[SFDXA] Ham Radio in the Media

[Bill]

/Ham Radio in the Media/: TV Show Featuring Fictional Ham Sparks Crop of 
Real Hams

Tim Allen (L) as Mike Baxter, KAØXTT, sits in his ham shack with Flynn 
Morrison, who plays his grandson on the sitcom. [Photo courtesy of John 
Amodeo, NN6JA]

Fans of the ABC Television show "Last Man Standing 
<http://abc.go.com/shows/last-man-standing>" may be aware that its main 
character, "Mike Baxter" -- played by Tim Allen -- is supposed to be a 
radio amateur, KAØXTT. While it may come as no surprise that the 
sitcom's producer is a ham -- John Amodeo, NN6JA -- several radio 
amateurs also are on the production crew, and their number just 
increased, with help from the Greater Los Angeles Amateur Radio Group 
(GLAARG <http://glaarg.org/>) VEC. The show's *_"Thanksgiving" episode, 
which airs Friday, November 22 (8 PM ET), will feature a scene with 
"Baxter" in his basement ham shack_*. Amodeo said that for the first 
time in the series, Baxter will briefly talk on the radio. In response, 
viewers will hear a pileup created by using the voices of hundreds of 
real hams, sent in to the production company.

In the scene, the Mike Baxter character appears with his grandson 
"Boyd," played by Flynn Morrison. The episode was shot in mid-October. 
According to Amodeo, Mike heads to his basement ham shack to escape a 
houseful of guests waiting for Thanksgiving dinner to be served. This 
episode of the show is only the second to include ham radio as a story 
element and the first in which Tim Allen's character is shown operating 
his ham station.