Best Show On WFMU

[EffMeBoobs]

Lou's really into this show and now I'm hooked. The main guy is Tom Scharpling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Scharpling) and it's on every Tuesday night from 8 to 11pm. It's aired all over Jersey but you can listen to it on http://wfmu.org and he also has podcasts of his shows. He has a lot of characters that call in regularly, and it has an old school RF feel to it like back in the WNEW days when they did more characters. My favorite character is Philly Boy Roy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Wurster). To learn more about the show, you can go to the show's website (http://www.friendsoftom.com/), they also have a message board as well. I guarantee if you listen to some of the podcasts, you will be hooked.

[DolaMight]

Don't know the show but I love WFMU.

Check out Downtown Soulville with Mr. Fine Wine, deepest and most rare catalogue you ever heard, real soul music no pop, no funk. Check out the archives.
http://wfmu.org/playlists/SV2002

Also sunday mornings Reggae Schoolroom with Jeff Sarge. Probably the best reggae roots show on the planet.
http://wfmu.org/playlists/RS

[deepinthewoods]

Sickeningly funny. The show has a different dynamic than R&F because Tom Scharpling is a solo host, so he'll rant a bit and then take callers (giving a strange little yip at the hang up if he likes the call). Tom is deeply versed in hipster culture referencing everything from Neu to Button Gwynett to GG Allin. The "Art Of The Slap" 3 CD set is worth purchasing as it distills the best character call ins by Wurster (Phille Boy Roy et al.). Not to be missed is the bit "First Band On Mount Everest." The Best Show is tailor made for the indie rock set (I'm looking in your direction Pitzie).

[deepinthewoods]

As pointed out earlier, please replace Pepper Hicks where ever I write Pitzy. Those damn "P" names...

[Badinia]

I really like this show- honestly, the "best of" CD's by Scharpling and Wurster are more gutbusters than the weekly show, but the show itself is pleasant enough.

I sent Ron a "Philly Boy Roy" segment a little while ago.

[EffMeBoobs]

thanks deep and badinia for recognizing it's greatness. i love the way tom hangs up the phone, hilarious. deep i think we have that cd, we just got something in the mail from the show, if thats not the cd then i will be ordering it. philly boy roy has made me laugh so much lately that i crave those bits.

[solid jackson]

Love the Best Show on WFMU. Rock Rot and Rule is one of the funniest comedy albums ive heard in a long time.

Somebody over at the Friends of Tom message board posted a Ron and Fez thread and Tom chimed in on how funny Ron is and that he used to listen to them back in the day.


This weeks Best Show was a pledge drive in which he had Patton Oswalt, Ben Gibbard, and Ted Leo as guests. Somebody pledged under the name Jimmy Norton not sure if it was really him or not, Patton made the comment that Jimmy Norton was the funniest comedian from Jersey, while Tom said im more of a Rich Voss man myself.

[Badinia]

In somewhat related news, someone brought up how great Ron's Unmasked interviews are on aspecialthing.com, a board concerned with The Best Show and comedy in general.

Everything that rises must converge!

[smiler grogan]

never heard the show but will give it a go. FMU for me is either great or to hip for the room depending on the show but i'll check it out as previously stated.

[EffMeBoobs]

Lou pledged $30 a month for a year in their pledge drive and his name got mentioned on the air. Needless to say, he was on cloud nine.

[KnoxHarrington]

I'm so happy I get to listen live this week. And this thread is reminding me I need to mail my pledge to WFMU in.

[Badinia]

I'm jealous, KnoxHarrington. Last weeks' show was frickin' fantastic. I love crying Linus.

"I'm not crying, I'm LAUGHING! Because it's so..sniff...FUNNY!"

I paid my pledge on Paypal, because I live in modern times.

[KnoxHarrington]

I'm jealous, KnoxHarrington. Last weeks' show was frickin' fantastic. I love crying Linus.

"I'm not crying, I'm LAUGHING! Because it's so..sniff...FUNNY!"

I paid my pledge on Paypal, because I live in modern times.

