Show 500: 498 down

[Red Ivan]

Happened to be in the chat tonight and a bunch of people were tallying. QuizGuy66 aka Danne D sent me his spreadsheet, which I cross-referenced to my tally. Here is his Google Spreadsheet: bestshowarchivecount - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvmsS18GMhIjdGpVYzUyc1UxU0toLVpJM2tfeUFDQVE

Tabs are at the bottom. The tab "YES" are shows Danne found to be on the archive page AND Tom hosted Best Shows. This includes the two "secret" shows prior to Mets Fan Yankees fan, and a Saturday show in 2007.  The NO column is all archive entries that were fill-ins or marathon announcements. The Monthly Tally is just my count and an hour estimate.

Edit: math fixed and saturday fill-in nixed. 498 episodes done at about 1485 hours.

[QuizGuy66]

Yup Thanks for the help Ivan!

-QG

[buffcoat]

Good job!  I have a great appreciation for this level of work.  Not to mention spreadsheeting.

[fonpr]

Good job!  I have a great appreciation for this level of work.  Not to mention spreadsheeting.

It's not "Sheet spreadin'"?

[buffcoat]

Good job!  I have a great appreciation for this level of work.  Not to mention spreadsheeting.

It's not "Sheet spreadin'"?

That's, uh, something else.

[bachwards]

I think someone should check the dates for episodes that have been deleted entirely from the archive due to having parts on the released albums.  For example, this one no longer appears on the website (though one can see it on the Wayback Machine):
June 15, 2004: Tom Introduces The Word 'Awfulsome' To The Lexicon. And A Wonderful Call From Kid Ebay That Goes Horribly Wrong. And Horribly Right!

I'm not sure which other shows might be excluded like this.

[bachwards]

Two more:
December 30, 2003: The 2003 Artist Of The Year Tribute Show Collapses Under Its Own Weight. Also, A Very Exciting Call From Timmy The Two-Inch Racist.
December 23, 2003: A Pre-Christmas Show, With A Call To Gene Simmons Toyota And The Return Of Skag Winesack. Also, Officer Tom Stops By!

[buffcoat]

As far as I can tell, my listing of Newbridge appearances at http://buffcoat.blogspot.com is accurate.  It shows the ones for which there was a show (usually that got taken down because a Newbridge-related call was put on a CD) but there isn't an archive.

Man, I don't know an easy way to get a count using it, thought.  But you can find where QuizGuy66 and Red Ivan's DB might be missing those episodes.

[bachwards]

Just using the shows labeled "No archive" on your site not included in the spreadsheet that I can find a reference for:

February 8, 2005: A Guy From The Band Old Skull Calls In. Philly Boy Roy Post-Superbowl Defeat. Petey's Grandmother Cries. And Talk Of The Spectacular 'Puppy Bowl'!
January 18, 2005: Back With A Bang! One Of Tom's Buddies Mistakes Him For Another Friend. Skag Winesack Checks Back In. Cleaning House In The '05. And Bill Goffrier From Big Dipper Finally Calls! The Reunion Is Starting To Take Shape!
December 14, 2004: An In-Studio Appearance By The Great Todd Barry. And An Outrageous Phone Call From Hippy Businessman 'Hippy Johnny'. A Great Show, If I Do Say So Myself. And I'm My Harshest Critic.
September 4, 2001: Tom Talks To The Coolest Guy On Earth, And Tom Talks To Roger Tamblyn, Manager Of Bands Like The Inspiral Carpets And Gaye Bikers On Acid. Also, Tom Talks To Today's Youth About Returning To School.
January 23, 2001: A Chat with Maurice Kern, Head of Citizens For A True Democracy.

[buffcoat]

Uh oh, the nerds over in Research have muddled things up again.

[MiddleBro]

Hey FOT,
   Awesome work to all involved, sorting out all of the particulars and doing the math for hours and all of that.  I applaud your efforts, and it's cool to be able to actually KNOW when something like show 500 approaches.  Excellent work!


   -Zach (The Z-Man/Big Z/Wally's Human/etc.)

[Tom Scharpling]

Everybody -

Thanks for all who have been working on this. It's a difficult proposition and I appreciate everybody sorting through some less than reliable source material.

I am comfortable saying that the May 29th 2012 show was Show #498 and that The Best Show is at the 1485 hour mark. There might be slight discretions either way but I can embrace the imbalances on both sides of the discussion - you missed this show, does this show count, etc. - balancing each other out.

So let's lock it in and get ready for #BestShow500 on June 12th!

And get ready for the 1500 hour mark to be reached sometime in early July, depending on whether I don't miss any shows!

Thanks again!

Tom.

[BadGuyZero]

So where will the listening party be? I already had plans to be in the area that week (coming for Mogwai's two Webster hall shows; crashing at a friend's place in Jersey City). I'll gladly throw some sort of flyer together and get an event page on Facebook setup. But there's only so much I can do from Dallas. 

[JesseFromVegas]

Let's all bribe Christie to declare the day of the 500th show "Tom Scharpling Day" throughout all of New Jersey.  I know a guy who works at Blimpies that can give us a discount on a mile long sub, I figure that oughtta do the trick.

[Omar]

While June 12th (or any upcoming week or tomorrow or ... NOW) can certainly be the designated 500th show milestone celebration, the eight missing shows identified by Mr. bachwads should definitely be added to the spreadsheet ably, if not erotically, compiled by Mr. Red Ivan and Mr. QuizGuy66. 

As I see it, the facts are in: 5/29/12 was episode #506, and 6/12/12 will be episode #508.

[I consider the 6/2/07 miniature Saturday show to be a proper installment in terms of content, although not including it in the overall episode tally is reasonable since it was only 72 minutes.]