The Best Show on WFMU: The End

[cutout]

I was going through a painful divorce that was crashing down in the Fall of 2010. I was living below Avenue C in a shit apartment and my wife had just moved out. As I had for the last 7 years, I was basically spending every day listening to the Best Show archives on headphones while I worked. When things got bad, the Best Show was truly the only thing that put a smile on my face. One morning I was walking on Houston Street, smoking, feeling like I was going to barf, and I suddenly see Tom's giant sunglasses. We were passing over Clinton Street and I stopped him, turned around and walked with him for a moment. This was right after he'd had that meltdown with a caller and took a few weeks off from the show. He looked frazzled and seemed at loose ends, as did I. I think he'd also just had the pilot idea fall through. Just chatting and joking with him for 5 minutes on the street about the show and music remains my best memory of living in the city. To bump into one of your heroes at random during a terrible time is an experience that can't be overstated, for me anyway. I'll miss this show.

[Flood]

Rough waters ahead for WFMU, at least the first semester of 2014.

[mostlymeat]

I was going through a painful divorce that was crashing down in the Fall of 2010.

Me too! Circa '06, during a terrible depression and collapse, the Best Show Lifeline kept me alive. Kept me MORE THAN ALIVE.

When I told my 15 yr old son the show was ending, he was sad too. "We've been listening to the Best Show my whole life" he said wistfully.

I'll never forget playing monopoly with him and a friend up in a cabin in the woods and having Big Bill Little Bill blow all our minds!

Thanks again Tom & Jon!

[buffcoat]

I just re-listened to the September 7, 2010 episode, the one before the hiatus.

In addition to the extraordinarily jerky caller from the Midwest, it features a very early (earliest?) call from Zach from Mit Hamine, where he screws up and Tom dumps his call.  Portentous.

[cutout]

^ That was exactly the time period. I honestly thought Tom was exaggerating on-air frustrations when he went on hiatus, but I think a lot else was going on, and it showed. But then he returned and kicked ass right on schedule.

[Mr. Spacely]

I remember the Fall '10 break and thinking he was d-o-n-e. When he announced he was leaving this time, my first thought was it was probably going to be temporary, like that one.

What's interesting is on his first show back November '10, he has this call with Wurster, where Darren just got back from rock 'n roll fantasy camp. It's a pretty good call, but it's one of the only times where Tom seems genuinely annoyed with Jon/Darren at the end. I assume it's just good acting, but I've always wondered if he was angry with Jon about something there.

[Lothar_Brightblade]

It's weird telling people that the thing I'm going to miss about the greatest radio show ever is when the puppets come on to talk.

[Matt from Halifax]

It's weird telling people that the thing I'm going to miss about the greatest radio show ever is when the puppets come on to talk.

#Vanceforlife!

[Tom Scharpling]

What's interesting is on his first show back November '10, he has this call with Wurster, where Darren just got back from rock 'n roll fantasy camp. It's a pretty good call, but it's one of the only times where Tom seems genuinely annoyed with Jon/Darren at the end. I assume it's just good acting, but I've always wondered if he was angry with Jon about something there.

It is ACTING! Admire our performances!

Tom.

[Mr. Spacely]

What's interesting is on his first show back November '10, he has this call with Wurster, where Darren just got back from rock 'n roll fantasy camp. It's a pretty good call, but it's one of the only times where Tom seems genuinely annoyed with Jon/Darren at the end. I assume it's just good acting, but I've always wondered if he was angry with Jon about something there.

It is ACTING! Admire our performances!

Tom.

Haha! Awesome! Thank you for putting my mind at ease after these three years. Despite knowing full-well how good the acting is on the calls, I really have had this niggling fear you were actually mad at him for something there.

[MiddleBro]

That's a start. I was thinking something hosted on its own domain and having an overwhelming amount of information, for example a page for "The Magazine" giving its 1st and last appearance, summarizing the premise, citing every character to have alluded to it, and listing every one of those mentions by episode and time. Unfortunately, like Omar said earlier in this thread about an extremely thorough oral history book, such a work would require years to compile. Perhaps less time with a KISS Army of organized fans listening back to assigned ranges of shows and working within entry guidelines to maintain consistency in the format and level of detail.

Sometimes I think such a wiki would be a great resource for new listeners to get a handle on the scope of the universe they're entering, but part of the fun is being thrust into a strange world without a guide and landing on your own two feet. Also, I'm reminded of the E. B. White quote about analyzing humor.

That's exactly the type of thing I was alluding to wanting to try.  It would be an overwhelming undertaking, especially for just one person, but at the same time, opening it up to a crowd would allow for more room for mistakes or opinions getting tossed in.  I wish I could devote the time and energy to something like that, but I just have to take care of other things in my own creative path, first, before devoting that effort to recording someone else's creative achievments, regardless of how great they are.


   -Zach

[MiddleBro]

I really hope that last bit doesn't come off as arrogant.  I wasn't sure how else to say it.  I just honestly think that even Tom, while being incredibly impressed and flattered by such a comprehensive, detail-oriented undertaking, he might think it was kind of crazy, too, especially for one person to do.  Even just going through one show a day and taking notes would take probably close to two years, let alone cross-referencing and compiling all the individual entries for it all, throughout the entire 13 year run.


   -Zach

[fonpr]

I really hope that last bit doesn't come off as arrogant. 

It kinda did.

[MiddleBro]

GULP!  Sorry.


   -Zach

[wwwes]

I can't think of a way that the show saved my life or brought me back from the brink, medication was the only thing that really did that. But realistically, I don't think I can put a finger on the ways that this show has influenced my life or the way that the loss of this show will change things. And there's really nothing else in media I can say that about. Lots of tv shows could end that had a vast influence on me, people could retire or pass away, but there is just nothing else that leaves an impression like this show.

And I will miss it greatly. Count me in as someone that would pay dearly for a complete MP3 archive.

Thanks, Tom. I'm seriously looking forward to what comes next.