| Show Name: | The Best Show with Tom Scharpling |
| Format: | Talk, Comedy, Music |
| Runtime: | 2 hours (2000–2001) 3 hours (2001–2013, 2014–) |
| Starring: | Tom Scharpling Jon Wurster Mike Lisk (2005–) Pat Byrne (2014-) Jason Gore (2014-) |
| Opentheme: | "Best Show Theme" by Islands |
| Country: | United States |
| First Aired: | On WFMU: |
| Last Aired: | Independent revival: –present |
| Website: | http://thebestshow.net/ |
| Podcast: | thebestshow.libsyn.com/rss |
| Other Theme: | "Best Show Theme" by Themeweavers"Best Show Theme" by Mr. and Mrs. Paycheck |
| Record Location: | Los Angeles |
| Other Location: | Jersey City |
| Producer: | Forever Dog Productions |
The Best Show with Tom Scharpling (formerly The Best Show on WFMU) is a combination music, call-in, and comedy Internet radio show/podcast hosted independently by Tom Scharpling since 2014, which previously aired on New Jersey-based radio station WFMU from 2000 to 2013. The show's slogan is "three hours of mirth, music, and mayhem."[1]
The Best Show on WFMU first aired on October 10, 2000, occupying the 9pm–11pm time slot.
The current incarnation of The Best Show continues to air on Tuesday nights from 9pm to midnight Eastern live on Twitch from the studios of Forever Dog in Los Angeles.[2] On December 27, 2016, the show began accepting donations through Patreon, providing ancillary content and spin-off shows.[3]
The show has an international audience, with listeners and callers from the United States, Canada, the U.K., Sweden, Japan, New Zealand, and Tasmania.
Scharpling hosted the first episode of The Best Show on WFMU on October 10, 2000.
Starting June 5, 2001, the show was expanded to three hours filling the 8pm–11pm slot, later moving to 9pm–midnight on June 15, 2010. A worldwide audience listened to the show live through WFMU's Internet stream with episodes also archived on the radio station's website. The Best Show began podcasting its shows, with the music removed due to licensing restrictions, on January 26, 2006.
The program featured a roster of genuine callers, as well as calls in-character from musician Jon Wurster, best known for his tenure as the drummer for Superchunk (with occasional in-character calls from H. Jon Benjamin, Jon Glaser, Peyton Reed and others).
Wurster adopted a variety of personae hailing from the fictional and surreal New Jersey suburb of "Newbridge." Frequent characters include "Philly Boy Roy" (an unflinching supporter of all things Philadelphia), "Timmy von Trimble" (a genetically modified, two-inch-tall racist), and "The Gorch" (a senior citizen who claims that the character of The Fonz on the TV show Happy Days was based on him, without permission).[4]
Some of these calls have been released on CD by Scharpling and Wurster's Stereolaffs label, as well as subsequent releases on Third Man Records and a retrospective box set released by Numero Group.
Regular callers and in-studio guests of note have included Todd Barry, Andy Kindler, Aimee Mann, Kurt Vile, Paul F. Tompkins, Ted Leo, John Hodgman, and Patton Oswalt.
In October 2013, Scharpling announced his intention to end The Best Show, with the program's finale airing on December 17.[5] [6]
On December 16, 2014, Scharpling revived the program independently at thebestshow.net, recording from a studio in Jersey City. The show featured a greater emphasis on lists and call-in segments, as well as featuring producers Mike Lisk, Jason Gore and Pat Byrne.
In 2014, Scharpling and Wurster created and produced a television special for Adult Swim (as part of their project Infomercials), based around their characters and the town of Newbridge entitled The Newbridge Tourism Board Presents: "We're Newbridge, We're Comin' to Get Ya!". It aired on November 3, 2014,[7] and presents itself as a tourism video advertising Newbridge, NJ.
