 The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling |
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| Genre | Talk, Comedy |
|---|---|
| Running time | 3 hours per episode |
| Country |  United States |
| Home station | WFMU |
| Starring | Tom Scharpling Jon Wurster AP Mike |
| Air dates | since October 10, 2000 |
| No. of episodes | 335 as of 16 September 2008 |
| Opening theme | "The Best Show on WFMU" by Themeweavers, LLC |
| Website | http://friendsoftom.com/ |
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http://www.wfmu.org/podcast/BS.xml |
The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling is a call-in radio show hosted by Tom Scharpling on New Jersey-based radio station WFMU. The show is described by its host as "three hours of mirth, music, and mayhem"[1] and has occupied the Tuesday night 8pm-11pm slot on WFMU since its conversion to the three-hour format on June 5, 2001 (prior to which it ran from 9pm-11pm). A worldwide audience listens to the show weekly through WFMU's Internet stream, and calls are frequently taken from around the United States and Canada, as well as from as far afield as Sweden, Japan, New Zealand, the U.K., and Ireland. It began podcasting its shows, with the music removed due to licensing restrictions, on January 26, 2006.
Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster is a frequent caller to the show, adopting a variety of personae hailing from the fictional and surreal New Jersey suburb of "Newbridge." Frequent Wurster 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 from York, Pennsylvania, who claims that the character of The Fonz on the TV show Happy Days was based on him, without permission)[2]. Some of these calls have been released on CD by Scharpling and Wurster's Stereolaffs label. Andrew Earles[3], H. Jon Benjamin[3], Sam Seder, Jon Glaser, Patton Oswalt, Julie Klausner, Horatio Sanz, and Matt Walsh have also contributed to the show in the past.
Guests have included comedians Fred Armisen, Tim and Eric, Zach Galifianakis, Todd Barry, Paul F. Tompkins, Jim Gaffigan, Patton Oswalt, Andrew Daly, Robert Popper, Martin Short, and Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt from The Mighty Boosh; musicians Ted Leo, Ben Gibbard, Aimee Mann, Sanjaya Malakar, Andrew W.K., and members of the Danielson Familie; filmmakers Don Coscarelli, Bradley Beesley, Kevin Smith and Jeff Feuerzeig; authors Neal Pollack, Paul Collins, Michael Azerrad, John Hodgman, and David Rees (cartoonist). On the December 16, 2008 episode, the reunited Boss Hog performed a 2-song live set.
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.
Best Show Gems, a twice-monthly podcast featuring highlights from the full radio show, launched in 2009.[4]
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