The Credibility Gap

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Lew Irwin and The Credibility Gap with (left to right) John Gilliland, Thom Beck, Len Chandler, Richard Beebe, and Lew Irwin from An Album Of Political Pornography

The Credibility Gap was a satirical comedy team comprising Harry Shearer, Richard Beebe, David L. Lander and Michael McKean. Lew Irwin, John Gilliland, Thom Beck, and Len Chandler also performed in their early days. They emerged in the late 1960s doing comedic commentary on the news for the Los Angeles AM rock radio station KRLA, and proceeded to develop more elaborate and ambitious satirical routines on the "underground" FM station KPPC, Pasadena, California.

1 History
2 Discography
- 2.1 Lew Irwin and The Credibility Gap
- 2.2 The Credibility Gap
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Lew Irwin and The Credibility Gap

KRLA news director Lew Irwin formed The Credibility Gap with his radio colleagues John Gilliland, Thom Beck, Richard Beebe, and folk singer Len Chandler. They took their name from the Vietnam-era term Credibility gap, a euphemism for political dishonesty, and broadcast their comedy along with the news on KRLA. ^[1]

[edit] The Credibility Gap

The Credibility Gap with (left to right) Harry Shearer, David L. Lander and Michael McKean from A Great Gift Idea. Not pictured: Richard Beebe."

As radio professionals left the group, the group came to be dominated by comedians.^[2] Mark Deming writes of this transition:

[I]n late 1968, Thom Beck left the group, and Lew Irwin followed in early 1969 ... . Joining the Credibility Gap in their absence were Harry Shearer ... and David L. Lander... . By 1970, Len Chandler and John Gilliland had drifted away from the Credibility Gap, and ... Michael McKean, had joined the team, though the troupe's relationship with KRLA had soured and their show had been shrunk from 15 minutes to a mere 180 seconds. However, after Shearer landed a side gig as a disc jockey on an FM "free form" outlet, KPPC, the Credibility Gap found a new home on the station, and the group's satire gained both sharpness and depth.^[1]

[edit] After The Credibility Gap

The group disbanded in 1976, but the members have had occasion to work together since -- notably the pairings of McKean and Lander as Lenny and Squiggy on the situation comedy Laverne & Shirley and Shearer and McKean as members of the mock-rock band Spinal Tap. The three surviving members (Shearer, McKean, and Lander) held a reunion at the Museum of Television and Radio in 1999.^[3]