Tom and Jon will be on “The Simpsons” tonight! This is obviously a dream come true for both and they hope you will tune into Fox tonight at 8:00 PM EST. Here’s a sneak peak.

New Scharpling & Wurster posters and shirts are on sale over at Stereolaffs!

Tom and Jon will be doing three more shows before the year is out. Tickets are on sale now for:

Saturday, November 28th Toronto, ON @ Mod Club

Sunday, November 29th Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair

Sunday, December 13th Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

Tom and Jon are taking their show back on the road and heading to Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 5th at 10 AM Pacific time.

Seattle: 8/27 at Neumos

Portland: 8/29 at Doug Fir Lounge

San Francisco: 9/3 at Great American Music Hall

Los Angeles: 9/5 at El Rey Theater

Tom and Jon will be doing three live shows in March in celebration of their impending, massive Best of Scharpling & Wurster on The Best Show box set. The shows will feature all you’ve come to love about Scharpling & Wurster…but live onstage. There will be special guests from Newbridge and beyond. The Los Angeles show will feature a special screening of the barbershop singing documentary American Harmony.

Tickets go on sale Friday, January 23 at 10 AM EST

March 11  Brooklyn, NY The Bell House Tickets

March 19 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall  Tickets

March 22 Los Angeles, CA  Cinefamily Tickets

There will be a very special tribute to Tom and Jon on January 25 at Marine’s Memorial Theater in San Francisco.

Andy Kindler will moderate and John Darnielle and Bob Mould will perform. Theme Weavers LLC will also be on hand to add to the musical merriment.

You can get tickets right here.

Paste Magazine has two nice Scharpling & Wurster items in its latest online issue.

First up is a long feature on our heroes:

The Best Show With Tom Scharpling: Trending Up

and this nice essay by Robert Ham:

Why The Best Show is the Best Show

Almost one year to the day after signing off, Tom returns to host a brand new Best Show!

You can listen live tonight from 9-12 EST over at The Best Show

Or download the podcast at iTunes.

Numero Group will release a 16-CD box set of the best of Tom and Jon’s Best Show calls on March 31, 2015. There are too many insanely great things in this box to mention so please go to Numero Group for details.

Jake Fogelnest wrote a nice feature on Tom and Jon in the current issue of Spin magazine. The issue was guest edited by Patton Oswalt.

Here ’tis:

Scharpling and Wurster in Spin

Tom continues his hot streak by directing “Legend in My Own Mind”– the new video by the Stepkids. It features “Daily Show” regular Wyatt Cenac and comedian Kurt Braunohler!

“Legend In My Own Mind”

Best Show Gems archivist /producer Martin DeGrell has been posting tons of classic Scharpling & Wurster bits these last few weeks! If I were you I’d place everything on the back burner, put those dogs up on the ottoman of your choosing and settle in for several days worth of S&W magic!

Best Show Gems

Tom recently directed a video for the Ettes song, “Wicked Will.” The video features Patton Oswalt and a whole load of craziness. Here ’tis!

If you live in the Columbus, Oh area please pop in and say “hello” to Jon on April 11th. Before taking the stage with the Mountain Goats at the Wexner Center Jon will be on hand in the venue’s store to sign whatever it is you may want him to sign (NO ARCHITECTURAL BLUEPRINTS, PLEASE). The in-store happens from 7:30-9:00 pm in the Wexner Center store.

Jon Wurster at Wexner Center

Millions know and love Danny Aiello as an actor, singer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. What few know is that The Man With The Silky Smooth Speaking Voice is the owner of one of the largest catalogs of pop music, having steadily acquired the publishing rights to a number of hit songs over the years. Read up on the history of some of the crown jewels of the Danny Aiello Songbook. More…

Joe Berkowitz wrote a nice article for the Village Voice about Jon and the rock/comedy connection.
And you can read it here!

