"Absolutely essential to the origins of WTF. The first podcast that was appointment listening for me, it felt like a secret weekly club and created so much loyalty and connection. Innumerable lessons learned while listening to The Best Show were applied from the start to WTF."

- Brendan McDonald, WTF with Marc Maron

The Best Show with Tom Scharpling is a gloriously quirky airwave odyssey—a joyous collision of improv comedy, pop-culture riffing, and the serendipity of live radio gone gloriously off-script. Scharpling, with his dry wit and unwavering commitment to absurdity, orchestrates a delightfully chaotic stage for characters, callers, and fake commercials that together feel like a surreal radio theater. His rapport with co-host Jon Wurster—equal parts straight man, conspirator, and fellow weirdo—forms the show’s mischievous backbone, as they riff on everything from obscure ’80s one-hit wonders to cult TV, crafting spontaneous sketches that oscillate between hilarious and deeply odd. What sets The Best Show apart is its unfiltered energy: there’s a palpable sense that anything might happen, and often does. In Pauline Kael’s spirit, it’s a celebration of craft and eccentricity—an intimate, hilarious ritual in which the eccentric becomes essential, and the live moment is sacred. It’s radio that reminds you why you still tune in.