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Letters: E.T. The Video Game, And Spoiler Alerts

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's time now for your letters.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM THEME MUSIC)

CORNISH: Kids of all ages know that's the theme to the Steven Spielberg classic "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." And people of a certain age know that this...

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME MUSIC)

CORNISH: ...is the sound of "E.T." the video game, which was not a classic. In fact, it was a colossal flop. Atari allegedly dumped all of its unsold "E.T." cartridges in a New Mexico landfill. Our story on a filmmaker's quest to find the old game didn't make Charlie Depner, of Atlanta, nostalgic. He writes: Like many of my generation, my heartstrings plucked and soared when hearing the first bars of John Williams' score for "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." But the same heart crashed through the floor with an eight-bit thud when subsequently hearing the same notes as interpreted by the Atari video game.

Mr. Depner continues: Unlike the archeological artifacts recovered by another Spielberg property, "Indiana Jones," some things are best left buried and forgotten.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW THEME MUSIC)

CORNISH: And proof you can seemingly never have enough spoiler alerts. Our story on the TV hit drama "The Good Wife" and the last episode's stunning plot twist did come with a warning to the show's fans. We said we were going to talk about the twist. Not enough warning for some of you, including Mark Marino of Los Angeles.

He writes: Imagine my horror when, in waning seconds, the report spoiled another show, "Downton Abbey," of which I am a season or two behind. I suppose you can't put spoiler warnings before every part of every story. But I will say, Ishmael never gets the whale, Soylent Green is made of people, and we all shot J.R., at least, in our dreams. So there.

Thank you for your comments. Keep them coming. You can write to us by visiting npr.org. Click on "contact us" at the bottom of the page.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW THEME MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.