Rudolph, E. T., and Johnny Cash

When visiting Los Angeles on business earlier this year. E. T. reportedly told movie producer Steven Spielberg of his burning desire to interact with his earthbound relative. T. V. The crafty Spielberg, realizing the spaceman's superstar potential, guaranteed the wide-eyed creature that he would get his wish, but only in exchange for exclusive rights to his life story.

E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial was released this summer, and became an instant box office sensation. Now, everyone's favorite alien is set to premiere on CBS (Channel 5 in Boston) next Tuesday--one of a stocking-full of holiday entertainment specials on the tube this month.

Examing the phenomenon of alien encounters, "E. T. and Friends Magical Movie Visitors," features film clips from several science fiction films, and interviews with earthlings who claim to have met extra-terrestrials. Robin Williams, himself the former alien of "Mork and Mindy" fame, hosts the hour-long show. Joining E. T. and Williams are a squad of Coneheads from the original "Saturday Night Live," as well as other weird-lookers from the galaxy of cancelled TV series.

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Using the philosophy that the Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving, many of the old favorites have already been shown this year. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and "Frosty's Winter Wonderland," all aired last week. A seasonal newcomer, "Ziggy's Gift," has also already made its appearance. (In case you're wondering, Ziggy--of comic strip fame--did not speak at all during the half-hour ABC special.)

As could be expected, each of the three major networks has at least one show that just couldn't survive the bitter cold of winters past. ABC executives still have nightmares about "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey,"--shown in 1977--while CBS took the stuffing out of "Raggedy Ann and the Great Christmas Caper" after it ran in 1978. For NBC, one of the more forgettable holiday specials employed those special ingredients that inexplicably continued to dominate the schedules--a 1979 special called "A Country Christmas," which set Scrooge's misdeeds to a truly sinister beat.

The coming weeks promise a mix of the new and the old, the good and the bad. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights, by network affiliation.

Besides E. T.'s first television appearance, CBS will feature:

* "Johnny Cash: A Merry Memphis Christmas," Dec. 7 A country, blues, rock and jazz tribute to the holiday season, with guests Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, and Johnny's daughter and wife, Rosanne and June. It's been 27 years since Johnny landed in Memphis and during tonight's walk down memory lane. Cash is set to visit the band shell in which he played his first concert.

* "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Dec. 18. This is the 17th rebroadcast of the animated Dr. Seuss classic, which follows one miser's ill-fated attempt to erase Christmas from the village of Whoville. The late Boris Karloff provides the voice of Grinch, as well as all the other voices and narration.

* "Twas the Night Before Christmas," Dec. 18. First shown in 1974, this cartoon has it all: sour old Scrooges, children in despair, a judicious town mayor, even gift lists returned from the North Pole marked "Not Accepted by Addressee." Narrated by Joel Grey, this adaptation of Clement Moore's famous poem is not recommended for people who fear mice.

*"Frosty the Snowman," Dec. 21 Another cartoon classic, featuring the voice of the late Jimmy Durante. Even before Mr. Bill arrived on the scene, this show pioneered the "Ani-Magic" method of filming Gumby-like characters using stop-motion photography.

* "The Muppet Movie," Dec. 24 CBS figures that a lot of kids stay home on Christmas Eve, so they're capitalizing on this opportunity to repeat this 1979 family movie hit Yes, all the Muppets are here, along with a hoard of "special guest stars" who couldn't find other employment at the time this movie was being made.

Someone from ABC apparently heard "Jingle Bells" in the jingle of coins at a video arcade recently. And the result means big bucks for the people who gave video-gobbler Pac-Man his own Saturday morning cartoon. Based on this show's success as the highest-rated children's show on television, the agents behind Pac-Man's TV career now bring us "Christmas Comes to Pac Land Presumably, Ms. Pac-Man will guest star in the Dec. 16 special, with Marty Engels as the voice of the electronic big-mouth.

Also on ABC:

* "Perry Como's Christmas Special." Dec. 18. Every year, audiences nation wide make Como's variety specials one of the week's highest-rated shows. You probably won't understand this odd phenomenon any better after viewing the show.

* "John Denver and the Muppets. A Christmas Together," Dec. 21. More Muppets, more music, more fun. What more could you want for Christmas?

* "Pinnocchio's Christmas Dec. 24 Comedian Alan King is the narrator for this animated repeat, which looks at how Pinnocchio's nasal passages react to cold weather.

NBC is going for a concentrated barrage of holiday cheer, featuring a night of prime time this Saturday devoted entirely to seasonal specials. Beginning with two animated shows. "The Swiss Christmas Special," and the "Chipmunks' Christmas Special." NBC's evening-long ex travaganza also includes.

* The NBC Family Christmas Special An annual gathering of stars from NBC's most popular regular season shows.

* "Christmas in Washington." According to an NBC spokesman. "President and Mrs. Reagan will participate in a specially produced segment from the White House." They will join a list of headliners that includes Dianne Carroll, Barbara Mandrell, Ben Vereen, former "Duke of Hazzard" John Schnieder, and Reaganite Dinah Shore. None of the Democratic hopefuls for 1984 will get equal time to rebut the President's Christmas greeting

Also on NBC:

* "The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Special." This animated repeat tells how two bears and their parents learn the true meaning of Christmas.

* "The Family Circus Christmas Special." This is a must see for everyone who loves reading Bil Keane's daily cartoons about his kids. The only problem is that they never seem to grow older, and always talk all at once.

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In addition to the networks, many independent stations feature a grab-bag of holiday movies and theme shows, as well as some highly entertaining visual treats. In New York, for example, a local station broadcasts, throughout Christmas Eve, films of a burning wood fire with Christmas melodies as background music.

Despite severe fiscal woes, public television should make it through the next month to bring viewers a spate of high quality productions--most more cultural in nature than the network offerings. Broadcast dates will vary according to each station's schedules.

The list includes:

* "Christmas Special with Luciano Pavarotti." The opera star brings his talents to the home screen in this always-popular broadcast.

* "Christmas at Pops," "Evening at Pops Christmas Special." These two shows feature the famous Boston Pops, under the direction of music-meister John Williams.

* "In Concert at the White House." A Beverly Sills musical special.

* "In Performance at the White House. Another show for the nation's Presidential mansion, this one featuring violinist Itzhak Perlman and an all-star group of jazz performers.

No doubt the highlight of this holiday season will be a Christmas Day broadcast on public TV called "Christmas a Penn State." According to the show's oficial description. "The Penn State Glee Club and Brass Chorale capture the essence of yuletide in Central Pennsylvania in heir outdoor performance of holiday music. Shot at various locations in and round the Penn State Campus."

You're sure to enjoy touring the now covered dorms and walkways of this spirited East Coast school, as much as all the other screen-borne gifts this holiday season. And don't forget to turnoff the fireplace when you're through watching it.The Muppets.