Listen to EVERY episode of "The Best Show" (RIP)
marquee from Toronto listening party & Tom’s post-show Tweet…
If you had to estimate how much planning went into the final show, what would you be looking at?
It’s hard to say. Jon [Wurster] and I talked about what the final bits would be for well over a month. And there were five people helping pull sound clips from the 13 years of the show for the audio collage. I have no idea how many actual hours, but it was a lot. I went into that show last night wanting it to be perfect, but that’s an impossible goal. So I was kind of glad when I flubbed a cue on a record in the opening set and then had a technical problem with my headphones. Because after that it was impossible for the show to be “perfect.”
Tell me about the decision to not include any in-studio guests for the final show.
As we were building up to the final show, I decided that we would have the second-to-last show be some version of the in-studio guest/all-star episode. But I wanted the final episode to be representative of what people would actually tune in to hear every week. If we did in-studio guests, it would’ve ultimately been a wake for the show, with everybody talking about what the show was to them. I wanted the final show to be an actual episode, not a retrospective. – [Grantland]
Tom Scharpling‘s much much much loved The Best Show on WFMU signed off last night (12/17) for good, and the final show was one that was so listened to it taxed WFMU’s streaming servers (many people kept having their connections interrupted). And it actually even was trending on Twitter. There were also listening parties all over the country, and at least one in Canada — check out the picture of the Toronto one above. In studio, meanwhile, it featured an appearance from frequent caller Philly Boy Roy who was on the run from the cops after crashing a helicopter into a sub shop. That, of course, is one of the many “Best Show” characters from Tom’s comedy partner (and Superchunk drummer) Jon Wurster who also for the first time ever spoke on air not as a character.
Other highlights: Tom’s headphones not working in a Murphy’s Law moment (“of course this has to happen on the final show”); a crazy audio-montage of past hilarious moments while the heartbeat from Huey Lewis’ “Heart Of Rock and Roll” beat throughout; and he closed out the show with Black Flag’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme.”
If you missed it — or your connection cut out on you last night — you can stream it below. In fact you can stream EVERY episode of “The Best Show on WFMU” at the station’s archives. Ever heard the 2010 episode where Tom and John Hodgman drink soon-to-be-off-market Four Loko?
Dave Hill will soon be taking over the Tuesday 9 – Midnight slot on WFMU. Tom promises that he and Wurster will continue to work together. Meanwhile, stream the last “Best Show on WFMU” below…
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