Well, I made mine by mail because I didn't quite have the cash I needed for the pledge I wanted to make.

The cool thing too is that I'm listening directly with my IPhone. So I don't even have to tie up my computer in any way with the stream. And I could actually leave the house and keep listening.

[KnoxHarrington]

And that Linus call was a brilliant takedown of "indie rock" snobbery.

[Badinia]

Sorry, I was just acting out due to jealousy, which is not helped now that I know you're listening on an Iphone.

Thank God I have my Zune!

[KnoxHarrington]

By the way, this kid calling in is a douche.

This guy's campaign to be Rookie of the Year probably ends tonight.

GOMP him, Tom!

[Badinia]

Oh, that guy from Cali?

He flew too high, too fast. He's no Eddie.

I was reading a Trivia Fact from Wikipedia:

Jon Wurster is a friend of the Dead Milkmen, and he is mentioned by name in their song, Stuart.

MINUTES later, it comes up on XMFred! There it is, Jon's name, right in the first line!

[KnoxHarrington]

Loved the Marky Ramone call.

"Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba, I'm gonna kill your fa-ace"

[EffMeBoobs]

My favorite movie from last year is Ratalouie.

[Badinia]

You don't know what you'se talkin' about!

[EffMeBoobs]

You don't know what you'se talkin' about!

Wait.... WHAAAAAAAAT? Yer a Philly dummy.

[KnoxHarrington]

Gotta love the ABBA box.

[EffMeBoobs]

take a chance take a chance take a take a chance chance.

[KnoxHarrington]

This guy from the Cynics is sort of a douche.

[Enabler]

http://www.canmag.com/images/front/movies2008/lovegurup1.jpg


This movie will suck

[KnoxHarrington]

Here's my take on the topic:

Wes Anderson, I love ya, but you might want to work with some new people next time.

[PigShitIrish]

Lou pledged $30 a month for a year in their pledge drive and his name got mentioned on the air. Needless to say, he was on cloud nine.

Is that a SMWSF pledge?

[KnoxHarrington]

I'm in my bedroom, drinkin' a cold beer, I had a bad day.

[Badinia]

Get A Coffin!

[KnoxHarrington]

Get A Coffin!

You sound stupid.

[KnoxHarrington]

By the way, live Phillyboy Roy absolutely rules.

[Badinia]

Knockin' Booooooots! Knockin' Booooooots!
Philly Boy Roy plus Philly Boy Paul was AMAZING!

[KnoxHarrington]

I watched There Will Be Blood again a couple of nights ago and realized that Paul F. Tompkins is in that movie. He's the guy running after Daniel Plainview when he storms out of the town meeting.

I'm sorry, I mean he was in There Was Some Oil.

[Badinia]

Yes, Paul seems very proud that his face is never in focus in that film! There *was* some oil.

[KnoxHarrington]

I totally have to go to a Wawa at some point in my life.

[KnoxHarrington]

On Tuesday's show, Tom and the listeners wrote the lyrics for a song that Ted Leo and the Pharmacists recorded. And here it is, "The World is the Terlet":

http://drop.io/theworldisintheturlet#

It's a smash!

[KnoxHarrington]

You really should grab the podcast of this week's (8/19) show if you haven't already. It's a classic, featuring the Newbridge Mayubernatorial Debate, featuring such candidates as Philly Boy Roy, Hammerhead, Bishop Pablo Fontana, and Zachary Brimstead, Esq.

So, basically, Wurster was in the studio doing pretty much every character he does on the show live.

Just be sure to let your balance buddy know if you're going to be getting up.

[Aqualad]

You really should grab the podcast of this week's (8/19) show if you haven't already. It's a classic, featuring the Newbridge Mayubernatorial Debate, featuring such candidates as Philly Boy Roy, Hammerhead, Bishop Pablo Fontana, and Zachary Brimstead, Esq.

So, basically, Wurster was in the studio doing pretty much every character he does on the show live.

Just be sure to let your balance buddy know if you're going to be getting up.


I'm listening right now. The show's good.

[EffMeBoobs]

Lou finally got his Marathon pledge package. It contains a bunch of goodies. It made him a very happy boy.

