The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling

The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling is a combination music

Music radio

Music radio is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast content. After television replaced old time radio's dramatic content, music formats became dominant in many countries...

, call-in, and comedy radio show hosted by Tom Scharpling

Tom Scharpling

Tom Scharpling is an American radio host, comedian, television writer, producer and music video director. He is best known for hosting the weekly freeform radio call-in comedy program The Best Show on WFMU and for acting as a writer/executive producer for the TV show Monk.Scharpling is also noted...

on New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

-based radio station WFMU

WFMU

WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...

. The show's slogan is "Three hours of mirth, music, and mayhem."

The Best Show first aired on October 10, 2000, occupying the 9pm-11pm time slot. Starting June 5, 2001, the show was expanded to three hours, filling the 8pm-11pm slot. A worldwide audience listens to the show live through WFMU's Internet stream, and many episodes are also archived on the radio station's website. The Best Show began podcast

Podcast

A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

ing its shows, with the music removed due to licensing restrictions, on January 26, 2006.

The show has listeners and callers around the world, from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, to as far afield as the U.K., Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, and Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

. Regular callers and in-studio guests of note include Paul F. Tompkins

Paul F. Tompkins

Paul Francis Tompkins , best known as Paul F. Tompkins, is an American actor and comedian.-Life and career:Tompkins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a receptionist mother and railway worker father. He started out in stand-up comedy in 1986 at The Comedy Works, Philadelphia, PA, where he...

, Todd Barry

Todd Barry

-Biography:Barry was born in The Bronx, New York, and grew up in Florida. In 1999, his Comedy Central Presents aired. He wrote, directed and starred in the short film Borrowing Saffron , which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin. He has made a variety of guest appearances on shows like Dr...

, Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bassist.-Early life:Aimee Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, graduated from Open High School in 1978 and attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out to sing with her first punk rock band, the Young Snakes...

, Ted Leo

Ted Leo

Theodore F. Leo , called "Ted," as a short form of "Theodore," is an American punk rock/indie rock songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, though he is most known for his singing and guitar playing...

, John Hodgman

John Hodgman

John Kellogg Hodgman is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All, he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long's personification of a Mac in...

, and Patton Oswalt

Patton Oswalt

Patton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.-Early life:Oswalt was born...

Background

Superchunk

Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...

drummer Jon Wurster

Jon Wurster

Jon Wurster is an American musician and humorist best known as the drummer for indie rockers Superchunk and recently for The Mountain Goats, as well for his comedic work with radio host Tom Scharpling on the The Best Show on WFMU....

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

Fonzie

Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli is a fictional character played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom Happy Days . He was originally a secondary character, but eventually became the lead...

on the TV show Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....

was based on him, without permission). Some of these calls have been released on CD by Scharpling and Wurster's Stereolaffs

Stereolaffs

Stereolaffs is the comedy record label run by Jon Wurster and Tom Scharpling of the longform radio comedy duo Scharpling and Wurster.-Discography:*Rock, Rot and Rule *Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin...

label.

Guests

Guests have included comedians Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...

, Tim and Eric, Zach Galifianakis

Zach Galifianakis

Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...

, Neil Hamburger

Neil Hamburger

Neil Hamburger is a standup comedian character played by comedian and musician Gregg Turkington.-Style:Hamburger's live act, which is quite different from his many albums, features a barrage of question/answer jokes aimed often at celebrity targets, including Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, The Red...

, Todd Barry

Todd Barry

, Paul F. Tompkins

Paul F. Tompkins

, Jim Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan

James Christopher "Jim" Gaffigan is an American stand-up comedian and actor.-Early life:Gaffigan was born in Chesterton, Indiana and attended La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. He is the youngest of six children and often jokes about growing up in a large family. He attended one year at...

, Patton Oswalt

Patton Oswalt

, John Oliver

John Oliver (comedian)

John Oliver is a British stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, for which he won an Emmy in 2009. He also plays a recurring character, Professor Ian Duncan, on the television series Community...

, Andrew Daly

Andrew Daly

Andrew "Andy" Daly is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for playing Principal Terrence Cutler in the HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down.-Early life:Daly was born in Mount Kisco, New York and raised in New Jersey...

, John Mulaney

John Mulaney

John Mulaney is an American comedian and writer for Saturday Night Live .In addition to writing for SNL, Mulaney has appeared on the show's "Weekend Update" segment. Mulaney also previously made regular appearances on Best Week Ever on VH1. Mulaney appeared multiple times on Late Night with Conan...

, Jen Kirkman

Jen Kirkman

Jennifer "Jen" Kirkman is an American stand-up comedian, television writer and actress, best known for her appearances on E!'s late-night talk show Chelsea Lately and the web series Drunk History...

, Aziz Ansari

Aziz Ansari

Aziz Ansari is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. He currently stars as Tom Haverford on the NBC show Parks and Recreation....

