WASTELANDS - An Australian B-grade, Punk Rock, Street Trash online radio show hosted by long time partners in slime Adam (085c3n3) Obscene and Mark-O-Mark, pondering punk oddities, b grade movies, and trashy treasures.

Episode 99

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial turns 40

In this episode, Adam and Mark look back fondly on the Steven Spielberg 1982 classic E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial and celebrate the landmark movies 40th anniversary by talking about the weird toys and movie knock offs it inspired.

Director Steven Spielberg’s iconic sci-fi fable, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," celebrated its 40th anniversary in June this year and you’d be hard-pressed to name another Hollywood movie that’s more universally beloved than this crowd-pleaser about a stranded alien and a young California boy who rescues and befriends it.

Originally released by Universal Pictures on June 10, 1982, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" is that rare entertainment commodity whose appeal spans all ages, genders, and creeds. Starring Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, C. Thomas Howell, Seen Frye, and K.C Martell, "E.T." was a sensation straight out of the gate with its gentle tale of a friendly creature from outer space and a lonely boy named Elliott who helps him return to his own planet three million light-years away.

And of coarse a movie so massive would spawn an industry of knock offs and boot legs…..here is a few of our favs.

Nukie is a 1987 South African science-fiction film directed by Sias Odendaal and Michael Pakleppa. The film stars Anthony Morrison, Steve Railsback, Ronald France, and Glynis Johns. The plot concerns an alien, Nukie, who crash lands on earth and seeks help from two children to reunite with his brother, Miko, who has been captured by the US government.. The film d is also considered one of the worst movies ever made.

Mac and Me is a 1988 American comic science fiction film co-written (with Steve Feke) and directed by Stewart Raffill. Starring Christine Ebersole, Jonathan Ward, and Tina Caspary alongside Lauren Stanley and Jade Calegory, the film centers on a "Mysterious Alien Creature" (MAC) that escapes from nefarious NASA agents and befriends a wheelchair-using boy named Eric Cruise. Together, Eric and MAC try to find MAC's family, from whom he has been separated.

The film flopped at the box office and was universally panned by critics, partly due to plot lines similar to E.T., as well as its elaborate product placement of McDonald's and Coca-Cola. The film was nominated for four Golden Raspberry Awards, and won Worst Director and Worst New Star (for Ronald McDonald). While regarded as one of the worst films ever made, it has become a cult film.

Homoti is a 1987 Turkish Comedy Science fiction film directed by Müjdat Gezen. It is the second Turkish E.T. rip-off, this time centring around a tabloid photographer tasked with taking photos of "UFOs" by throwing pot lids in the air, but low-and-behold a real-life space ship crash lands just as he's taking the photos! Out comes Homoti, the gay crash-landed alien, and he takes the alien home to his apartment complex where his mother, their gay neighbour, and various other friends and acquaintances interact with Homoti.

The infamous E.T. toy finger light from Knickerbocker that was recalled from sale in 1983.

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