{"id":461796,"date":"2026-05-22T13:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/461796\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:39:08","slug":"the-creators-of-the-boroughs-on-that-big-e-t-easter-egg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/461796\/","title":{"rendered":"The Creators of ‘The Boroughs’ on That Big ‘E.T.’ Easter Egg"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boroughs<\/a> is now streaming<\/a> on Netflix<\/a>, and just as you\u2019re starting your binge of the new series\u2014which is executive produced by Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers\u2014you get a big dose of nostalgia. The opening scenes feature Dee Wallace, the star of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, battling a mysterious home invader. It\u2019s a clever way to both set up The Boroughs\u2018 sci-fi mystery and wink at genre-savvy members of the audience.<\/p>\n

In a new interview with Deadline<\/a>, The Boroughs creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews explained their thought process behind the sequence. For context, at the start of the first episode, Wallace\u2019s character, Grace, is living in the home that Sam (Alfred Molina) later moves into as The Boroughs gets going.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a story reason for everything,\u201d Addiss explained. \u201cWe knew we needed Grace. We wanted to open with a scare. We knew we wanted to set up some story point things. And we knew we wanted to explain why this house was open, because we wanted that idea that Sam\u2019s moving into a haunted house so that when he opens the door, you go, \u2018No, no, no, no! Oh no, it\u2019s that house.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The casting came next, and there was no better choice than the cult-beloved star of not just E.T. but also\u00a0The Hills Have Eyes, The Howling, Cujo, and Critters. \u201cThen once you do that and you look at it, you go, \u2018Well, Dee Wallace would be perfect for this part,\u2019 and she was fantastic for the part. It\u2019s an added bonus. But we needed that character. We needed that scene, and we needed a great actress, and Dee Wallace is a great actress, so it wasn\u2019t a stunt, but it could become a fun nod.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Matthews, \u201cWe needed someone that you cared about immediately because there\u2019s not a lot of time to get to know the character, and you have to care when she dies. So part of that is just her face, her manner, her ability to communicate warmth. You just love her right away. Even if you don\u2019t remember that you remember her from E.T., you love her right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Boroughs is now streaming on Netflix.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boroughs is now streaming on Netflix, and just as you\u2019re starting your binge of the new series\u2014which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[124868,93,61,60,1868,175348,282],"class_list":["post-461796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-dee-wallace","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-netflix","tag-the-boroughs","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}