I added Disney+ onto my hulu subscription several months ago, and while casting around for things to watch on the service, I found The Simpsons—all 34 seasons. I had never watched many episodes of The Simpsons, but my wife and I quickly got hooked. Somehow, it’s funny, disgusting, and heart-warming all at the same time.
We’re now making our way through Season 4. In episode 13, Bart’s Aunt Selma expresses a a desire to have a child. In the scene below, at about the 12:50 mark, Selma (on the left) is discussing this desire with her sisters, Marge Simpson (center, blue hair), and Patty (right). Patty asks, “Why do you want a baby so bad?” Selma replies, “I got a lot of love to give, and right now, my only outlet is my ham radio,” and gestures towards the radio, which we see from behind.
The next shot shows the radio from the front:
I can’t tell if it’s an Icom, a Yaesu, or a Kenwood. Maybe it’s a Heathkit! This episode was first aired in 1992, so it couldn’t have been an Elecraft.
So, Aunt Selma enters the pantheon of TV characters who also were hams. These include:
- Herman Munster, played by Fred Gwynne in The Munsters (1964-1966)
- ALF (1986-1990)
- Mike Baxter, played by Tim Allen in Last Man Standing (2011-2021)
My first impression was a Gonset Communicator.
During the latter half of October, Disney+ had a link to all the episodes of Treehouse of Horror, the annual Simpson’s Halloween specials. We just finished up watching all 34 of those.
There was also an early season episode where Homer admonished Bart for giving up on things very easily, and points out how quickly he gave up on his ham radio, gesturing to a radio in the closet. I couldn’t find the clip, but I found 2 other references on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qECVONAxwjU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMTkf7m4AkA
It seems someone on the writing staff enjoys, at least making fun of ham radio. Looks like a few other references too: https://frinkiac.com/?q=ham%20radio
Ah, homer mentioned his “shortwave radio”, not amateur: https://frinkiac.com/caption/S03E22/1101483
David Mirkin was an executive producer for the show. He was a ham and his call was WA3QIZ. Principal Skinner’s fictitious call was Mirkin’s real call. Ham radio has been used a good few times in the show as a plot device.