William McCoy, 59, passed away from congestive heart failure on September 9 of last year at the Harlem Hospital Center in New York, and that might not mean anything to you if you’re not familiar with the man and his work. McCoy was also known as Wolf Johnson, AKA the man who gave us the famous advertising anthem of “I want my baby back baby back baby back… Chili’s… baby back ribs… BARBECUE SAUCE.” Hell, you could even say that McCoy’s jingle gave us the greatest Justin Timberlake performance of all-time.
But why, you ask, are we talking about this man so many months after he passed? Well, thanks to TLC’s latest attempt in proving that people will watch just about anything, we now know that McCoy was buried in a casket that looked exactly like a smoker as part of his BBQ-themed funeral in Dallas. TLC’s The Best Funeral Ever debuted last night and it’s about as insanely fantastic as you’d expect.
The show focuses on Golden Gate Funeral Home and CEO John Beckwith Jr., whose father began his career and “dream of owning a funeral home” at the age of 14, and has dedicated this odd ambition to giving his “clients” the greatest, most entertaining funeral services their family can imagine. He also hosts a weekly Saturday radio show called “Ask the Undertaker”, and of course it would be hilarious if you called in this week and ask how to properly perform a piledriver.
Even better, though, if you live in the Dallas area and are currently seeking acting work, you can actually audition to become a “Professional Mourner” at Golden Gate’s events. The Beckwith family conveniently offers a class for amateur mourners who need help really capturing the agony and pain of a BBQ.