Michael J. Pilat (born July 29, 1975), known as Mike Pilot and "Tha Mike", is an American
broadcaster. He is the creator and co-host of the iTunes-distributed Full Of Sith Star Wars Podcast, along with
Bryan Young and Bobby Roberts.
Pilot started his podcasting career in 2006 with ''The Awful Show'' podcast (2006–2009). Three years and almost four million downloaded shows later, he then retired from ''The Awful Show'' and became the co-host for ''The Mediocre Show,'' along with Eric Tomorrow. That same month and year (June 2009), Pilot created the ''Obviously Oblivious'' podcast.
Early life
Mike Pilot was born into an
Italian-American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
family in
Reading, Pennsylvania. The only son and second oldest child of five children born to Jan and BonnieSue’s (Leonardo), Pilot joked many times that his four sisters, Brandy, Bonnie, Samantha and Kyrie, taught him how to treat a lady by their teaming up and physically beating on him. His father, Jan, worked as a steelworker and power coating operator, and his mother BonnieSue stayed home and raised the children until going back to get her degree in Child Services. Pilot graduated from
Reading High School.
Career
After moving out of his parents' home in his early-twenties, Pilot worked as a steelworker to support himself and by coincidence broke his way into broadcasting by chance thru a friend of a friend who was the 7:00 to midnight DJ at then
York, Pennsylvania
York (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populatio ...
105.7
WQXA-FM
WQXA-FM (105.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve York, Pennsylvania. Owned by Cumulus Media, it broadcasts an active rock format serving South Central Pennsylvania. Its studios are located at 2300 Vartan Way in Harrisburg, Pe ...
Top 40 station. Pilot was told to come in and make an air check tape which he did that was then passed along to the station's program director.
Shortly after making the tape Pilot met with the program director and was offered a job on the sister AM station to gain experience by working as a board op during Philadelphia Phillies games. Pilot has said that it was a very weak AM station and he grew bored of the job quickly and decided to do the play-by-play for the games with his unique sense of humor. A week later, the FM station was bought out by
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...
and was changed to Alternative Rock 105.7 the Edge (which eventually became the X) and the majority of the DJ’s quit on the spot.
After sustaining injuries in a car accident, Pilot learned the basics of
web development and
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...
from friends and eventually became al
webmaster
A webmaster is a person responsible for maintaining one or more websites. The title may refer to web architects, web developers, site authors, website administrators, website owners, website coordinators, or website publishers.
The duties of ...
. Pilot worked freelance for over a year until he accepted his first job as a web developer in 1999.
In March 2014 Pilot left ''The Mediocre Show'' but continues to do ''Full of Sith'' and ''Obviously Oblivious'' on a weekly basis.
On October 10, 2014 Pilot received an Honorary Induction to the Empire City Garrison of the 501 Legion.
Personal life
On September 22, 2001, Pilot married his first wife. He filed for divorce in September 2003 which was finalized in mid 2004.
In January 2005 Pilot proposed to his high school sweetheart Ariana Arndt on her birthday. They were married in a small, romantic ceremony on September 9, 2005 and their daughter Anyah was born on October 4, 2005. They live in
Cumru Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Cumru Township (pronounced "KOOM-roo") is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 15,638 at the 2020 census. Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center, a Pennsylvania state park, is in Cumru Township.
History
The townshi ...
.
Internet radio
* June 2006 till May 2009 – The Awful Show (live broadcast on Cringe Humor Radio and then available on
iTunes as a podcast)
Podcasting
Oblivious Notable guests on ''Obviously Oblivious'', which began in June 2009, have included
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a p ...
.
Notable guests on ''Full Of Sith'', which began in January 2012, include
Steve Sansweet,
James Arnold Taylor
James Arnold Taylor (born July 22, 1969), also known by his initials JAT, is an American voice actor, writer, producer and podcaster. He is known for portraying Ratchet in the '' Ratchet & Clank'' franchise, the main character Tidus in '' Final ...
,
Dan Fogler
Daniel Kevin Fogler (born October 20, 1976) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He has appeared in films including '' Balls of Fury'', '' Good Luck Chuck'', ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'', '' Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Gr ...
,
Orlando Jones
Orlando Jones (born April 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series ''MADtv'', for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002, and for his role a ...
,
Sam Witwer
Sam Witwer (born October 20, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Crashdown in ''Battlestar Galactica'', Davis Bloome in ''Smallville'', Aidan Waite in '' Being Human'', Mr. Hyde in '' Once Upon a Time'', Ben Lockwood in '' ...
,
Ashley Eckstein
Ashley Eckstein (; born September 22, 1981) is an American actress and fashion designer. She is the founder of the fashion label Her Universe. She is best known for voicing the role of Ahsoka Tano throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginni ...
and
Catherine Taber
Catherine Anne Taber (born December 30, 1979) is an American actress. She is known for voicing Padmé Amidala in '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and Lori Loud on ''The Loud House''.
Biography
In 2000, Taber made her feature film debut starring ...
.
Broadcast radio
May 1996 till January 1999 – 105.7 the Edge (X)
WQXA-FM
WQXA-FM (105.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve York, Pennsylvania. Owned by Cumulus Media, it broadcasts an active rock format serving South Central Pennsylvania. Its studios are located at 2300 Vartan Way in Harrisburg, Pe ...
in York, Harrisburg and
Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
References
Full Of Sith mentioned on VodafoneUK's blog for May the FourthFull Of Sith listed as a StarWars.com Featured PodcastCumru man and 'Star Wars' are like peas in a podcastInterview on National Public Radio's (NPR) All Things ConsideredInterview on WMAY's Mike and MolsonBehind Star Wars Celebration Anaheim's Podcast StageStarWars.com Blog – Fully Operational Fandom: Podcasting Across the Galaxy, Part 2Podcast wield the force behind Star Wars fandomQuickfire Questions With Tha Mike PilotSunday Feature: An interview with Tha Mike Pilot from Full of SithStar Wars – Full Of SithSlug Magazine – The Mediocre ShowTravis Beacham, Pacific Rim Screenwriter, Talks Star WarsHayden Planetarium, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Obviously Oblivious
External links
*
Full Of SithObviously ObliviousMediocre Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilot, Mike
1975 births
Living people
American podcasters