Tom Scharpling
Encyclopedia
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 as a writer on Tom Goes to the Mayor
and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
. Beginning in 1999, he has released six albums with comedy partner Jon Wurster
under the moniker Scharpling & Wurster
. He is also currently developing two programs for Comedy Central
.
As a writer, Scharpling has had work published in GQ, New York Magazine, and Harp. Since 2010, Scharpling has directed music video
s for The New Pornographers
, Ted Leo
, Titus Andronicus
, Wild Flag
, and The Ettes
.
. He was a fan of Saturday Night Live
and SCTV
from a young age. He attended Middlesex High School
, Middlesex Community College
, and Trenton State College
. He graduated with a degree in English. Scharpling worked at a sheet music
shop called World of Music in Summit, New Jersey
from 1979 through 1999.
He has cited his major comedy influences as Chris Elliott
's Get a Life
, SCTV, Saturday Night Live, and the 1994 absurdist comedy Clifford
starring Martin Short
. Scharpling later purchased the suit worn by Short in Clifford via an eBay
auction.
-based freeform
station WFMU
in the early 1990s. He started hosting a music-oriented program on the station in the mid-1990s. He briefly left the station in the late 1990s because he "had some personal things to take care of with family and stuff." Scharpling has told interviewers that he prefers the medium of radio due to the anxiety he gets from being onstage.
In the early 1990s, Scharpling was the publisher of 18 Wheeler fanzine
, and ran an independent record label of the same name. The first 7-inch single by Portastatic
was released by Scharpling's label in 1992. He also contributed the liner notes for The Electrifying Conclusion, Guided By Voices
's DVD documentary of their final live show in Chicago.
program that airs Tuesday nights; the program features a roster of misfit callers (some genuine, some acting in character), along with the occasional celebrity guest. Scharpling makes no money from the station, and regularly encourages fans to donate to the non-profit station by offering elaborate pledge drive
gifts.
Nearly every episode of The Best Show features an on-air collaborations with Superchunk
drummer Jon Wurster
. The pair met at a concert in the early 1990s, and quickly bonded over their mutual love of Chris Elliott
's short-lived sitcom Get A Life
. As Scharpling and Wurster, they have released six albums of comedy segments from The Best Show on their Stereolaffs
record label. The duo almost never performs live, with one of the few exceptions to the rule being when they hosted Matador Records
' 21st Anniversary Festival at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas in October 2010.
Citing his tenure on The Best Show as proof, the August 2010 issue of GQ magazine listed Scharpling #11 on its list of 37 "Never Not Funny" comedians, dubbing him one of "the funniest men you haven't heard of yet."
writer and fellow WFMU DJ Andy Breckman
. Scharpling acted as executive producer for the show for seasons five through the end of the series.
He appeared on an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force
("The Shaving") as the voice of "Willie Nelson", an awkward, unassertive onion–spider monster hybrid who lives in the attic of the house. He also appears on the special features portion of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 3 DVD. In addition, Scharpling occasionally wrote for Tom Goes to the Mayor
and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
.
Scharpling is currently in the developmental stages of co-creating and co-writing a show with Paul F. Tompkins for Comedy Central
, titled Evil Genius. Tompkins will play Professor Tiberius Lynch, a mad scientist who successfully takes over the world, but is then confronted with the banal actualities of running earth. In addition to Evil Genius, Scharpling is currently developing a second program for Comedy Central.
s, and are often met with positive reviews.
Spoofing Green Day
's American Idiot
musical, Scharpling's video for Ted Leo
's "Bottled in Cork" features Paul F. Tompkins
as a theater promoter and Julie Klausner
as a dance instructor. The video obtained "Immortal" status on Funny or Die
shortly after it was released online.
With the video for The New Pornographers
' "Moves", Scharpling was presented with the issue of the band being on tour, rendering them unable to appear in the short. As a solution, Scharpling chose to create a trailer for a fake biopic about The New Pornographers, with a number of comedy celebrities portraying the various members of the band. The video features Wyatt Cenac
, Horatio Sanz
, Todd Barry
, Julie Klausner, John Hodgman
, Bill Hader
, Paul Rudd
, Donald Glover
, and Jon Wurster.
In addition, Scharpling has also created music videos for Titus Andronicus
, Wild Flag
, The Ettes
and The Stepkids.
's 2011 book, That Is All.
