Don't Go to Sleep!/TV episode

"Don't Go to Sleep" is the fourth episode of season three of the Goosebumps TV series, and the forty-eighth episode overall. It premiered on September 20, 1997 on Fox Kids Network.

Cast

 * Tyler Kyte as Matt Amsterdam
 * Kyle Welton as Greg Amsterdam
 * Amanda Zamprogna as Pam Amsterdam
 * Kathleen Laskey as Laura Amsterdam
 * Martin Roach as Man in Black
 * Anthony De Longis as Man in Black
 * Don Cherry as Coach
 * Howard Jerome as Reality Judge
 * John Hemphill as Doctor / SWAT Team Leader
 * Lisa Hynes as Bride / Nurse

Differences from the book

 * Instead of Matt wanting to move into a guest room, it's an attic.
 * Lacie, Bruce, and Wayne as the Reality Police are replaced by a black man and a white man as Men in Black-style secret agents.
 * In the book, the Reality Police capture Matt and force him to drink a potion that will put him in eternal sleep. In the episode, Matt is placed under arrest for warping reality, goes to trial for not being happy with his reality, and sentenced to be tossed in a portal.
 * In the book, Matt is sent to a new reality every time he goes to sleep. In the episode, Matt is sent to a new reality whenever the Reality Police go after him (or rather, whenever he screams).
 * Matt's realities in the book were: a high schooler, an only child with a different family, the son of a circus performer, an old man, a Godzilla-like reptile, a fat kid, and a squirrel. In the episode, it's a hockey player, a brain surgeon, a bomb defuser, and a groom to an ugly bride.
 * A German flag and Brazilian flag can be seen flanking the judge. It is never explained why the flags are there or why those two particular countries were chosen.
 * In the book, Matt freaks out when his mom surprises him with the guest room as his new room. In the episode, his mom tells him that if he wants to, he can move up into the attic, but Matt decides not to sleep in the attic and goes back to get his things. While there, he mutters that his reality is boring, and the Reality Police officers come back and corner him, before one tells him the fun is only beginning, before the door to the attic closes. Due to this, this is the first episode to have a completely different ending and to have no reference to the original ending of the book.
 * Matt was never taken to court in the book. He was immediately arrested.
 * Matt's family is never altered in the TV version, which means that no matter what reality he was in, Matt never went to a reality where he has a living father.
 * The family's pet dog, Biggie, is omitted.

Home releases
"Don't Go to Sleep" was first released on DVD on March 31, 2009, as the second episode on The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight. It was included in a 3-Pack Thriller DVD on August 26, 2014.

Trivia

 * This is one of the three episodes that famed internet reviewer JonTron watched for his Halloween 2013 special. The other two were "My Hairiest Adventure" and Ghost Beach. All of which, however were reviewed in a negative light.
 * Strangely, despite being in different realities, Matt always stays at the age of 12, even though the realities except the first one require him to be at least 18.