'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' Begins Taking Over Movie Theaters (June 11)

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial really made an impact when it opened in theaters on this day. It’s one of Steven Spielberg’s more personal films, it is one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and it made Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore stars.

1982: E.T. Takes Flight

A boy rides his bike in the sky with E.T., an alien in the front basket. The picture shows them in from of a giant moon — *(TVDB)*

Director Steven Spielberg was a lonely child when his parents got divorced. During that time, he created an imaginary friend to help him cope with the trauma. He drew from this experience when creating E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. In this tale, young Elliott (Henry Thomas), befriends a lost alien and his life became an incredible adventure. The movie also starred Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote and Drew Barrymore.

This was Spielberg’s second film about aliens and a decidedly friendlier version than in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

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 beating out Star Wars. 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 so 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. The candy’s sales went through the roof. E.T. the alien didn’t mind either.

Another thing omitted from the movie was Harrison Ford. Originally, Ford played the principle at Elliott’s school who scolds the boy for his bad behavior in his biology class. The principal is then startled to see the boy being levitated. Though Ford’s face is never shown in the scene, Spielberg decided against it during post-production.

Nominated for nine Academy Awards, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial won four Oscars for Best Original Score, Sound, Visual Effects and Sound Effects Editing.

E.T. was re-released in theaters in 1985. And released again in 2002, but with some changes. The new cut featured new scenes and some improved special effects. The most notable change that Spielberg made was digitally removing guns held by federal agents. They were replaced with walkie talkies.

2002: ‘American Idol’ Airs for the First Time

Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest — Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest and Paula Abdul *(TVDB)*

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 came and went 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 with new judges. Only Seacrest continues with the show.

2020: ‘Don’t’ Do That

The TV game show "Don't" — *(Don’t) ABC*

The cleverly-name yet short-lived Don’t was a goofy game show airing on ABC during the summer of 2020. In each episode, a team of four people, usually a family, competed a series of mini-games or tasks with names like “Don’t Blink”, “Don’t Be Shocked”, “Don’t Beat Yourself Up” and “Don’t Play with Matches.”

Adam Scott host Don’t with commentary provided 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.