Print
Scharpling has worked as an editor for The Onion
, as well as the writer of Harp Magazines "(Not So) Great Moments in Rock" column. He has also contributed basketball
-themed writing to GQ and SLAM Magazine
. In 2011, Scharpling was commissioned by New York Magazine to write multi-page recaps for every episode of the fourth season of NBC
's Celebrity Apprentice
.
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, television writer, producer and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
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 as a writer on Tom Goes to the Mayor
Tom Goes to the Mayor
Tom Goes to the Mayor is an American animated television series created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 14, 2004 and ended on September 25, 2006, with a total of thirty episodes.-History:Tom Goes to the...
and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is an American sketch comedy television series, created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which premiered February 11, 2007 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim comedy block and ran until May 2010...
. Beginning in 1999, he has released six albums with comedy partner 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....
under the moniker Scharpling & Wurster
Scharpling & Wurster
Scharpling and Wurster is a long-form radio comedy duo composed of Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster. Scharpling was a writer/producer for the USA network program, Monk. Wurster is the drummer for indie rock pioneers Superchunk and was also the drummer in The Ascended Masters, Guided by Voices...
. He is also currently developing two programs for Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
.
As a writer, Scharpling has had work published in GQ, New York Magazine, and Harp. Since 2010, Scharpling has directed music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s for The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
, 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...
, Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus (band)
Titus Andronicus is a punk/indie rock band from Glen Rock, New Jersey, USA, formed in 2005. The group takes its name from the Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus, and has cited musical and stylistic influences as diverse as Neutral Milk Hotel and Pulp...
, Wild Flag
Wild Flag
Wild Flag is an American four-piece group based in Portland, Oregon and Washington, D.C.. The group consists of Carrie Brownstein , Mary Timony , Rebecca Cole and Janet Weiss...
, and The Ettes
The Ettes
The Ettes is a garage rock revival band consisting of Lindsay “Coco” Hames, Maria “Poni” Silver, and Jeremy “Jem” Cohen. The band formed in 2004 in Los Angeles, California and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.-History:...
.
Early life
Scharpling was born February 9, 1969, and grew up in Dunellen, New JerseyDunellen, New Jersey
Dunellen is a Borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the borough population was 6,823.Dunellen was formed as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on October 28, 1887, when it broke away from Piscataway Township, based on the results...
. He was a fan of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
and SCTV
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
from a young age. He attended Middlesex High School
Middlesex High School
Middlesex High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the center of Middlesex, Middlesex County, New Jersey. It is part of the Middlesex Board of Education...
, Middlesex Community College
Middlesex County College
Middlesex County College is a community college with its main campus located in Edison, New Jersey, United States. The two-year college serves the needs of Middlesex County, as well as surrounding communities. There are two urban campuses located in New Brunswick and Perth Amboy.The college was...
, and Trenton State College
The College of New Jersey
The College of New Jersey, abbreviated TCNJ, is a public, coeducational university located in Ewing Township, New Jersey, a suburb of Trenton....
. He graduated with a degree in English. Scharpling worked at a sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
shop called World of Music in Summit, New Jersey
Summit, New Jersey
Summit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 21,457. Summit had the 16th-highest per capita income in the state as of the 2000 Census....
from 1979 through 1999.
He has cited his major comedy influences as Chris Elliott
Chris Elliott
Christopher Nash "Chris" Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman, starring in the cult comedy series Get a Life and for his recurring role as Peter MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond...
's Get a Life
Get a Life (TV series)
Get a Life is a television sitcom that was broadcast in the United States on the Fox Network from September 23, 1990, to March 8, 1992. The show starred Chris Elliott as a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parents' garage...
, SCTV, Saturday Night Live, and the 1994 absurdist comedy Clifford
Clifford (film)
Clifford is a 1994 comedy film starring Martin Short, Charles Grodin, and Mary Steenburgen.The film was shot in 1990 and originally planned for release in the summer of 1991, but remained in limbo for several years due to Orion Pictures' bleak financial situation...
starring 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...
. Scharpling later purchased the suit worn by Short in Clifford via an eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
auction.
Early music-based radio shows and writing
Scharpling began volunteering at the New JerseyNew 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 freeform
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
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...
in the early 1990s. He started hosting a music-oriented program on the station in the mid-1990s. He briefly left the station in the late 1990s because he "had some personal things to take care of with family and stuff." Scharpling has told interviewers that he prefers the medium of radio due to the anxiety he gets from being onstage.
In the early 1990s, Scharpling was the publisher of 18 Wheeler fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
, and ran an independent record label of the same name. The first 7-inch single by Portastatic
Portastatic
Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s by Mac McCaughan. Portastatic began as a solo project for McCaughan, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk...
was released by Scharpling's label in 1992. He also contributed the liner notes for The Electrifying Conclusion, Guided By Voices
Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band originating from Dayton, Ohio. Beginning with the band's formation in 1983, it made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard...
