Today is the 10th Anniversary of the Best Show!

[AaronC]

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!

[mostlymeat]

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

[Christina]

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.

[leather]

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

[wwwes]

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.

[daveB from Oakland]

...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?

[masterofsparks]

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.

[masterofsparks]

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. 

[erika]

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!)

[Sarah]

I would have liked to have heard this one again, too.  I've always found it very rousing.

[snogrog]

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.

[snogrog]

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.

[Cfootie]

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.

[Mike from Western Maine]

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.

[Rhea from Winnipeg]

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.