself later, when him and tom discover common ground  in SCTV and bob's health problems come out.  But then he starts to talk about aliens and anal probes.

[buffcoat]

Which 2010 episode?

[steve-dogman]

4-20-2010.

(And to clarify: pre-Avalanche Bob is a "good" caller in the sense that, as that episode evidences, he winds Tom up and tees him off, leading to some great Prairie Home riffing. As Lover observed earlier in this thread, a "good" caller can be horrible so long as they pull the show in a good direction. Even James has led to some inspired moments).

[Wes]

The worst callers have always been and will always be the ones who don't know how and don't know when to get out of the way. They come in all types and forms, which is why I'd caution listeners from pre-determining their takes too much with the "all x callers are bad" stuff. You can be an angry caller, a nervous caller, a boring caller, a caller who completely misses the point of a topic, but if Tom finds that moment in there where he can spin off into something, all you need to do is let him work. There have been plenty of dud callers throughout the run of the show who brought absolutely nothing to the table, but in their ineptitude, accidentally gave him something to work with and contributed to the show simply by not talking/singing over whatever weird tangent suddenly turned up. If Tom's got a head of steam going and throws out a "Right? Right?", all you have to do is say "Right" and let him keep moving.

(The other, related kind of unsalvageable bad caller is the one who actively pushes back against a suddenly funny digression. The type who kicks out when Tom drops the peeper routine on them. This is a guy who has, with no preparation, talked unbearably boring callers into believing impossible things; you can play along for a minute about pretend nighttime neighborhood habits.)

That's why I'd reject Zach as a "good bad" caller. He interrupted the flow of the show at every possible turn and had zero sense of when he had worn out his welcome.

ANYWAY! This whole episode was great, but Kid Caller Hour was particularly wonderful. Kid Caller Trixie debuting as this fully-formed, world weary, child supergenius was amazing, especially when imagining the thought of all the other parents who might be on the line suddenly in a flop sweat about how their kid wasn't going to hold up to this seven year old artist entrepreneur with impeccable taste in Bowie. (I apologize for already forgetting his name, but the kid who actually had to follow Trixie did a great job, too.) I would love to hear more Kid/Senior Caller Hour segments.

[buffcoat]

That first Avalanche Bob call makes me think that that AvalancheBob33 thing is an act. He seemed disappointingly hinged.

I've been listening backwards through the archives, and Kid Kansas/Gordon from South Dakota/Other calls a whole bunch. It doesn't seem like Tom recognizes him, but Tom is good at playing that sort of thing close to the vest so I dunno.

[tonyh]

Roden Crater: http://rodencrater.com/about/

Thanks. This is very close to where I live, so I can't believe I hadn't heard about it before. It does look pretty amazing.

Tom, I'll make some inquiries locally to see if anyone knows if there is a way to get in this place. I wouldn't hold your breath though.

[JesseFromVegas]

Julie always rules, but Danielle Henderson kicked some serious ass.  What a great debut.  I want a podcast where she talks to her Grandma about horror movies now.

[erg79]

This girl Trixie at the beginning is awesome.