This Day in Pop Culture for June 11

1982: E.T. Takes Flight

It is said that Steven Spielberg drew from his own childhood as a lonely child of divorce when creating E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. This was Spielberg’s second film about aliens and a decidedly friendlier version than in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The movie starred Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote and Drew Barrymore.

To say that E.T. was a hit is an understatement. It was the #1 movie and stayed in that position for six weeks. It became the highest grossing movie of all time until Spielberg’s Jurassic Park passed it by in 1993.

Originally, the alien was very fond of M&M’s, but Mars thought that E.T. would frighten children. and they refused to allow the colorful candy to appear in the film. However, The Hershey Company had no trouble allowing Reese’s Pieces to be used. E.T. didn’t mind either.

The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards won four Oscars for Best Original Score, Sound, Visual Effects and Sound Effects Editing.

After an initial re-release in theaters in 1985, ET was re-released again in 2002, but with some changes. The new cut featured new scenes and some new improved special effects. The most notable change was the removal of guns held by federal agents. They were replaced with walkie talkies.

2002: ‘American Idol’ Airs for the First Time

The reality TV music competition show, American Idol began its 15-year run on this day on FOX on this day in 2002. Based on the British series, Pop Idol. American Idol was an instant hit and a ratings giant for FOX. Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman hosted the first season of the show, but Dunkleman never appeared again until the show’s finale on April 7, 2016.

The original judges for the show consisted of Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul. Throughout the years, different judges would come and go including Ellen DeGeneres, Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick, Jr., Kara DioGuardi, Steven Tyler, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.

The show’s winners list includes Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery, Phillip Phillips, Candice Glover, Caleb Johnson, Nick Fradiani, and Trent Harmon.

American Idol wasn’t off the air very long before ABC picked it up and aired the first of the new run in early 2018.

2020: ‘Don’t’ Premieres

The short-lived Don’t was a cleverly named game show airing on ABC during the summer of 2020. In each episode, a team of four people, usually a family, would compete through a series of tasks with names like “Don’t Blink”, “Don’t Be Shocked” and “Don’t Beat Yourself Up”.

It was hosted by Adam Scott with commentary by Ryan Reynolds. Each team could have won up to $100,000 but often won a lot less since playing a perfect game was nearly impossible.