Le Show

The show first aired on December 3, 1983,[1] and ran under various titles for several months before Le Show at the suggestion of a long-time friend of the host.[2] A satire of a popular marketing trend at the time to add "Le" to product names such as the Renault 5 which was heavily promoted in the US as Le Car.

Until April 14, 2013, for almost 30 years, Le Show usually originated live on Sunday mornings from "The Le Show Dome" (its reference for the studios) at KCRW in Santa Monica ("The city known around the world", Shearer says in his sign off, "as the home… of the homeless"). It is also frequently recorded at or broadcast from other NPR and public stations when Shearer is on the road. After the KCRW broadcast on April 14, 2013, KCRW moved the program from broadcast to webcast only.[3][4][5] While the show continues to air on numerous other sources,[6] primarily public radio stations (listed at the end of each show), Shearer expressed dismay over losing his home base radio broadcast, without any notice[7] or being allowed to say goodbye on the air.[8] Shearer has since ended each program by stating that Le Show originated from the "'Change is Hard' Radio Network", referring to a press statement from KCRW announcing the show's departure from its lineup. At the beginning of the July 14, 2013 episode, Shearer announced that the program is now airing on KCSN, bringing the show back to the Southern California airwaves roughly three months after it was taken off the air at KCRW. While KCSN provides live streaming of the show as well as the archives thereof, WWNO in New Orleans has taken over hosting its broadcast and podcast feeds. In Shearer's eyes, this prompted the change to the "'Change is Easy' Radio Network" (referring to the city's nickname "The Big Easy").

Several shows a year are broadcast from New Orleans, where Shearer has a residence. The New Orleans shows usually feature very prominent local musicians.

The program is carried on many NPR and other public radio stations throughout the US and abroad. It is also available internationally on NPR Worldwide, the American Forces Radio Network, USEN440 in Japan and over shortwave radio via WBCQ The Planet (7490 kHz).[9] Since the merger of the XM and Sirius satellite radio services into SiriusXM Satellite Radio, the program is no longer available on the merged service; on which Shearer commented, "because I guess, you know, mergers are good".[10] The program also aired on NPR Berlin from its launch in 2006 through to its 2017 shutdown; it was not picked up by its successor, KCRW Berlin.

The show is also available as podcasts of previous episodes from Shearer's website and as free downloadable files from Audible.com,[11] The show is also available as a podcast on iTunes[12] along with other KCRW programs, although KCRW no longer broadcasts the show. The podcasts differ from the broadcast and streaming versions, in that they generally include only a few seconds of the music Shearer spins for the show.[13] Exceptions are musical parodies and original songs written and performed by Shearer.

You say what you want to say without the expectation it’ll make any difference. Say what you want to say because you gotta say it, not because you think it’s going to change anything. Sometimes you might be pleasantly surprised, but most often, things go the way they go.[6]

The show features a number of recurring news segments, each referred to by Shearer as "a copyrighted feature of this broadcast". Currently many episodes include the following:

• "Apologies of the Week" (public apologies reported in the news)[1][14]
• "News From Outside the Bubble" (News stories from international sources, usually the UK)[14][15]
• "News of the Warm" (Shearer reads news on global warming)[1][16][17]
• "The Trades" (Shearer reads items from trade magazines)[14][15][16][18][19]
• "News of Inspectors General" (News reports of the findings of U.S. Government Inspectors General)[15][20][21][22]

Other news features that recur less often on the program include:

• "News of the Olympic Movement" (news about Olympic snafus)[23][24][25][26]
• "Burying the Lede" (News stories with alarming tidbits buried down in the story)[27]
• "News of the Atom" (News of safety issues in the nuclear power industry)[28][29][30]
• "News of the Godly" (News items relating to religion and evangelism)[31][32][33]
• "F is for FEMA" (News stories concerning the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—usually showcasing some aspect of incompetence—particularly focusing on the Hurricane Katrina aftermath)[18][34]
• "Found Object Department" (Shearer plays audio from network feeds that was not intended to air)[35][36]
• "Leak of the Week" (Starting about March 2013, a weekly report of oil leaks.)
• "Let's Get Scared" (Shearer reads news stories with frightening implications)[37][38][39]
• "Los Angeles Dog Trainer Corrections" (Shearer reads the extensive and often unusual LA Times errata)[20][40][41]
• "News from the Digital Wonderland" (News items, usually negative, concerning the switch-over from analog to digital transmission systems)[42][43][44]
• "Sos of the Week" (instances of the word so being used to start a sentence in news programs)
• "Tales of Airport Security" (sent in by listeners)[17][40][22]
• "News of News Corp." (Shearer updates the latest stories about the News Corporation scandal)[45][46][47]
  • On the October 16, 2011 episode, Shearer renamed the segment "News of Nice Corp." "... because it's not anymore misleading than ..."[48]
• "News of Secrets" Started on March 16, 2014 as News of Secret Stuff, renamed April 13, Shearer discusses material governments try to keep from public view.[49][50]
• "News of Transparency" Backhanded compliments, failed examples of how the Obama Administration lives up to its announced goal of being the most transparent administration in history.
• "The Year in Rebuke" (The last one or two shows of each year feature repeats of key news-related items, songs and sketches from that year)[51][52][53]

There are many recurring comedy sketches or parodies on the program.

