Underrated Best Show Strengths

[Crusherkc]

Whenever Tom makes fun of sci-fi/fantasy nerds/nerdculture.

George "Rail Road" Martin?

[break]

Tom's references to being almost/now sixty years old, and how most of the time such references just slide by unquestioned. 

Also any time Tom or a Wurster character paint a ludicrous picture of just how short, fat, or ugly they are.  For example, Tom looking like a "poor man's John Pinette".   

Heck, John Pinette references in general. 

[Eric Fishlegs]

Tom's references to being almost/now sixty years old, and how most of the time such references just slide by unquestioned. 

Also any time Tom or a Wurster character paint a ludicrous picture of just how short, fat, or ugly they are.  For example, Tom looking like a "poor man's John Pinette".   

Heck, John Pinette references in general.

On this week's show Tom made reference to his being 58 years old, but earlier when talking to Sir Scott he said he was born in 1952. Weirdly enough that jumped out at me more than the fact that in reality Tom is much younger than that.

And the fact that he mentions John Pinette as though it's a common reference that everyone will get even as he mispronounces the guy's name.

[dave from knoxville]

Tom's references to being almost/now sixty years old, and how most of the time such references just slide by unquestioned. 

Also any time Tom or a Wurster character paint a ludicrous picture of just how short, fat, or ugly they are.  For example, Tom looking like a "poor man's John Pinette".   

Heck, John Pinette references in general.

I must be prescient.....I made a John Pinette reference on the Best Show DVD, what, has it been three years already?

[Barry in Ireland]

"...son."

[lpme]

I love it when Tom trolls the listeners - like insisting that obviously the Flintstones predates the Honeymooners, because [exasperated, stating the obvious:] the Flintstones is in caveman times, and the Honeymooners was in the 50s. And even better when he goes onto Wikipedia to read supporting evidence for his claims.

Two of the best...The guy who has known Pete Seeger for 50 years, and Tom tells his Bob Seger is his son, he wiki'ed it.  Then the guy gets so angry he curses on the air.  Second, Tom says Little Steven played bass in the E Street Band.  The guy who called up screaming at him about how he played guitar.  Pure gold.

[JesseFromVegas]

Tom's strange genteel way of talking about pot whenever it comes up

[dave from knoxville]

Tom's strange genteel way of talking about pot whenever it comes up

Tom's gentility.

[Sashamak]

Ap Mike's fearlessness when telling spoilers on the radio( Breaking Bread to be specific).

[buffcoat]

Tom's Dracula voice.  "George 'Rail Road' Martin has written me into this, bleh."

[BadGuyZero]

I love it when Tom trolls the listeners - like insisting that obviously the Flintstones predates the Honeymooners, because [exasperated, stating the obvious:] the Flintstones is in caveman times, and the Honeymooners was in the 50s. And even better when he goes onto Wikipedia to read supporting evidence for his claims.

Two of the best...The guy who has known Pete Seeger for 50 years, and Tom tells his Bob Seger is his son, he wiki'ed it.  Then the guy gets so angry he curses on the air.  Second, Tom says Little Steven played bass in the E Street Band.  The guy who called up screaming at him about how he played guitar.  Pure gold.

Did you see the "Van in DC" tweets from a few months ago? Tom said something about not liking Fairport Convention and this Van in DC character has a conniption on Twitter calling Tom all sorts of names and using vulgarities out the wazoo. He deleted all of them (I'm guessing because his fellow churchgoers would find them unchristian) but I have screen grabs of them.

[B_Buster]

Ap Mike's fearlessness when telling spoilers on the radio( Breaking Bread to be specific).

I'll never understand the mentality that a story is "spoiled" if you know the ending in advance. I knew the ending of Anna Karenina before I read it. Guess what? Not spoiled. People know the ending of the Gospels, has that stopped people from reading them? Season 4 of Breaking Bad ended months ago. Was a gag order issued for everyone who watched it not to talk about it until everyone else in the world got a chance to watch it? Ridiculous. If I knew Gus was going to get up and walk around and adjust his tie after he got blown up in advance, it wouldn't have made it any less dumb.

[BadGuyZero]

Ap Mike's fearlessness when telling spoilers on the radio( Breaking Bread to be specific).

I'll never understand the mentality that a story is "spoiled" if you know the ending in advance. I knew the ending of Anna Karenina before I read it. Guess what? Not spoiled. People know the ending of the Gospels, has that stopped people from reading them? Season 4 of Breaking Bad ended months ago. Was a gag order issued for everyone who watched it not to talk about it until everyone else in the world got a chance to watch it? Ridiculous. If I knew Gus was going to get up and walk around and adjust his tie after he got blown up in advance, it wouldn't have made it any less dumb.

My rule is two weeks. If it's something you care about you'll either have seen it or have a contingency plan to avoid spoilers. Most of the time when I get a hint of a spoiler by the time I see the actual show/movie I've forgotten about it. And yes, it is possible to avoid spoilers. I avoided spoilers about the last Harry Potter book for a couple of years until I could muster up the strength to make it past the middle of the book. I've been avoiding "Lost" spoilers for several years now. Same with "Breaking Bad," "Mad Men," "The Wire" and "The Sopranos. One of these days I'll get around to finishing those series.

[dave from knoxville]

Ap Mike's fearlessness when telling spoilers on the radio( Breaking Bread to be specific).

I'll never understand the mentality that a story is "spoiled" if you know the ending in advance. I knew the ending of Anna Karenina before I read it. Guess what? Not spoiled. People know the ending of the Gospels, has that stopped people from reading them? Season 4 of Breaking Bad ended months ago. Was a gag order issued for everyone who watched it not to talk about it until everyone else in the world got a chance to watch it? Ridiculous. If I knew Gus was going to get up and walk around and adjust his tie after he got blown up in advance, it wouldn't have made it any less dumb.

Mike, while you may never understand it, the fact is that your understanding is not universal. Some of us like a nice surprise; it's a preference, not a character flaw.

[Tom Scharpling]

I'm with Mike on this one. I have felt that it's on me to avoid details that might spoil a story for a show that I have chosen not to watch after months and even years. If you're going on Facebook or Twitter after it aired on the East Coast and ruining it for people out west who haven't had a chance to even see it yet, that is lame. But at some point people are allowed to discuss the half face of Gus - who anybody who understands how television works knew he was going to eat it at the end of season 4 - no matter who hasn't caught up. I watched four seasons in two weeks, and prior to that I didn't read things about Breaking Bad. And it was EASY!

You keep going, Mike. Once again you are RIGHT.

Tom.