Harry Shearer's pro bono 'Le Show' turns 30

The weekend radio program that Harry Shearer began at KCRW in 1983 — and now does from KCSN — has been on the air for thirty years. With Shearer himself turning 70 this month, the Associated Press had national television columnist Frazier Moore catch up with Harry recently in New York. Little-known fact: "Le Show' is a labor of love, according to the story. No money in it at all. "It's an act of insensate stubbornness on my part," says Shearer. "But I get really remarkable feedback from listeners and as time goes on and things in the world get weirder, I think the intensity of the appreciation increases."

You know Harry Shearer from "The Simpsons," voicing Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy and so many of its other cartoon characters.

You know Shearer as mutton-chopped bassist Derek Smalls from the 1984 musical spoof "This Is Spinal Tap" and the real-life band this classic "mockumentary" inspired.

But through his decades of memorable projects, Shearer week in and week out has kept one open-ended side gig: his artisanal radio program, "Le Show."

Shearer this month marks his 30th anniversary as producer, host, writer, aggregator, music director and one-man repertory company of "Le Show," which (available on some 100 U.S. radio stations and other global outlets, as well as on podcast at iTunes and on his website) likely represents a marathon run unmatched in the annals of broadcasting — with no end in sight.

Well. There are 30-year-old radio shows in Los Angeles alone, so I have no reason to think there aren't others around. The AP guy must have meant something else.

File photo of Shearer by Dan Dion