Thomas John Giuliano II (born February 9, 1969), known professionally as Tom Scharpling, is an American comedian, television writer, producer,

music video director A music video director is the head of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or may not be in collaborati ...

, voice actor, and radio host. He is best known for hosting the weekly

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

call-in In broadcasting, a phone-in or call-in is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast. On radio ( ...

comedy program ''

The Best Show with Tom Scharpling ''The Best Show with Tom Scharpling'' (formerly ''The Best Show on WFMU'') is a combination music, call-in, and comedy Internet radio show/podcast hosted independently by Tom Scharpling since 2014, which previously aired on New Jersey-based rad ...

'' (formerly ''The Best Show on WFMU''), the voice of Greg Universe in the animated series ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe ( Zach Callison), who lives with the Crystal Gems—magical, mineral ...

'' and its sequel series ''

Steven Universe Future ''Steven Universe Future'' is an American animated limited series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It serves as an epilogue to the 2013–2019 original series ''Steven Universe'' and its follow-up 2019 animated film '' Steven Univer ...

'', and for acting as a writer/executive producer for the TV show ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

''. Scharpling was also a writer on ''

Tom Goes to the Mayor ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'' is an American adult animated 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 t ...

'' and '' Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' Beginning in 1999, he released six albums with comedy partner

Jon Wurster Jonathan Patrick Wurster (born October 31, 1966) is an American drummer and comedy writer. As a musician, he is best known for his work with Superchunk, the Mountain Goats, and Bob Mould. He is also known for appearing on '' The Best Show'' with ...

under the moniker Scharpling & Wurster. As a writer, Scharpling has had work published in '' GQ'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', and ''

Harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

''. Since 2010, Scharpling has directed music videos for The New Pornographers,

Ted Leo Theodore Francis Leo is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman and lead guitarist of the rock group Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and in 2013, he and Aimee Mann formed the indie rock duo The Both. Early life Born in South Bend, ...

Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen as his attempt to emul ...

Wild Flag Wild Flag was an American four-piece indie rock/post-punk supergroup based in Portland, Oregon and Washington, D.C. The group consisted of Carrie Brownstein (vocals, guitar), Mary Timony (vocals, guitar), Rebecca Cole ( keyboards, backing vocal ...

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

Real Estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

, Frankie Cosmos, and

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 The Ettes release ...

Early life

Scharpling was born in New Jersey. He grew up in Dunellen, New Jersey.LaGorce, Tammy
"In Person; Gotcha! Stay Tuned"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 1, 2006. Accessed February 27, 2020. "'It's great when people you admire like what you're doing,' Mr. Scharpling, who grew up in Dunellen, writes for ''Monk'' in Summit and lives with his wife in Woodbridge, said before a recent ''Best Show.'' " He was a fan of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' and '' SCTV'' from a young age. He attended

Middlesex High School Middlesex High School (MHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the center of Middlesex, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of ...

, Middlesex Community College, and

Trenton State College The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

. He graduated with a degree in English. Scharpling worked at a

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, ...

shop called World of Music in

Summit, New Jersey Summit is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city is located on a ridge in northern-central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. At the 2010 United State ...

from 1979 through 1999. He has cited his major comedy influences as

Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...

's '' Get a Life'', SCTV, ''Saturday Night Live'', and the 1994 absurdist comedy '' Clifford'' starring

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He ...

. Scharpling later purchased the suit worn by Short in ''Clifford'' via an

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

auction. In his late teens, Scharpling had a mental breakdown that led him to be checked in to a

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

; his condition was cured with

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...

, which led to some memory loss. Scharpling became an avid cassette tape collector, and began to use the name "Mel Sharples" (the name of a character on the sitcom ''

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

'') for himself when ordering tapes, to distinguish himself from his father, who had the same name (Scharpling was then still known as Tom Giuliano). He found that he enjoyed having a pseudonym, because the new name had no "baggage", including no association to his previous mental illness. He decided to "tweak" the name Mel Sharples and went with "Tom Scharpling"; the surname was based on a combination of the surnames of two of his heroes at the time, activist

Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...

and comedian

Garry Shandling Garry Emmanuel Shandling (November 29, 1949 – March 24, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms, such as ''Sanford and Son'' and '' Welcome Back, Kotter''. He made ...

