I've been waiting for this particular topic just to sign up to the Friends of Tom board!
My favorite installment: November 3, 2009: JOHN HODGMAN In Studio! PAUL F TOMPKINS In Studio! DAVID REES In Studio! Philly Boy Roy Calls In! Talk Of Rage And Of Tom Doing His Fontasy Basketball Draft From A Kinko's On The Sunset Strip, And Discussion Of How Fat Chris Christie Is.
I will forever love this episode. This was the show that made me "get it." (We're approaching Deadhead levels of Best Show cultdom here, so beware...) I had only discovered The Best Show about a month after this aired; my first episode was the six hour one from 11/24/09...I will admit to being fooled by the first Wurster call - I really did think, at first, that Wurster's superhipster character was a real caller (I didn't know ANYTHING about the show other than that the Night People guys were fans) and the fact that I had heard something that genuinely inspired and surprising and hilarious piqued my curiosity about the Best Show. So I downloaded some previous podcasts of the show to discover what else Tom had to offer.
I should preface this by stating that I had just gone through a terrible, miserable breakup with a serious girlfriend, and I was broke, going to grad school, and working full-time and truly down in the dumps in the last few months of 2009. So there's the context, okay? Anyway, I was driving around Chicago one cold grey November afternoon, utterly depressed, and I decided to give the 11/3/09 show a listen, and within 15 minutes, I literally had to pull over because I was laughing so hard tears (I'm guessing they were cathartic, whatever) were running down my face. I don't think I stopped laughing for the entire duration of the episode. I had to go back and listen to Tom and Paul and John and David riffing on an imaginary mattress salesman-themed "Glengarry Glen Ross" three times ("These are the Glengarry leads...but you don't get them"). This was the first time I heard Philly Boy Roy, too.
So what I'm saying is that for three hours during a long, tough, horrifically cold and emotionally raw time in my life, Tom and the Best Show brought me a dose of unalloyed joy so pure that, in order to chase it down and relive that joy, I became a drooling, fawning fan, fiending for each new installment, eager to trawl the back catalogue for more Newbridge trivia and caller lore, and a wide-eyed proseltyzer for the healing power of The Best Show. I feel like I owe Tom (and Jon...and Mike....you get the idea) a huge debt of gratitude.
The only time I've ever called the show was to wish Tom a happy birthday in 2010. He sang a Cranberries song to me. It was stupendous.
I'm doing a lot better now.
Anyways, so that's my favorite episode...you munch.
