E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial | June 11, 1982

This weekend during what I often refer to as "The Best Year Ever" or 1982, my most favorite childhood movie of all time opened in theaters. Yes, Friday, June 11, 1982 was the day E.T. opened in Long Island theaters. The movie theater setting the backdrop for this momentous occasion was called Sunrise Cinemas, located on Sunrise Highway in Valley Stream.

This multiplex theater was amazing back in the early 1980s. Sunrise Cinemas featured so many different movies and weekend matinées. Coleco games filled the waiting area allowing us kids to kill time and engage in a few rounds of Ladybug while our folks waited on line for movie tickets.

Happy Anniversary E.T.

As much as I loved E.T. and saw it 14 times in the theater that year, one horrendous line in the movie somewhat tarnishes my pleasant memory. Wedged between my parents and six-year-old brother in a jam-packed theater, a 9-year-old me had to endure one of my very first embarrassing moments. 

What could that possibly be? When Elliott (my love, Henry Thomas) blurts out this horrible name for his brother, Michael (Robert MacNaughton). I can't even type it. To this day I'm still embarrassed. So you'll have to just watch it here on YouTube. It's only 15 seconds, so sit tight and check it out. 

I was surprised to learn the line was later removed for the DVD release, interesting. Too bad it wasn't removed when it mattered to me most, back in 1982!

Elliot in E.T. to his big brother Michael, "It was nothing like that ..."

1980s Board Games | Smurfs, A-Team, Cabbage Patch Kids ...

What was it about the 1980s toys that every toy required a Milton Bradley or Parker Brothers board game to go along with it? I vaguely recall owning the E.T. and Cabbage Patch board games. I'm quite sure both were on my Christmas list ... Did any of you have the following board games? Do you even remember these games?

Ms. Pac-Man & Pac-Man Board Games

Both board games were released by Milton Bradley in 1982 to try to "Bring the video game to the table!" definitely not as exciting as the video games though. Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man board games are available on eBay ranging from $10-$20 depending on their condition.

Cabbage Patch Kids Hide-and-Seek Game

Milton Bradley released this fun-filled match game in 1984 during the height of the Cabbage Patch Kids craze. The idea was to match up as many Cabbage Patch Kids (they popped up) before the timer went off.

Cabbage Patch Kids Friends to the Rescue Board Game

Parker Brothers 1984 Cabbage Patch Kids - Friends to the Rescue board game is going for $10-$40 on vintage toy websites and eBay. According to BoardGameGeek.com:

"In this game, you must help rescue the kids from the clutches of Cabbage Jack. The delightful Bunny Bees will help you lead the kids to safety. And finally Colonel Casey, the kindly old stork, will help you bring the kids home. Collect 4 kids, each with a different color hair, or all the same color, and you're the winner."

The Smurf Board Game

 

First released by Milton Bradely in 1981, the above Smurf board game is available at $16.99 on Ecrater.com and makes a great gift for Smurf fans everywhere.

The A-Team Board Game

My younger brother was a fan of the A-Team, I personally was not. This Parker Brothers board game was hot in 1984 and looks just as silly as the show. More information is available at BoardGameGeek.com.

The E.T. Board Game

I love(d) E.T. so very much. We even have an E.T. movie poster hanging over our bed. I couldn't get enough of E.T. as a kid -- read more about it here. You can bet your bippie that in 1982, the E.T. Board Game by Parker Brothers was on my holiday wish list. Today this game goes from $10-$175 depending on its overall condition.



Watch the E.T. Board Game Commercial: 

I Saw E.T. 14 Times - IN THE THEATER!

RE-POST FROM AUGUST 21, 2009



Remember when you were a kid, if you liked a movie, you had to see it over and over again. If you didn't, you weren't a true fan. You'd memorize every single line and could easily recite the script along with your friends. What happened to those days? Why doesn't this matter to most of us anymore?

I think back to the films I saw in the theater. Often it was summer cinema when school was out and movies were like $4 and popcorn was like $2 - and we thought that was pricey back then. Our moms would get rid of us for a few hours. Back then it was safe to just get dropped off at Sunrise Cinemas on Sunrise Highway. Today, not so much.

