Harry and the Hendersons, Spielberg’s Lost Alien Film, and the Birth of E.T. (Ep. 54)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jim Hill and Eric Hersey go deep into the surprising history behind Harry and the Hendersons—including how a scrapped alien horror film called Night Skies ultimately led to E.T. and Bigfoot comedy gold. From Oscars to animatronic controversies, this episode reveals the untold story behind one of Spielberg’s most fascinating creative pivots. How Night Skies went from alien horror to E.T. Rick Baker’s original designs for a much scarier alien crew Why the Bigfoot suit in Harry and the Hendersons almost wasn’t eligible for an Oscar John Lithgow’s role in reshaping the script (and the heart) of the film The connection between Predator, Harry, and Universal Studios Hollywood Why the movie’s emotional ending still holds up after 38 years Also in this episode: a new Wicked trailer drop, Hagrid’s joins Express Pass, Rip Ride Rockit gets a closing date, and Halloween Horror Nights adds Fallout and Five Nights at Freddy’s to the mix. Support Our Sponsor: Be Our Guest Vacations Planning your next Universal vacation? Be Our Guest Vacations is a Platinum-level Earmarked travel agency with concierge-level service to make every trip magical. Their team of expert agents plans vacations across the globe, from Disney and Universal to cruises and adventures, ensuring you have the best possible experience without the stress. Book Now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The 5-pound meal deal from McDonald's.
0:16.0	Get a cheeseburger or mayo chicken, medium fries, four McNuggets, and a
0:21.9	medium soft drink for guess what? That's right, five pounds. It's not called the five pound meal
0:28.0	deal for nothing. From 11 a.m. Not available on delivery. Carbinated soft drink upgrade fees apply.
0:33.6	Participating restaurant's subject's availability. Welcome back to the Epic Universal podcast. I'm entertainment writer Jim Hill, and this is the podcast
0:41.2	where we covered the latest universal news, rumors, and history. And as always, I'm joined by
0:48.0	Eric Hersey. And how are you today, Eric? Jim, I'm doing fantastic. And I think everybody else is
0:53.6	rejoicing because there was big news,
0:55.5	big trailer drop. Did you, uh, did you buy any chance? I know you got a lot going on.
0:59.9	Did you get to watch the trailer for Wicked for Good? I saw it actually come in last night. And
1:07.0	correct me if I wrong, didn't we talk about how they were supposed to be showing Wicked
1:12.7	for one night only in theaters?
1:15.3	But if you bought the tickets to that, you got to see this on the big screen.
1:20.3	Did that actually happen?
1:22.0	Well, that's what it says.
1:23.0	Now, granted, I didn't get one of the, I think it was June 4th.
1:25.7	So it would have been this Wednesday.
1:27.1	Oh.
1:27.3	I believe that was the date. And I haven't seen one of the, I think it was June 4th, so it would have been this Wednesday. Oh. I believe that was the date and I haven't seen anything beyond that.
1:30.5	But yesterday or last night, right?
1:33.1	Yeah.
1:33.5	It came out and it's a two minute and 30 second trailer.
	...

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