, Paul Scheer

Paul Scheer

Paul Christian Scheer is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He co-created and starred in MTV's sketch comedy series Human Giant and currently co-stars as Andre on the FX comedy The League. He also currently stars as Trent Hauser on the Adult Swim show NTSF:SD:SUV:: which he created...

, Jason Woliner

Jason Woliner

Jason Woliner is an American comedy director, writer, editor and also a former child actor. He is the non-performing member of the comedy group "Human Giant" and has directed the bulk of their output. The group, which also consists of comedians Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer, produced an...

, Robert Popper

Robert Popper

Robert Popper is a BAFTA winning comedy producer, writer and actor, best known as co-creator of the mock BBC documentary Look Around You, in which he also plays the part of Jack Morgan...

, Martin Short

Martin Short

Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...

, Chris Elliot, Dana Snyder

Dana Snyder

Dana Snyder is an American actor, voice artist, and comedian, best known for playing Master Shake on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force show, and the film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, both part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim franchise.- Early life :Dana Snyder was born in...

, Dave Willis

Dave Willis

David "Dave" Willis is an American voice actor, writer, and producer mostly known as one of the creators, writers, directors, and actors of the adult humored animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force....

, H. Jon Benjamin

H. Jon Benjamin

Henry Jon Benjamin , known professionally as H. Jon Benjamin and Jon Benjamin, is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for his voice-over roles as Jason and Coach McGuirk on Home Movies, Ben on Dr...

, Sam Seder

Sam Seder

Samuel Lincoln "Sam" Seder is a comedian, writer, actor, film director, television producer-director, and talk radio host...

, Jon Glaser

Jon Glaser

Jonathan Daniel "Jon" Glaser is an American actor, comedian and television writer based out of New York City. A graduate of the University of Michigan where he performed in the sketch comedy troupes Comedy Company and Just Kidding with Jon Hein, he is a five-time Emmy nominee with the writing...

, Julie Klausner

Julie Klausner

Julie Klausner is a New York City-based author, podcaster, and comedy writer-performer, whose first book, I Don't Care About Your Band, was released in February 2010 by Gotham/Penguin Books. In July 2010, it was announced that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Production Company, Gary Sanchez...

, Vanessa Bayer

Vanessa Bayer

Vanessa Bayer is an American actress and comedienne who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Early life and career:...

, Marc Maron

Marc Maron

Marc Maron is an American stand-up comedian and podcast host.He has been host of The Marc Maron Show, and co-host of both Morning Sedition, and Breakroom Live, all politically-oriented shows, produced under the auspices of Air America Media. He was also the host of Comedy Central's Short Attention...

, Horatio Sanz

Horatio Sanz

Horatio Sanz is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998-2006. Sanz most recently starred alongside his former SNL castmate Chris Parnell in the Comedy Central series Big Lake.-Early life:Sanz, the youngest of three sons, was born in...

, Ian Roberts

Ian Roberts (actor)

Ian Michael Roberts is an American actor, comedian and writer best known as a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy troupe.-Life and career:...

, Matt Walsh, Noel Fielding

Noel Fielding

Noel Fielding is a British artist, comedian and actor. He is known for his roles as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh, which he co-writes with comedy partner Julian Barratt, and as team captain on the music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.-Stand-up comedy:Noel Fielding performed regularly as a...

and Julian Barratt

Julian Barratt

Julian Barratt is an English comedian, musician, music producer and actor. Barratt is best known for playing the character of Howard Moon in the cult comedy The Mighty Boosh, which he also co-writes with comedy partner, Noel Fielding.-The Mighty Boosh:Barratt stars as the character Howard Moon...

from The Mighty Boosh

The Mighty Boosh

The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...

; musicians Ted Leo

Ted Leo

Theodore F. Leo , called "Ted," as a short form of "Theodore," is an American punk rock/indie rock songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, though he is most known for his singing and guitar playing...

, Ben Gibbard

Ben Gibbard

Benjamin "Ben" Gibbard is an American musician known as a member of several successful indie rock bands. He is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, and is also known for his project ¡All-Time Quarterback! and his first band, Pinwheel.-Personal life and career:Gibbard was...

, Aimee Mann

Aimee Mann

, Jon Auer

Jon Auer

Jonathan P. "Jon" Auer is an American musician who co-founded the power pop band The Posies, along with Ken Stringfellow. Auer and Stringfellow have also been a part of the rejuvenated Big Star....

, Andrew W.K.

Andrew W.K.

Andrew W.K. is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, and motivational speaker. He is the host of the television series Destroy Build Destroy.-Early life & career:Andrew Wilkes-Krier was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan...

, Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell

Luther Campbell

Luther R. Campbell , also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke or Luke, is a record label owner, rap performer , and actor...