's DVD documentary of their final live show in Chicago.
The Best Show on WFMU
Scharpling hosted the first episode of The Best Show on WFMU on October 24, 2000. The program is a three-hour comedy, music, call-in and talk radioTalk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
program that airs Tuesday nights; the program features a roster of misfit callers (some genuine, some acting in character), along with the occasional celebrity guest. Scharpling makes no money from the station, and regularly encourages fans to donate to the non-profit station by offering elaborate pledge drive
Pledge drive
A pledge drive is an extended period of fundraising activities, generally used by public broadcasting stations to increase contributions. The term "pledge" originates from the promise a contributor makes to send in funding at regular intervals for a certain amount of time...
gifts.
Nearly every episode of The Best Show features an on-air collaborations with Superchunk
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....
. The pair met at a concert in the early 1990s, and quickly bonded over their mutual love of Chris Elliott
Chris Elliott
Christopher Nash "Chris" Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman, starring in the cult comedy series Get a Life and for his recurring role as Peter MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond...
's short-lived sitcom Get A Life
Get a Life (TV series)
Get a Life is a television sitcom that was broadcast in the United States on the Fox Network from September 23, 1990, to March 8, 1992. The show starred Chris Elliott as a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parents' garage...
. As Scharpling and Wurster, they have released six albums of comedy segments from The Best Show on their 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...
record label. The duo almost never performs live, with one of the few exceptions to the rule being when they hosted Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
' 21st Anniversary Festival at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas in October 2010.
Citing his tenure on The Best Show as proof, the August 2010 issue of GQ magazine listed Scharpling #11 on its list of 37 "Never Not Funny" comedians, dubbing him one of "the funniest men you haven't heard of yet."
Television
Tom Scharpling was the first writer to be hired for the series Monk. He was hired to the show by Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
writer and fellow WFMU DJ Andy Breckman
Andy Breckman
Andy Breckman is a television and film writer and a radio personality. He is the co-creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series Monk on the USA Network, and is co-host of WFMU radio's long-running conceptual comedy program Seven Second Delay...
. Scharpling acted as executive producer for the show for seasons five through the end of the series.
He appeared on an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force , retitled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 in 2011, is an American animated television series on Cartoon Network late night programing block, Adult Swim, as well as Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4 Canada's ADd block in Canada...
("The Shaving") as the voice of "Willie Nelson", an awkward, unassertive onion–spider monster hybrid who lives in the attic of the house. He also appears on the special features portion of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 3 DVD. In addition, Scharpling occasionally wrote for Tom Goes to the Mayor
Tom Goes to the Mayor
Tom Goes to the Mayor is an American animated television series created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 14, 2004 and ended on September 25, 2006, with a total of thirty episodes.-History:Tom Goes to the...
and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is an American sketch comedy television series, created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which premiered February 11, 2007 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim comedy block and ran until May 2010...
.
Scharpling is currently in the developmental stages of co-creating and co-writing a show with Paul F. Tompkins for Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, titled Evil Genius. Tompkins will play Professor Tiberius Lynch, a mad scientist who successfully takes over the world, but is then confronted with the banal actualities of running earth. In addition to Evil Genius, Scharpling is currently developing a second program for Comedy Central.
Music videos
Starting in August 2010, Scharpling has directed a number of music videos, typically for groups that he is friends with, and almost always on an extremely limited budget. The shorts usually contain a number of celebrity cameoCameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s, and are often met with positive reviews.
Spoofing Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
's American Idiot
American Idiot (musical)
American Idiot is a one-act, through-sung stage musical. The show is an adaptation of punk rock band Green Day's concept album of the same name. Additional Green Day songs were interpolated from other sources, including 21st Century Breakdown, American Idiot b-sides, and an unreleased song called...
musical, Scharpling's video for 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...
's "Bottled in Cork" features 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...
as a theater promoter and 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...
as a dance instructor. The video obtained "Immortal" status on Funny or Die
Funny or Die
Funny or Die is a comedy video website founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez Productions with original and user-generated content. Funny or Die contains exclusive material from a number of famous contributors and also has its own Funny or Die Team, which creates...
shortly after it was released online.