, with a "c" added in for "panache".

Career

Early music-based radio shows and writing

Scharpling began volunteering at the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

-based freeform station

WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, i ...

in the early 1990s.

Gothamist Gothamist LLC is the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Rickett ...

article:
Tom Scharpling, Writer, Producer, and Host of the Best Show on WFMU
." 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 A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...

, and ran an independent record label of the same name. The first 7-inch single by

Portastatic Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s as a solo project of Mac McCaughan, singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk. The project has since expanded into a full band, sometimes including Superchunk gu ...

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.

''The Best Show on WFMU''

Scharpling hosted the first episode of ''

The Best Show on WFMU ''The Best Show with Tom Scharpling'' (formerly ''The Best Show on WFMU'') is a combination music, call-in, and comedy Internet radio show/podcast hosted independently by Tom Scharpling since 2014, which previously aired on New Jersey-based r ...

'' on October 10, 2000. The program was a three-hour comedy, music,

and

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

program that aired Tuesday nights; the program featured a roster of callers (some genuine, some acting in character), along with the occasional celebrity guest. Scharpling made no money from the station, and regularly encouraged fans to donate to the non-profit station by offering elaborate

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 that a contributor makes to send in funding at regular interval ...

gifts. Nearly every episode of ''The Best Show'' featured an on-air collaboration with

Superchunk Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of ...

drummer

. The pair met at a concert in the early 1990s, and bonded over their mutual love of

'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 rarely performs live, with one of the few exceptions to the rule being when they hosted

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apar ...

' 21st Anniversary Festival at the

Palms Casino Palms Casino Resort is a hotel and casino located near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. It includes 703 rooms and a casino. It was originally owned by t ...

in Las Vegas in October 2010.'' The A.V. Club'' article:
At 21, Day 3: The club is re-opened
" Citing his tenure on ''The Best Show'' as proof, the August 2010 issue of '' GQ'' magazine listed Scharpling No. 11 on its list of 37 "Never Not Funny" comedians, dubbing him one of "the funniest men you haven't heard of yet." On October 29, 2013, Scharpling announced that the final ''Best Show on WFMU'' was to air on December 17, 2013. On October 10, 2014, 14 years to the day after ''The Best Show'' first aired, Scharpling announced via his Twitter page that ''The Best Show'' would return in November 2014. On December 17, 2014, the first episode of ''The Best Show'' in its new format, a web-cast and podcast, aired via thebestshow.net. The live webcast of the show follows the same format as it did on WFMU, with callers, skits performed by Scharpling and Wurster, and a three-hour run-time. Scharpling is considered by some as the "Godfather Of Podcasting". Episodes of ''The Best Show'' were archived from the shows beginning, as were most of the programs on WFMU, in the RealPlayer format. It began podcasting in early 2006 with the music removed from the latest shows and offered as downloadable files on the internet through the rest of its run on the station, helping it reach an even wider audience than it had already developed.

Television

Tom Scharpling was the first writer to be hired for the series ''Monk''. He was hired to the show by ''

'' writer and fellow WFMU DJ

Andy Breckman Andrew Ross Breckman (born March 3, 1955) is an American television and film writer and a radio personality on WFMU. He is the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ''Monk'' on the USA Network, and is co-hos ...

.''USA''. video:
Video interview with Scharpling on the official ''Monk'' website
." Scharpling acted as Monk's executive producer during the last four of the show's eight seasons. He appeared on an episode of ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...

'' (" 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 ''

'' and '' Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!''. He voices Greg Universe in the animated series ''

''. He also voiced Jermaine in the animated series ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

''. Scharpling was a head writer/co-executive producer for season one of HBO's show ''Divorce''.