We'd brag about how many times we saw our favorite film. In my case, this was especially true for E.T., Karate Kid, Goonies and Footloose. Ironically, I had crushes on the lead kid in every movie from Henry Thomas to Ralph (he was from LI and we shared the same b'day!) to Sean Astin (I had an inhaler like his character Mikey!) and Footloose - Kevin Bacon - wow! Thanks to Footloose, I discovered hair mousse. I had read in Seventeen magazine about this brand new hair product called "mousse," you cold manipulate your hair to appear spiky, just like Wren's in Footloose!

For Christmas of 1982, I had to have an E.T. sleeping bag, sheets and bedding, snack tray, posters, figurines, the board game, cup and plate set, and much more. I still have some of those items. I loved them all so much. I remember counting all of my E.T. things, writing them down in a notebook and admiring them all for days over the holiday break from school.

I loved The Goonies more than any of my friends to the point where I even slipped a mini tape recorder into the theater with me. I recorded the audio and listened to it repeatedly for days and days until I had every line down pat, "...This is my dream, my wish, and it didn't come true, so I'm takin' 'em back, I'm takin' 'em all back!" I remember Corey Feldman's lines like it was yesterday. Too bad I didn't have a memory like that when it came to science and history. I'd be a top scholar!

As an adult, the only film I've seen an excessive amount of times would have to be Rushmore. I know pretty much every line, own the soundtrack and DVD, and I still laugh at all of the same scenes.


By the fall, I still loved ET and my mom threw me an ET Halloween birthday party complete with her best shot at an ET shaped cake. I dressed up like Gertie did on Halloween and went as a cowgirl.

ET The Atari Game What A Let Down

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with E.T. 

I've seen the movie dozens of times. Even as an adult, I still own a few collectible items like E.T. trading cards, a pin, bedding, etc. We even have a framed movie poster hanging in our bedroom.

I remember one Christmas I was given exactly 12 ET-related items. I piled the unwrapped gifts around me near the Christmas tree and counted them over and over again--they included the plate, cup & bowl set, bedding, snack tray and more.

One gift I was beyond-jazzed about was an actual E.T. Atari 2600 video game.

Like most '80s kids, I loved Atari. Who didn't? My top favorite games were Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids, Pitfall and Donkey Kong. In 1982, the idea of an E.T. Atari game was simply too good to be true--the perfect marriage of my very favorite movie and my very favorite gaming console/pastime.

I remember popping it in and something just wasn't right with it. No matter what I did, I couldn't figure out how to play. Nothing about the game made sense to me. I remember thinking my version was broken somehow.  After a few failed attempts, I hurried to a friend's house because she too had just gotten the game. I needed to test out her version and remember my shock in learning she too was clueless.

Were we stupid gaming girls? How was it that we kicked ass at Pac-man, Space Invaders, Frogger and Pitfall, but sucked at the E.T. game? I remember being bummed beyond belief. I wondered why of all the games to baffle me, it had to be my E.T.? Such a let down.

Years later, I was working at an Internet company which owned a very popular male-friendly gaming site, IGN.com. I believe it was there that I first heard the truth about E.T. for Atari.

Apparently the developer was rushed into finishing the game design in time for the 1982 holiday season. Rushing the creativity process must have really made the game backfire. I'm doubting Atari had time to allow for lots of testing and market research-if any. They simply wanted to cash in on the E.T. craze.

At age 12, I didn't read media reports which apparently criticized the E.T. game. To this day the game makes "Worst Games Ever" lists all over the world. The Atari E.T game is also noted as Atari's biggest financial mistake ever made, netting a loss of $100 million loss.

In September 1983 reports began to surface about gazillions of E.T. game cartridges buried in a landfill in New Mexico, read about that here. Some say it's true, some say it's an urban legend.

 The famous E.T. Atari game landfill photo

I love this quote from Howard Scott Warshaw, the designer behind the worst game ever created. It's cool how he puts a positive spin on his infamous creation, however it doesn't help me get over the disappointment in my most anticipated gift that Christmas.

"People worry I might be sensitive about the ET debacle, but the fact is I’m always happy to discuss it. After all, it was the fastest game ever done, it was a million seller, and of the thousands of 2600 games, how many others are still a topic? Another thing I like to think about is having done ET (consistently rated among the worst games of all time) and Yars' Revenge (consistently rated as one of the best) I figure I have the unique distinction of having the greatest range of any game designer in history." —Howard Scott Warshaw