With the video for The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
' "Moves", Scharpling was presented with the issue of the band being on tour, rendering them unable to appear in the short. As a solution, Scharpling chose to create a trailer for a fake biopic about The New Pornographers, with a number of comedy celebrities portraying the various members of the band. The video features Wyatt Cenac
Wyatt Cenac
Wyatt Cenac is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is currently working as a correspondent and writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.-Early years:...
, 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...
, 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...
, Julie Klausner, 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...
, Bill Hader
Bill Hader
William "Bill" Hader is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a creative consultant on the hit show South Park and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his supporting roles in comedy films such as Superbad, Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder,...
, Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...
, Donald Glover
Donald Glover
Donald McKinley Glover is an American actor, writer, comedian, and musician. Glover first came to attention for his work in the sketch group Derrick Comedy, and is best known for his role as community college student Troy Barnes on the NBC comedy series Community...
, and Jon Wurster.
In addition, Scharpling has also created music videos for Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, and possibly George Peele, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy, and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were...
, Wild Flag
Wild Flag
Wild Flag is an American four-piece group based in Portland, Oregon and Washington, D.C.. The group consists of Carrie Brownstein , Mary Timony , Rebecca Cole and Janet Weiss...
, The Ettes
The Ettes
The Ettes is a garage rock revival band consisting of Lindsay “Coco” Hames, Maria “Poni” Silver, and Jeremy “Jem” Cohen. The band formed in 2004 in Los Angeles, California and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.-History:...
and The Stepkids.
Web
Scharpling directed and co-wrote the web "trailer" for John HodgmanJohn 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...
's 2011 book, That Is All.
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
, as well as the writer of Harp Magazines "(Not So) Great Moments in Rock" column. He has also contributed basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
-themed writing to GQ and SLAM Magazine
SLAM Magazine
SLAM Magazine is an American basketball magazine in circulation since 1994, published by Source Interlink. SLAM publishes nine issues a year to its circulation of over 500,000 readers worldwide.-History:...
. In 2011, Scharpling was commissioned by New York Magazine to write multi-page recaps for every episode of the fourth season of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Celebrity Apprentice
Celebrity Apprentice
Celebrity Apprentice is a variation of the TV series, The Apprentice, in which the competitors are already celebrities from various walks of life. Thus far, the concept has been used, with some variations, in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.Installments of the American series...
.
Personal life
Scharpling lives in Woodbridge, New Jersey with his wife, fellow WFMU DJ Terre T. He has been a pescatarian since approximately 1994, and almost never consumes alcohol.Discography (as Scharpling and Wurster)
- Rock, Rot and Rule (Stereolaffs, 1999)
- Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin (Stereolaffs, 2002)
- New Hope for the Ape-Eared (Stereolaffs, 2004)
- Hippy Justice (Stereolaffs, 2005)
- The Art of the Slap (Stereolaffs, 2007)
- The Best You Can Do Is Be Worse Than The Best Show on WFMU (self-released as a premium for the WFMU Marathon, 2007)
- At The Speed Of Sound (self-released as a premium for the WFMU Marathon, 2009)
- Tom - A Best Show On WFMU Tribute to Ram (self-released as a premium for the WFMU Marathon, 2009) Though not an "true" Scharpling & Wurster release, Tom produced the album and Wurster guest stars as Zachary Brimstead, Esq. on the Dump (band)Dump (band)Dump is a vehicle for releasing the four-track home recordings of Yo La Tengo bassist James McNew. His recordings occasionally feature guest performers such as Sue Garner and Fontaine Toups...
version of Uncle Albert/Admiral HalseyUncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney from the album Ram. Released in the United States as a single on 2 August 1971, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1971, making it the first of a string of post-Beatles, McCartney-penned singles to top the US... - A Vampire or a Dogman (Merge, 2009)
- Best Show Uncovered Vol. 1 (self-released as a premium for the WFMU 24-Hour Emergency Marathon, 2010) (MP3 CDMP3 CDAn MP3 CD is a Compact Disc that contains digital audio in the MP3 file format. Discs are written in the Yellow Book standard data format , as opposed to the Red Book standard audio format ....
)
External links
- Tom Scharpling on TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
- The Friends of Tom web site
- Official Scharpling & Wurster web site
- Stereolaffs web site
- Audio archives of The Best Show on WFMU
- Best Show Vault, a fan site featuring "best of" audio clips from The Best Show on WFMU
- Recidivism Best Show Recaps
- The Newbridgctionary, a comprehensive listing of calls/appearances by the many characters portrayed by Jon Wurster over the course of The Best Show On WFMU's history
- The FOTpedia, a compendium of Tom Scharpling/Best Show on WFMU knowledge