Music videos

Starting in August 2010, Scharpling has directed a number of music videos, typically for groups that he is friends with, and mostly on an extremely limited budget. The shorts usually contain a number of celebrity cameos, and are often met with positive reviews. Pitchfork Magazine'' article:
Video: Ted Leo: "Bottled in Cork"
" Scharpling's music video for

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (sometimes written Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, or TL/Rx) are an American rock band formed in 1999 in Washington, D.C. They have released six full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. ...

's "Bottled in Cork" shows the band agreeing to star in a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical, in a spoof of

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...

's musical '' American Idiot''.WFMU.org article:
Tom Scharpling-directed Ted Leo vid reaches immortal status!
" The video features

Paul F. Tompkins Paul Francis Tompkins (born September 12, 1968) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television on such programs as ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'', '' Real Time with Bill Maher'', and ''Best Week Ever'', later ...

as a theater promoter, Julie Klausner as a dance instructor and John Hodgman as a theatre critic. The video obtained "Immortal" status on ''

Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

'' 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 biographical film about The New Pornographers, with a number of comedy celebrities portraying the various members of the band. The video features

Wyatt Cenac Wyatt John Foster Cenac Jr. (; born April 19, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He was a correspondent and writer for ''The Daily Show'' from 2008 to 2012. He starred in the TBS series ''People of Earth'' and in Barry ...

Horatio Sanz Horacio Sanz (born June 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Horatio Sanz, is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006. Early life Sanz was born on June 4, 1969 in Sant ...

Gary Dell'Abate Gary Patrick Angelo Dell'Abate (born March 14, 1961), also known by the nickname Baba Booey, is an American radio producer who has been the executive producer of ''The Howard Stern Show'' since 1984. His autobiography, '' They Call Me Baba Booey'' ...

Todd Barry Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporat ...

, Julie Klausner, John Hodgman,

Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (201 ...

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glov ...

, John Oliver, and

. In 2012, Scharpling directed the video for

's song "Labrador", which is a shot-by-shot remake of the video for the 1985

'Til Tuesday Til Tuesday (often stylized as til tuesday) was an American new wave band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The band, consisting of Aimee Mann (lead vocals, bass), Robert Holmes (guitar), Joey Pesce (keyboards), and Michael Haus ...

song "

Voices Carry "Voices Carry" is a song by the American Rock music, rock band 'Til Tuesday. It was produced by Mike Thorne for the band's debut studio album, ''Voices Carry (album), Voices Carry'' (1985). The accompanying music video, directed by D.J. Webste ...

", with Mann in the lead role, Jon Wurster playing the abusive

yuppie Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...

boyfriend, and

as the guitarist in Mann's band. The video begins with a brief "making of" clip featuring

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televis ...

as "Tom Scharpling", discussing the video concept, and Mann stating that she was tricked into doing the video. Scharpling has also directed music videos for

and

The Stepkids The Stepkids are an American psychedelic soul band composed of Tim Walsh, Jeff Gitelman, and Dan Edinberg. Their early live performances were characterized by kaleidoscopic projections by experimental video artists David Pond and Jesse Mann, cons ...

Web

Scharpling directed and co-wrote the web "trailer" for John Hodgman's 2011 book, ''That Is All''. Scharpling wrote and directed the web "trailer" aired on

for The Postal Service band's 10-year anniversary reissue of their album ''Give Up''. Scharpling guest starred as the bailiff in the episode "A Room With a Feud" of John Hodgman's comedy/court show podcast ''

Judge John Hodgman ''Judge John Hodgman'' is a weekly, comedic court show podcast hosted by John Hodgman and Jesse Thorn. The show is distributed online by Maximum Fun. The program features host John Hodgman acting as a judge (with Jesse Thorn as bailiff) adjud ...

''. Scharpling has appeared as a guest multiple times on ''

The George Lucas Talk Show ''The George Lucas Talk Show'' is an improvised talk show in New York City hosted by comedian Connor Ratliff, who appears as George Lucas, the creator of '' Star Wars'', and he interviews real guests as themselves in a panel format. He is joine ...

,'' and is a frequent contributor to the live chatroom conversation.