Released by The Numero Group on May 12, 2015, The Best of The Best Show is a retrospective box set of Scharpling and Wurster calls, culled primarily from the show's 13-year run on WFMU, on 16 discs and a USB stick with bonus material. It also includes a book featuring essays written by friends and associates of the show and notes on every included call by Scharpling and Wurster themselves.[8]
In 2015, Scharpling & Wurster made an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. The pair voiced characters on an episode of The Simpsons in 2016.[9] Scharpling detailed the genesis of the show in his best-selling book, It Never Ends.[10]
The show currently takes place in Los Angeles from the Forever Dog studios in North Hollywood. This new iteration of the show includes a live video stream on Twitch, a greater emphasis on musical performances and two 24-hour episodes, which have featured the likes of Bill Hader, Conan O'Brien, Jarvis Cocker, Nathan Fielder, Bob Odenkirk and Sarah Squirm.
Comedians
Actors
Musicians
Filmmakers
Animators
Authors
Wrestlers
On February 11, 2003, Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder appeared on The Best Show to discuss the political atmosphere of America. The chemistry between them as radio talents was evident, and their agreement on many liberal political views made them kindred spirits. In the summer of that same year, Garofalo was approached by representatives of Air America Radio to be a radio personality for their programming. She insisted that they hire Seder and that he share the hosting responsibilities. Less than one year later, The Majority Report was born.
On his January 20, 2004 radio program, Scharpling had been derisively talking about the VH1 show Bands Reunited. This discussion led to Scharpling facetiously declaring his goal of reuniting the beloved (though relatively unknown) 1980s Boston indie-rock band Big Dipper. In the following weeks, the concept of a "Big Dipper Reunion" had become a recurring in-joke on the program. Scharpling began calling the members at home to convince them to reunite. In 2008, the group reunited for a live concert. In advance of several reunion shows in April 2008, Merge Records released the 3-disc on March 18, featuring liner notes by Scharpling.
On February 23, 2009, a spin-off program titled Best Show Gems began podcasting once every other week. The podcast is a "greatest hits"-type program featuring highlights from The Best Show.[12] Best Show Gems ranges anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes, and usually centers on a call between Scharpling and Wurster. The podcast continues on as Best Show Bests, featuring Scharpling & Wurster calls and celebrity interviews from the modern show, released Fridays on the same feed as the show proper.
The Half Hour of Power was an overtime show, typically recorded every other week directly following The Best Show. During the show, Tom and the Best Show crew will take unscreened calls and discuss events from their personal lives. The concept has since been rebranded as The Four Horsemen, as both a segment on the show and its own Patreon-exclusive show.
Patreon exclusive featuring a fictionalized version of Scharpling hosting a Friends recap podcast as his life slowly begins to unravel. The podcast has covered several seasons of the show, while creating multiple spin-offs like Quantum Leap review podcast Takin' the Leap with Jason Gore, and the SmartLess parody, Dumbmore.
Patreon exclusive limited podcasts in which the Best Show crew takes a year by year look at all of the works of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, together and apart, as well as the discography of Rick Rubin.
Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster answer submitted questions out-of-character.
AP Mike reluctantly watches the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe with comedian Brett Davis, including all of the shows, short films and a trip to Disneyland's Avengers Campus.
Comedian Brett Davis hosts a college radio show as his character John Gentle from The Special Without Brett Davis.
Patreon exclusives wherein Gary the Squirrel, a Don Rickles-esque squirrel portrayed by Scharpling conducts interviews, trains the Best Show staff on improv or broadcasting, and comments on pop culture.
Scharpling and "AP Mike" Lisk discuss various somber topics.
The Best Show staff share ghost stories, nightmares, and various other horror-related occurrences in their lives with the lights out in the studio.
Tom Scharpling and Harri Woliner discuss life while driving around Los Angeles reviewing fast food fish sandwiches.
Notable fans of The Best Show include Conan O'Brien,[13] David Cross,[14] and Aiden English.[15]