A few times each year the show will feature Shearer conducting a serious interview as a major segment of the program, often with a musician who will play music as well. Sometimes these interviews will comprise the bulk of the program, other times they will be interspersed with the usual mix of other segments.

"An eclectic mix of mysterious music" is how KCRW describes the music played between other segments on the program.[131] The tracks are not announced on air, but the names are published a few days after the show airs on HarryShearer.com.

Aside from the musicians already mentioned, tracks played frequently include such acts as Johnny Adams,[101] Astral Project,[74] Marcia Ball,[66][69][94] The Beach Boys,[39][21][86] The Beatles,[14][86][104] The Bobs,[42] Bonerama,[83] Charles Brown,[91] Oscar Brown, Jr.,[67][73] Henry Butler,[18][43][63][73][74][102] Jon Cleary,[63][66][74][98][115] Nat King Cole,[87] Shawn Colvin,[101] Ry Cooder,[1][17][80] Elvis Costello,[74] Dr. John,[44][66][67][101][115][116] Dave Edmunds,[43][21][83] Eliane Elias,[77] Georgie Fame,[15][19][76] Finn Brothers,[36][57] Ella Fitzgerald, John Fogerty,[38][42][82] Fountains of Wayne,[41][82] Michael Franks,[100] Marvin Gaye,[18] Gilberto Gil,[83] The Hi-Lo's,[86] Dan Hicks,[107] Dick Hyman,[42] Jamiroquai,[15][39][82] Louis Jordan,[105][116] Keb' Mo',[38][99][105] Sonny Landreth,[19][73][98][105] Lenine,[1] Los Lobos,[87] Lyle Lovett,[94][102][107] Phillip Manuel,[39] Peter Martin,[67] Paul McCartney,[73] The Meters,[67] Van Morrison,[94] Mr. Scruff,[14][76] Randy Newman,[34][43][112] Rosa Passos,[43] Nicholas Payton,[81] Alan Price,[91][101] Brian Protheroe,[39] The Quantic Soul Orchestra,[41] The Radiators,[44] Bonnie Raitt,[43] Marcus Roberts,[82] Smokey Robinson,[81] Shorty Rogers,[98] The Rolling Stones,[100] Kermit Ruffins,[107] Alice Russell,[1][76] Frank Sinatra,[64][77][81] Jill Sobule,[87][100] Steely Dan,[19][20] They Might Be Giants,[18] Irma Thomas,[66][77] Richard Thompson,[99] Mel Tormé,[94][101] The Whitlams,[57] The Who,[87] Brian Wilson,[81] Charlie Wood & the New Memphis Underground,[20][69] XTC[22] and many others.

When a notable musician has died, the next aired program will often feature mostly or only that artist's work during the music segments. People so featured have included George Harrison,[37] Ray Charles,[132] Oscar Brown, Jr.,[85] Blossom Dearie,[133] Les Paul,[27] Robert Kirby,[54] Gerry Rafferty,[60] Jerry Ragovoy,[134] B.B. King, and Prince.

• The show opens with an archival recording of Ben Grauer saying "Here it is". For years, this was followed by Shearer saying, "From deep inside your radio..." over a fragment of classical music (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, 4th movement), a parody of the American Public Radio/Public Radio International/Minnesota Public Radio intro featuring the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, 3rd movement by Bach. The opener was modified starting with December 13, 2015 episode with Shearer saying "From deep inside your audio device of choice..." over a fragment of contemporary electronic music.
• A looped sample of "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" by Paul McCartney is used for "Apologies of the Week", with emphasis on McCartney saying "sorry".[22]
• Glenn Yarbrough singing the Rod McKuen song "Listen to the Warm" is used for "News of the Warm".[135]
• Joe Satriani playing "Summer Song" (from the album The Extremist) is the theme for "(Inside) Extra Access Tonight"
• The Beatles instrumental "Flying" (from the album Magical Mystery Tour) is the theme for "Tales of Airport Security"
• The segments "F is for FEMA", "Los Angeles Dog Trainer Corrections", "Let's Get Scared", "News from the Digital Wonderland", "News of Inspectors General" and "Clean, Safe, Too Cheap to Meter" use original music recorded and sung by Shearer.
• "Clintonsomething" uses the original theme music from the TV series thirtysomething.
• "The Trades" uses "Rut" by Carla Bley, from the CD "Nightglo" on ECM
• "News of Transparency" uses a Shearer produced version of another Beatles song I'm Looking Through You
• "News of Clowns" at first used an instrumental version of Be a Clown, but switched to The Tears of a Clown by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (from the album Make It Happen)

On July 2, 2006, Wisconsin Public Radio cancelled Le Show as part of a revamp of the network's programming. On the July 16 edition of the program, Shearer claimed WPR was "displeased with the political content of the broadcast".[136] WPR Director of Radio Phil Corriveau told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the program's political content was a minor factor and the decision had to do with Le Show's consistency: "I think he's brilliant. But I think if you listen to the show, they can be brilliant, or they can really ramble on."[137]

• HarryShearer.com (includes a RealAudio archive of Le Show dating back to 1995)
• leshow.sideshownetwork.libsynpro.com/rss