I got to listen as well to the New Bridge Mayorubortorial debate, go PBR!!!!!

[solid jackson]

I really like this show- honestly, the "best of" CD's by Scharpling and Wurster are more gutbusters than the weekly show, but the show itself is pleasant enough.

I sent Ron a "Philly Boy Roy" segment a little while ago.


Did he respond? What did he think of it?


I always liked this one

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[Kublakhan61]

Never listened to this show but I never miss The Glen Jones Radio Program on sunday afternoons.

Who with me?

[KnoxHarrington]

I burned off some EMusic credits by downloading all the Scharpling & Wurster CD's, which are incredible.

The one everyone who loves this show needs to listen to, though, is "Rock, Rot, or Rule", which was actually the first call Wurster made to the show. In it, he plays a "rock expert" who has written a book that helpfully sorts rock acts into three categories: either they rock, they rot, or they rule. But as time goes along, what exactly those categories mean becomes less and less clear. And it becomes more clear that this guy doesn't know as much about rock as he claims.

But the best part is that they had actual callers. And since this is long before anyone on the show knew who Jon Wurster was, people are taking it seriously -- and they are pissed at this jackass. Just awesome radio.

[Kublakhan61]

How best show was that Tom from Clearwater call on monday's R&F? It was like two radio worlds colliding. Very funny call.

[Andy1807]

seems to be getting back to old form a little. the last couple of shows had a lot of mutant callers, which is personally my favorite part of the show. The Wurster calls are great, but they've gotten stale to me. The callers who just call to agree with Tom or that call every week whether they have something for the topic or not have been wearing on my lately.

The golden era for me was back in 2002-2003 when you still had mutants calling every show, but he had to take the calls because nobody else was calling. Although, the guests Tom gets nowadays definitely make up for the boring callers.

[PigShitIrish]

I burned off some EMusic credits by downloading all the Scharpling & Wurster CD's, which are incredible.

The one everyone who loves this show needs to listen to, though, is "Rock, Rot, or Rule", which was actually the first call Wurster made to the show. In it, he plays a "rock expert" who has written a book that helpfully sorts rock acts into three categories: either they rock, they rot, or they rule. But as time goes along, what exactly those categories mean becomes less and less clear. And it becomes more clear that this guy doesn't know as much about rock as he claims.

But the best part is that they had actual callers. And since this is long before anyone on the show knew who Jon Wurster was, people are taking it seriously -- and they are pissed at this jackass. Just awesome radio.

I was just listening to the latest "The Best Show Gems" podcast and it is hilarious how half the callers are taking Wurster seriously and half are playing along with the bit. Anyone know what year this is from?

[Andy1807]

the info on the original air date is embedded into the MP3 info. In itunes, hit the info button.

[Kublakhan61]

The Wurster calls are great, but they've gotten stale to me.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!

[Kublakhan61]

I just got to hear the March 30th episode. Sheepy called in. Better then Spike, I guess.

[solid jackson]

I just got to hear the March 30th episode. Sheepy called in. Better then Spike, I guess.



I was listening when he called in and i thought he seemed really nervous and subservient. I was hoping they would do a Spy Report about this.

[doramider7]

thanks deep and badinia for recognizing it's greatness. i love the way tom hangs up the phone, hilarious. deep i think we have that cd, we just got something in the mail from the show, if thats not the cd then i will be ordering it. philly boy roy has made me laugh so much lately that i crave those bits.

Love the Best Show on WFMU. Rock Rot and Rule is one of the funniest comedy albums ive heard in a long time.

Somebody over at the Friends of Tom message board posted a Ron and Fez thread and Tom chimed in on how funny Ron is and that he used to listen to them back in the day.


This weeks Best Show was a pledge drive in which he had Patton Oswalt, Ben Gibbard, and Ted Leo as guests. Somebody pledged under the name Jimmy Norton not sure if it was really him or not, Patton made the comment that Jimmy Norton was the funniest comedian from Jersey, while Tom said im more of a Rich Voss man myself.