, Boss Hog

Boss Hog

Boss Hog is an American punk blues band including the husband and wife duo of Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez along with Jens Jurgensen , Hollis Queens and Mark Boyce...

, Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile is a guitarist and singer born in 1980 from the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He was signed by Matador Records as a solo artist in May 2009....

, Carl Newman

Carl Newman

Allan Carl Newman is a Canadian musician and songwriter. He was a member of the indie rock bands Superconductor and Zumpano in the 1990s. Following the breakup of those bands, he reemerged as the leader of The New Pornographers in 2000....

, and members of the Danielson Familie; filmmakers Don Coscarelli

Don Coscarelli

Don Coscarelli is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for horror films. His credits include the Phantasm series, The Beastmaster, and Bubba Ho-Tep.-Biography:...

, Bradley Beesley

Bradley Beesley

Bradley Beesley is an American independent film and video director, producer and cinematographer. He has long been associated with the alternative music band, The Flaming Lips....

, Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith

Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...

and Jeff Feuerzeig

Jeff Feuerzeig

Jeff Feuerzeig is an American film director and screenwriter best known for The Devil and Daniel Johnston, his profile of cult musician and outsider artist Daniel Johnston, for which he was awarded the Directing prize for Documentary at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and which was released...

; authors Neal Pollack

Neal Pollack

Neal Pollack is an American satirist, novelist, short story writer, and journalist. He lives in Austin, Texas. Pollack has written six books: The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, Never Mind the Pollacks, Beneath the Axis of Evil, Alternadad, Stretch, and Jewball. He is a member of...

, Paul Collins

Paul Collins (writer)

Paul Collins is an American writer, editor and associate professor of English at Portland State University. He is best known for his work with McSweeney's and The Believer, as editor of the Collins Library imprint for McSweeney's Books, and for his appearances on National Public Radio's Weekend...

, Andrew Earles, Michael Azerrad

Michael Azerrad

Michael Azerrad is an American author, journalist and musician. He grew up in the New York City area and received his BA degree from Columbia College in 1983...

, John Hodgman

John Hodgman

, Matt Fraction

Matt Fraction

Matt Fritchman, better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of The Invincible Iron Man, The Immortal Iron Fist and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics and Casanova for Image Comics.-Career:Fraction wrote two...

, Michael Kupperman

Michael Kupperman

Michael Kupperman, also known by the pseudonym P. Revess, is an American cartoonist and illustrator. He created the comic strips Up All Night and Found in the Street, and has written scripts for DC Comics...

, David Rees

David Rees (cartoonist)

David Thomas Rees is a left-wing cartoonist and humorist whose best-known work combines bland clip art with outrageous "trash talk" to incongruous effect...

, and Rob Schrab

Rob Schrab

Rob Schrab is a comic book creator, actor, comedian, writer, and film and television producer. Schrab grew up in Mayville, Wisconsin. He is known as the creator of the comic book, Scud: The Disposable Assassin, co-writer of the feature film Monster House, the unaired pilot Heat Vision and Jack,...

.

On February 11, 2003, Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo

Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...

and Sam Seder

Sam Seder

Samuel Lincoln "Sam" Seder is a comedian, writer, actor, film director, television producer-director, and talk radio host...

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

Air America Radio

Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...

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
The Majority Report
The Majority Report is a talk radio program originally on the Air America Radio network hosted by film actress/comedienne Janeane Garofalo, and actor/comedian Sam Seder, until Garofalo left in July 2006. Garofalo was reportedly originally asked by Air America to host the program and suggested Seder...

was born.

Best Show Gems

In 2009, a spin-off

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

program titled Best Show Gems began podcasting twice weekly. The podcast is a "greatest hits

Greatest hits

A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...

"-type program featuring highlights from The Best Show. Best Show Gems ranges anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes, and usually centers on a call between Scharpling and Wurster.

Big Dipper Reunion

On his January 20, 2004 radio program, Scharpling had been derisively talking about the VH1 show Bands Reunited
Bands Reunited
Bands Reunited is a television program produced by VH1 in 2004. Hosted by Aamer Haleem, the show documented the attempted reuniting of a formerly popular musical ensemble for a special concert in either London or Los Angeles....

. This discussion led to Scharpling facetiously declaring his goal of reuniting the beloved (though relatively unknown) 1980s Boston indie-rock band Big Dipper

Big Dipper (band)

Big Dipper was an indie rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, USA, formed in 1985 by former members of Volcano Suns and The Embarrassment. They released 4 albums between 1987 and 1990, before splitting up...

. 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

Merge Records

Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...

released the 3-disc Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology on March 18, featuring liner notes by Scharpling.

Reception and fan base

Notable fans of The Best Show include Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien

Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....

and David Cross

David Cross

David Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.