TV & VIDEO - Oct. 18, 1988

E.T., go home. In effect, that is what the National Assn. of Evangelicals is advising its conservative Protestant followers to tell the new video release of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” The association, in announcing the intended boycott Monday, said that the move was in retaliation for Universal/MCA Inc.’s release of “The Last Temptation of Christ,” a film the evangelical group finds offensive. A boycott of the video, due for release Oct. 27, “should get the film industry’s attention,” said Billy Melvin, executive director of the organization. But first the group must get consumers’ attention, and that might be tough: With reported advance sales of more than $250 million, the video reportedly is going to make more money than Universal/MCA made from all its theatrical movies in the last two years.