The Best/Worst Moments of last night's show

[Bernard]

forgive me if this shouldn't be brought up here, but has tom ever addressed the dude who called twice on this week's show?  the dude who's tried to get shows on FMU in the past?  the guy who tom will ban from the building? 

[Steve of Bloomington]

I did get guilty enjoyment from Tom's efforts to get Walsh to say Del Close wasn't that great.

No disrespect to Del Close, R.I.P.

[Steeley Chris]

Another best: Eric's creepy laugh.

[William Ham]

Okay, I've gotta ask, having only heard the podcast - did the f-word actually go out live?  I mean, a show which derives a large percentage of its content from phone calls has to have some kind of delay system in place, right?

Either way, it has to be said - Angry Tom is Funny Tom.  I hope he goes to "Cop Out" this weekend to hear his blanked-off rant next week.

[herbsweal]

Okay, I've gotta ask, having only heard the podcast - did the f-word actually go out live?  I mean, a show which derives a large percentage of its content from phone calls has to have some kind of delay system in place, right?

Either way, it has to be said - Angry Tom is Funny Tom.  I hope he goes to "Cop Out" this weekend to hear his blanked-off rant next week.

No it didn't go out over the air

[William Ham]

So what's the expletive-deleteding problem?

[mackro]

It's not trivial to have to operate the muting of any indecent words. It's not an operation but  nonetheless it's an inconvenience and still a risk. What if the delay device didn't work? And what if some crazy with an anti-WFMU agenda was ready to call and complain to the FCC?

A lot of if's there, granted. Yet, thanks to the US's remedial content purity laws, it just takes one complaint to put any station on the grill.

Having had to deal with this in Orange County CA, a place teeming with old ladies just waiting to complain to the FCC to increase the chance of freeing up an FM slot to a religious station, it was paranoia 16 hours a day for music, 24 hours for spoken content.

[Steve of Bloomington]

It's not trivial to have to operate the muting of any indecent words. It's not an operation but  nonetheless it's an inconvenience and still a risk. What if the delay device didn't work? And what if some crazy with an anti-WFMU agenda was ready to call and complain to the FCC?

A lot of if's there, granted. Yet, thanks to the US's remedial content purity laws, it just takes one complaint to put any station on the grill.

Having had to deal with this in Orange County CA, a place teeming with old ladies just waiting to complain to the FCC to increase the chance of freeing up an FM slot to a religious station, it was paranoia 16 hours a day for music, 24 hours for spoken content.

Also, screening CDs for cuss words can be a giant pain. I couldn't always tell what the words were.

[William Ham]

I hear you, Mackro, and as a radio pseudo-professional myself I understand.  (Though my show comes on late enough to be well within the bounds of the good ol' FCC's 10pm-6am "safe harbor," a big relief to me when I played, say, Louis CK's "I Hate Deer" without fully vetting it first.)  I guess I'm sick of living in a world where a word - a WORD - might bring down the wrath of the government on a hard-working bunch of folk at a commercial-free broadcast outlet.  WE MUST NOT ALLOW THE BLUE-NOSED FEW TO SET THE STANDARDS FOR THE MORE TOLERANT, FLESH-COLORED-NOSED MAJORITY!  WE MUST REBEL AGAINST THE SUPPRESSION OF EXPRESSION OVER OUR AIRWAVES!  I MUST CALL THE REPAIRMAN TO GET MY "CAPS LOCK" KEY UNSTUCK!

[waltkellysghost]

I feel silly even posting this, but hearing Tom wish failure and hate on Matt Walsh made me sad. Walsh's calls back in 2002 were my gateway into The Best Show. After his long running association with the show it seems weird to me that he would need or have or let a publicist pester Tom about appearing on the show. That says something about the whole situation.

Is it too much to ask for all of my favorite entertainers and comedians to be friends forever?!

Oh, life…

I completely agree. As someone who has done college/freeform radio in my local area, I understand the need to keep it clean. There really are haters out there who are eager to rat on you over any slip-up. That said...once the mistake is made, all that is left to do is move on. An on air ban is understandable, because FCC fines can really screw things up. But I seriously thought it was uncool for Tom to wish complete failure upon Walsh. (getting sued, or nobody watching his show, etc.) I wouldn't wish such ruin on anybody. Walsh screwed up, but he got it waaaaay worse than many others on the show that screwed up before him.

It was like listening to two people that you admire and respect get into an argument while you sit on the couch uncomfortably waiting for it all to be over. I felt incredibly awkward just listening.

I just hope that any bad blood gets resolved. Walsh should accept his on-air ban like a man, but Tom should also learn to let go without trying to destory somebodies career over it.

[Sarah]

You know, when I get mad at one of the dogs and say, "I'm going to kill you," I don't mean it.

[Christina]

You know, when I get mad at one of the dogs and say, "I'm going to kill you," I don't mean it.

When my big male cat acts like a butthole, I tell him I'm going to sell him to the gypsies. Even if I wanted to do this, I'm not sure how I'd go about it.

[fonpr]

 But I seriously thought it was uncool for Tom to wish complete failure upon Walsh. (getting sued, or nobody watching his show, etc.) I wouldn't wish such ruin on anybody. Walsh screwed up, but he got it waaaaay worse than many others on the show that screwed up before him.

I haven't done this yet;  but try counting how many times Tom mentioned Matt and Spike (TV not the auteur).

"The only bad publicity is no publicity."  Johnny Thunders in Dead or Alive.

[badgrammer]

I was just listening to a show from last year in which Jen Kirkman said an f-bomb on air and called back a week later to apologize. Tom was pretty cordial about the whole situation and thanked her. I wonder what set him off this particular time --I mean Matt Walsh called back immediately to apologize. Was it the publicist on his back that ultimately made him snap? I wonder...

(Oops sorry Reeleyes! I didn't see your earlier comment on this topic! Forgive me, I'm new!)

[Sarah]

I give up.