Blank12/12/2011
Tim Allen -- star of
Home Improvement,
Toy Story,
The Santa Clause
and
Galaxy Quest,
just to name a few -- stars in
Last Man Standing,
an ABC comedy airing at 8 PM (EST) on Tuesday nights. Allen plays Mike
Baxter, KA0XTT, a married father of three and the director of marketing at
an outdoor
sporting goods store in Colorado whose life is dominated by women. While
Amateur Radio has not been prominently featured in the first episodes,
according
to John Amodeo, NN6JA -- the producer of Last Man Standing -- it is a part
of the show and an important part of Mike’s character. The episode that will
establish Mike as a radio amateur is currently scheduled to air in
mid-January.
“Tim’s character Mike is involved in creating the sales strategy for the
store, including their catalog and Internet identity,” Amodeo told the ARRL.
“The
store is like Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas. There is a strong self-sufficiency
overtone to Mike’s approach to life. Ham radio fits in the story as a means
of emergency communication. It’s not directly featured in the foreground
story, but at the moment, it’s a background element on the home set. Once I
allow
something to be put on the set, there’s a chance the writers will feature
it. Now that we have actually established Mike Baxter as KA0XTT, we can do
more
things featuring Amateur Radio.”
To make Mike a ham, Amodeo needed Mike to have a call sign. So he contacted
ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, to help him out.
“In film and TV, we create fictitious telephone numbers, addresses and
brands,” Amodeo explained. “We do this mostly to avoid being sued by real
brands
and to avoid complications with advertisers. As a producer and a ham, I was
torn between wanting the show to be accurate and needing to keep my studios
out of trouble. An accurate and positive portrayal of ham radio on TV would
be a good thing.” Many TV shows and movies use telephone numbers with a 555
exchange (such as 555-1212), as that exchange is not valid.
Together with Pitts, and with input from Tim Allen, Amodeo created a call
sign for Mike Baxter: KA0XTT. Since the show is set in Colorado, they wanted
Mike
to have a call sign with a 0 in it. “We wanted a call sign that sounded
real, but was not valid,” Amodeo said. “The call sign is a 2×3 format with
an X
suffix. A call sign in this format is an experimental call sign and is not
assignable to a radio amateur except in special circumstances. We especially
liked the suffix, as it is a play on Tim’s character from his former show,
Home Improvement: ‘ex-Tim Taylor.’”
Amodeo told the ARRL that both his studio (Fox) and ABC were “delighted to
have a useable call sign. In the past, TV shows just made up some crazy call
or used someone else’s without permission. And because we’ve had so much
talk about Amateur Radio here on the show, a few of my production assistants
took
their Technician exam.” Amodeo applied to be an ARRL Volunteer Examiner so
he could help administer the exams. On October 6, Amodeo and two other ARRL
VEs administered the Technician exam to seven prospective hams. All seven
passed, with two making perfect scores.
Since Mike Baxter is a ham, he needed a shack. So Amodeo and the set
designers installed an Amateur Radio station in the corner of Mike’s set
office. Allen,
as Baxter, uses an ICOM IC-9100 HF/6 meter/2 meter transceiver and an
IC-92AD handheld transceiver, both provided to the show courtesy of ICOM
America.
Amodeo told the ARRL that he has plans to add vintage equipment to the shack
in the future. “The radio equipment was originally intended to be used as
props and set dressing items,” Amodeo told the ARRL. “But since eight of the
show’s staff members are radio amateurs, it didn’t take long before we made
the radio equipment ‘practical,’ which is to say, actually capable of making
radio calls live from the stage when we’re not shooting.” He said that
radios
will always be on and lit whenever they are shooting scenes in the office.
Pitts and ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, have been working with
Amodeo to make sure that Amateur Radio is correctly portrayed in the show.
Keane also provided ARRL and Amateur Radio-related materials that are used
on the set, such as issues of
QST,
NCJ
and
QEX,
as well as a call sign map, a
2012 ARRL Handbook,
a 2012 ARRL calendar and various ARRL stickers (look for one on the HF rig).
“We also sent fake versions of
DXCC,
Worked All States
and
Worked All Continents
certificates, as well as a
Morse Code Proficiency Certificate
,” Keane explained. “Each certificate bears the name Mike Baxter and has
KA0XTT as the call sign. All the certificates have issue dates of December
25,
playing upon Tim Allen’s role in The Santa Clause movie series.”
Amodeo told the ARRL that he also installed a Comet CHV-5X HF dipole and
GP-1 antenna for 2 meters and 70 cm (courtesy of NCG/Comet) “up high, about
50
feet, inside the sound stage. The ultimate goal is to have the hams on our
staff make contacts from our stage during down times.”
Last Man Standing also stars Nancy Travis (
Three Men and a Baby)
as Mike’s wife and Hector Elizondo (
Pretty Woman,
The Princess Diaries,
Monk)
as Mike’s boss. Amodeo also produced the critically acclaimed
Sports Night
and
Arrested Development.
Photo Gallery
list of 2 items
• Comedian Tim Allen plays Mike Baxter, KA0XTT, on the new hit television
show Last Man Standing. The ARRL has been working with John Amodeo, NN6JA --
the producer of Last Man Standing -- to make sure that Amateur Radio is
correctly portrayed on the show. The ARRL has also provided many props used
on
the set. Note the ARRL stickers and the issues of QST -- the October 2011
issue (open to the Product Review article on the table) and the September
2011
issue (on the drafting board) -- as well as an issue of NCJ (on the drafting
board) and a QEX (next to the radio). [©American Broadcasting Companies,
Inc,
used by permission]
Comedian Tim Alle...
• The ARRL also provided mock-up certificates for Allen's character,
including DXCC (CW), Worked All States (RTTY), Worked All Continents (Phone)
and a
Morse Code Proficiency Certificate (with endorsements for 20 and 25 words
per minute). All certificates have an issue date of December 25, playing on
Allen's
role in The Santa Clause movie series. At Amodeo's request, ARRL HQ staffers
sent in their personal QSL cards. Cards from News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane,
K1SFA; Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP; Membership and
Volunteer Programs Assistant Manager Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, and Marketing
Manager
Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, adorn the wall. Both Keane and Pitts have been
instrumental in providing props to the Last Man Standing set. [Photo
courtesy of
John Amodeo, NN6JA]
Steve
Lansing, MI
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