User:W-Roman Dog Bird/best show

The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling was a talk/comedy/music program hosted by comedian and writer Tom Scharpling on the freeform radio station WFMU from 2000 to 2013. One of the main features of the show were comedic bits between Scharpling and his comedy partner, musician Jon Wurster (drummer for Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, Bob Mould, etc.) who would call in under various guises, usually posing as an exceedingly arrogant and bizarre character with Scharpling serving as the straight man. The duo, under the name Scharpling & Wurster, released four albums from 2002 to 2007, collecting some of the best material from the first seven years of the show. Full length shows have been archived through the show's page on the official WFMU website. While the majority of the archived shows have stayed in place, a handful have been removed from the archives over the years when material featuring the duo was released on their official albums; others were never archived due to technical difficulties or general dissatisfaction with how they turned out. While some of these shows have been preserved in some ways, a few from the shows earliest days no longer survive in their entirety.

Missing shows

 * December 12, 2000 - "Tom Talks to Radio Hut Employee" : "Radio Hut" call from Scharpling & Wurster's 2002 album "Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin" taken from this show, removed completely from WFMU archive.
 * January 9, 2001 - "A Very Real Interview with the "Real-life Fonzie" Roland Gorchnick" : "The Gorch" call from Scharpling & Wurster's 2002 album "Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin" taken from this show, removed completely from WFMU archive.
 * January 23, 2001 - "A Chat with Maurice Kern, Head of Citizens For A True Democracy": "Citizens for a True Democracy" call from Scharpling & Wurster's 2002 album "Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin" taken from this show, removed completely from WFMU archive.
 * September 4, 2001 - "Tom Talks To The Coolest Guy On Earth, And Tom Talks To Roger Tamblyn, Manager Of Bands Like The Inspiral Carpets And Gaye Bikers On Acid. Also, Tom Talks To Today's Youth About Returning To School.": "The Music Scholar" call from Scharpling & Wurster's 2002 album "Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin" taken from this show, removed completely from WFMU archive.

Incomplete shows

 * October 10, 2000: First episode, never archived but released in edited form on the emergency premium release "The Best Show Uncovered Vol. 1"
 * October 17, 2000: Second episode, never archived but released in edited form on the emergency premium release "The Best Show Uncovered Vol. 1"

Shows removed from archive but available in their entirety

 * December 19, 2000 - "A Star Wars Insider Spills the Beans" : Removed due to heavy traffic, archived at TheForce.net (requires Real Player to listen, MP3 copy in unofficial archive listed below)
 * December 26, 2000 - "Tom Talks to Dick Halligan, Jr., author of Blood, Sweat and Real Tears.": Archive (allegedly) removed at request of Blood, Sweat and Tears front man David Clayton Thomas. Tom's interview with Dick Halligan Jr. (portrayed by comedian Jon Benjamin) was released on CD as The Best Show's premium for the WFMU Marathon fundraiser in 2001, while a nearly complete copy of the show (presumably recorded from it's original broadcast) can be found in the unofficial archive.

Links

 * Official archive at WFMU's website
 * Homepage of Scharpling & Wurster's record label, Stereolaffs
 * Unofficial archive collected by a fan of the show containing nearly every episode in MP3 format