About ten years ago music critic Charles R. Martin called the Best Show to talk to Tom about his illustrious career in the rock ‘n’ roll trenches (he saw the Beatles as a child and deemed them inconsequential and pandering/he gave up on music in the late nineties and listened only to “air mixes” before falling for the sweet sounds of Limp Bizkit and Creed). Though Martin’s call became one of the most beloved moments in Best Show history, he was never heard from again…til now.

The return of the Music Scholar

(This personalized recording was a WFMU Marathon prize won by Mackro last year. He has been kind enough to share it here.)

People! The WFMU Marathon begins today. There would be no Best Show nor Scharpling and Wurster if it wasn’t for WFMU. Please show your love for the Best Show by making a donation on March 1 and March 8 between 9:00 PM-12:00 AM. There’s a fabulous premium waiting for you if you do:

The Best Show On WFMU with Tom Scharpling Presents Don’t Stop Me Now 2011 Best Show Fantasy Pack

A T-shirt! A poster! And a vinyl 7″ with exclusive tracks by big acts recorded just for this premium! Our best yet! (Sizes available: M, LG, XL, XX)

PLEDGE NOW!

Check out the video Tom wrote and directed for the New Pornographers song “Moves.” It stars Jon as lead singer Carl Newman, Kevin Corrigan as Dan Bejar and features comedy stars Horatio Sanz, Julie Klausner, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Todd Barry, John Oliver, Wyatt Cenac, Esther Crowe, rocker Ted Leo and Best Show associate producer Mike Lisk.

Between its 1984 and 1985 seasons, Saturday Night Live went through well known major changes when creator Lorne Michaels returned to the show, replacing producer Dick Ebersol. What few remember is that Ebersol’s tenure had been cut short by three episodes thanks to the 1981 writers’ strike, and he was still under contract to deliver those shows.

The solution: an experiment in Summer 1985 saw three more SNLs produced, with the option for a recurring summer spot if they were successful. Instead, these three episodes would never air again. More…

Jon recently spoke with writer Trevor Risk about his role on the Best Show on WFMU and also his musical endeavors. Check out his yammerings at Ion magazine.

From 1974-1984, Happy Days capitalized on a wave of nostalgia for late 1950s/early 1960s culture and became one of television’s biggest hits. But as it grew, the show betrayed its more modern sensibilities. Below are some of the most notable anachronisms, with comments excerpted from several interviews with series creator Garry Marshall. More…

Hey all –

The Best Show wrapped up its final show for 2010 last night and it was a doozy! You can check it out by going over to http://wfmu.org/playlists/BS/. My brother Ron checked in to yell at me about Christmas, and there’s a really funny call from Paul F Tompkins.

Thanks again for everybody who helped make 2010 a year to remember and helped make it a year to forget.

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome aboard a new blogging voice to the S&W family. His name is Wes and he’s a good dude and he’s hilarious and he’s gonna help us out with ‘content’, which is apparently important in the internet world. He’s got really funny ideas so LOOK OUT FOR THIS KID BECAUSE HE IS GOING PLACES.

2011 is gonna be Something Else! See you there!

Tom.

Jon stopped by Chicago’s WBEZ studios last week for a short, funny interview regarding his Wikipedia page. He set the record straight on his brushes with everyone from the Dead Milkmen to Katy Perry.

Wikipedia Files

Check out the video Tom wrote and directed for the Ted Leo & the Pharmacists song, “Bottled in Cork.” Guest stars include John Hodgman, Paul F. Tompkins and Julie Klausner!

Our friend Martin has been very busy uploading tons of classic Scharpling and Wurster bits to Best Show Gems. Bernie Taupin! Hot Rockin’ Ronny! Big Bill/Little Bill…!

Best Show Gems

Jon was interviewed recently for Superchunk’s upcoming Toronto show. The interview touches on his work with Tom and the Best Show.

Eye Weekly

A classic from 2007. Tom gets a call from an insane drunk driver.

Please enjoy another classic Scharpling & Wurster bit over at Best Show Gems.

Get fogged!

More and more classic Scharpling & Wurster bits have been posted over at Best Show Gems. (BSGs made possible by Martin Degrell)