Print

Scharpling is a regular columnist for and co-founder of the sports website

The Classical The Classical was a sports website featuring long-form sports articles. Described as the sports equivalent of The Awl, the site was launched in December 2011 by several members of the basketball blog ''FreeDarko'', including Bethlehem Shoals and E ...

. He has worked as a headline contributor for ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satire, satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on ...

'', as well as the writer of ''

Harp Magazine ''Harp'' was a print and online magazine that provided in-depth information on current music, mainly the adult album alternative genre, which encompasses a large variety of music. It was published from 2001 to 2008. The sister publication of ''Ha ...

''s "(Not So) Great Moments in Rock" column. He has also contributed

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

-themed writing to '' GQ'' and '' SLAM Magazine''. In 2011, Scharpling was commissioned by ''

'' to write multi-page recaps for every episode of the fourth season of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's '' Celebrity Apprentice''.''

'' article:
Vulture: Celebrity Apprentice Recap – Tom Scharpling’s Epic Take on the Finale
" On July 6, 2021, Abrams Press released Scharpling's memoir, ''It Never Ends: A Memoir with Nice Memories!''

Personal life

Until mid-2020 Scharpling lived in

Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Woodbridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is both a regional hub for Central New Jersey and a major bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York metropolitan area located within the ...

with his wife, fellow WFMU DJ Terre T.Dewan, Shaila K
"Boldface Names"
''

'', December 27, 2001. Accessed February 27, 2020. "Terre T and her husband, Tom Scharpling, both hosts of programs on WFMU, listened to comics tell of encounters with Jim Belushi." As of January 2021, he lives in Los Angeles with his current girlfriend Julia Vickerman. He has been a

pescatarian Pescetarianism (; sometimes spelled pescatarianism) is the practice of incorporating seafood into an otherwise vegetarian diet. Pescetarians may or may not consume other animal products such as eggs and dairy products. Approximately 3% of adults ...

since approximately 1994,''Best Show on WFMU'' archives:
November 5, 2002 episode
; 1 hour, 39 minutes, 50-second mark, Scharpling states: "See, I eat fish, right? But I haven't eaten meat in I guess like eight years now. I'm not a vegan, though." and almost never consumes alcohol.

Filmography

As actor

As writer

Discography

*''Rock, Rot and Rule'' (Stereolaffs, 1999, re-issue in 2004; Light in the Attic, 2014 inyl release *''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) *''A Vampire or a Dogman'' (Merge, 2009; from ''SCORE! Twenty Years Of Merge Records'') *''The Best of The Best Show'' ( Numero Group, 2015; retrospective box set)

WFMU Marathon Premiums

*''The Best of the Best of The Best Show on WFMU Vol. 1'' (2003) *''The Best of the Best of The Best Show on WFMU Vol. 2'' (2005) *''The Best You Can Do Is Be Worse Than The Best Show on WFMU'' (2007) *''At The Speed Of Sound'' (2009) *''TOM – A Best Show On WFMU Tribute to

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

'' (2009) *''Best Show Uncovered Vol. 1'' (2010, from the WFMU 24-Hour Emergency Marathon) (

MP3 CD A compressed audio optical disc, MP3 CD, or MP3 CD-ROM or MP3 DVD is an optical disc (usually a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R or DVD-RW) that contains digital audio in the MP3 file format. Discs are written in the "Yellow Book" standard data format (used f ...

)

DVD

*''Fantasia in Best Show Minor: The Best Show on WFMU 2010 Marathon DVD'' (2011) *'' John Hodgman: Ragnarok'' (2013)

References

External links

* * *
Scharpling & Wurster website

Stereolaffs website

Audio archives of ''The Best Show on WFMU''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scharpling, Tom 1969 births 21st-century American comedians American male screenwriters American radio producers American talk radio hosts American television writers Living people American male television writers People from Dunellen, New Jersey People from Middlesex, New Jersey People from Woodbridge Township, New Jersey The College of New Jersey alumni American radio DJs Middlesex County College alumni Screenwriters from New Jersey Merge Records artists 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers Television producers from New Jersey