Harry Shearer’s eclectic, acidic Le Show marks 30 years on public radio this month, and The Associated Press observes the milestone with an in-depth interview.
When he launched his show on KCRW in Los Angeles in December 1983, Shearer figured that if no money changed hands in the deal, no one could tell him what to do. “The show has stayed free in both senses of the word,” he said. “That’s the only way you can do it for 30 years — without meetings and memos — if you have other things to do in your life.”
Shearer pretapes the show’s multicharacter sketches and compiles and writes the remainder before the weekly broadcast. “It’s a weekly thundercloud that moves over my life around Thursday afternoon, generating heavy downpours of what-the-hell-am-I-gonna-do-now?” he said.
He goes live at 10 a.m. Sundays from KCSN-FM, now his presenting station. He’s been there since July, after KCRW dumped him amid an overhaul of its weekend schedule. No mention of that in the AP story.
The last paragraph of this story is slightly inaccurate: KCSN is simply “Le Show’s” LA outlet/affiliate. WWNO, New Orleans, is now the flagship station of Mr Shearer’s “Change is Easy Radio Network” whence distribution is based.
When in LA, he does originate the show from KCSN.