Amateur radio has been used many times as a plot device in films, television, and novels. Here is an ever-lengthening list of amateur radio references. For more info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_in_popular_culture or http://www.tubeopedia.com/index.php?title=Amateur_radio_in_popular_culture
http://www.imrdb.org/index.php?title=Family_Guy
My focus will be on cartoon type TV shows. Specifically a number of Simpson's episodes have included references to ham radio [clues taken from various newsgroups] Below I managed to find which episodes these references are in. I could use some help with the others, and some files to work with. Sooner or later there will be an official spot on the web for this after I reconstruct the information and extract all the pictures. I also have set up a photo mirror of this.
During the war Apu's baby episode had VU OP over babies (VU is prefix for India and OP = operator) What season/episode is this?
Simpsons Season 1, Episode 11- 4/15/90 The Crepes of Wrath
Bart gets sent to Albania as an exchange student after
getting caught dropping cherry bombs in the toilets. The Albanian kid sent to live with Homer is a spy, and keeps sending details of Homer's
nuclear reactors over a CW spy radio.
Simpsons Season 4, Episode 13 - 1/21/93 Selma's Choice
Marge's sister is Selma is a ham. She decides she wants to have a baby,
and states he reason is because "I 've got a lot of love to give, and my only outlet is my ham radio" (cuts
to shot of radio) Radio: [speaking foreign language] I have a ham radio.
Simpsons Season 8, Episode 12 -
2/2/97 Mountain of Madness
Mr. Burns decides to use the telegraph to send an
S.O.S. The telegraph signal only manages to reach a telegraph machine stored inside a museum exhibit of Samuel Morse.
Simpsons Season 9, Episode 23 - 3/3/98 King Of The Hill
Homer gets in shape and climbs a mountain after eating power bars. He uses a
HT for communications while climbing the mountain. Later a goat steals his HT.
Simpsons Season 11, Episode 15 -
2/20/00 Missionary Impossible
Homer the missionary used ham radio to talk to his family (frequency on
radio was in 15-meter phone band)
Simpsons Season 17, Episode 10 -
1/8/06 Homer's Paternity Coot
Where Seymour is a ham, using WA3QIZ as a callsign (WA3QIZ
was the callsign of executive producer David Mirkin. That call expired
in 1998.)
Southpark Season 2, Episode 2 - 02/25/98 Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut
Kenny makes his journey through a big snow storm with a two way radio for backup
as he has to go switch on the generator for the hospital because Dr. Mufesto gets shot.
South Park Season 11, Episode 161
- 10/3/07 Le Petit Tourette
Kyle teamed up with Thomas coordinate on radios in an effort "To Catch a Predator."
South Park - Season 11 - Episode Number: 163 - 10/17/07
Imaginationland
Cartman coordinates the other boys using two way radios in setting up traps and spying on the surroundings, searching for a leprechaun.
Family Guy - Season: 3, Episode
Number: 16 - 12/21/01 A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas
Peter is Christmas shopping in the mall where
there Peter is watching TV though the window of a Bill's
Ham Radio Hut.
Family Guy - Season 6, Episode Number:
103 - 11/25/07 Peter's Daughter
Stewie and Brian fix a wrecked house. Brain and Stewie use two way radios to
coordinate repairs.
Family Guy - Season 8, Episode 6 - 11/15/09 Quagmire�s Baby
Peter goes to Quagmire�s garage sale and buys a Ham radio. He uses that radio to talk to a ghost of Ronald Reagan. Peter eventually ends up going back to return the radio.
Family Guy - Season 10 Episode 23 - 5/20/12 Internal Affairs
Peter and Quagmire encourage Joe to have
a one-night stand with his attractive new partner to even the score with Bonnie
for her own indiscretions.
Peter: "Secrets are what keeps a marriage fresh. I have a CB radio in the
basement, I go down there a couple times a week, have CB sex, Lois has no
idea"
Family Guy - Season 11, Episode 3 - 10/21/12 The Old Man and the Big 'C'
At a ballgame, Quagmire accidentally loses his toupee going for a fly ball. When he becomes a laughingstock, he decides to ditch the wig. The change in his appearance affects his attitude, changing him into a old man. Quagmire runs a radar gun in-front of Peters house asking hot rodders to slow down. "My ham radio interferes with my radar gun. Talked to some fella in Papua New Guinea last night, you should stop by some time."
SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 1, Episode 4b 10/7/99 Boating School
SpongeBob has to go to boating school and keeps failing his driving test due to his habit of freaking out when the driving part of the test comes up. Patrick says that he will help him by sticking a radio in SpongeBob's head and tells him what to do.
SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 5,
Episode 104 11/23/07 SpongeHenge / 20,000 Patties Under the Sea
SpongeBob and Patrick use HT's
Misc
Other references, that lack visual depictions
Simpsons Season 3, Episode 22 -
4/22/92 The Otto Show
The episode where Bart gets the electric guitar. [Video depicts
nothing really] Audio "Homer: You just stick that guitar in the closet next to your short-wave radio, your karate outfit and your unicycle, and we'll go inside and watch TV."
Simpsons Season 6, Epsiode 14 -
2/05/95 Bart's Comet
Bart's finds a comet, and is invited to join a the geeky table at lunch, one
of them introduces himself; "I am called Ham, because I enjoy ham
radio."
Simpsons Season 11, Episode 20 -
5/7/00 Last Tap Dance in Springfield
Lisa's dance instructor tapped Morse code messages [Video depicts
nothing really] Audio "I didn't tap all those morse code message to the
allies till my shoes filled with blood just to role out the welcome mat to the
reds."
Futurama Season 1, Episode 3 4/6/99 I, Roomate
In this episode of Futurama, Bender's antenna was causing television
interference. [No real video depiction]
(Images are Copyright and are held by their respective film studios. These are a low-resolution screenshots uploaded under the fair use doctrine in order to aid identification and discussion of and critical commentary on these episodes.)
