Previously, on Capitalism: “E.T., Michael Jackson, and the Storybook That Shouldn’t Have Been”

In 1982, two of the biggest forces in pop culture collided: Michael Jackson and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Jackson was hired to narrate a storybook album for the film, produced by Quincy Jones. It should have been the biggest crossover event of the decade. Instead, it triggered a $2 million lawsuit. Jackson's label, Epic Records, gave the E.T. album's label, MCA, two strict conditions: do not release the album before Thriller, and do not release the song "Someone in the Dark" as a single. MCA violated both. What followed was a corporate war that led to the album being immediately withdrawn from stores, turning the 7" promo singles into one of the rarest collector's items in music history. This is the story of how a sincere, emotional recording became a casualty of commerce—and then won a Grammy anyway. Welcome to SLOP TV Presents: "Previously, on Capitalism…" — A history of comic books, toys, and financial hubris.