Say Cheese and Die!/TV episode

"Say Cheese and Die" is the fifteenth episode of season one of the Goosebumps TV series. It premiered on February 9, 1996, on Fox during the Fox Kids block.

Cast

 * Ryan Gosling as Greg Banks
 * Akiva David Salzman as Doug "Bird" Arthur
 * Renessa Blitz as Shari Walker
 * Caley Wilson as Terry Banks
 * Richard McMillan as Spidey
 * Angie Gei as Mrs. Banks
 * Marvin Karon as Mr. Banks
 * Karen Robinson as Det. Reddick
 * Scott Speedman as Officer Madison
 * Dan Petronijevic as Joey Ferris
 * Christian Tessier as Mickey Ward

Blurb
Greg is having fun taking pictures with the cool instant camera he found in the Coffman's spooky, old house. . . until he realizes that the pictures which develop are not what he shot. Instead they portray horrible disasters involving whoever or whatever is in them. The scariest part is that the disasters start to come true! Can this camera predict the future? Or does it actually cause bad things to happen? The only one who knows the truth is Spidey, the strange man that seems to be stalking him. Can Greg return the camera to its rightful owner before the next awful prediction comes true? Or will his fate be frozen on film forever?

Differences from the book

 * In the book, Greg Banks first finds the camera in a compartment hidden in the wall of the basement of a reputed haunted house he and his friends are exploring. In the TV version, he still finds it in a hidden compartment, but in the wall of the basement of an abandoned factory building.
 * Michael is dropped from the television version, and instead, it is Doug who becomes the camera's first victim/target, falling through the stairway railing (although he gets off with only mild bruises instead of a sprained ankle, in order for him and his friends to run away from Spidey a moment later). Subsequently, the later scene of Doug's picture being taken at a baseball game with the camera, and the accident that follows, is omitted, and Terry announcing the car getting wrecked instead occurs at the part where Greg snaps Shari's picture.
 * The camera in the original book is described as an ordinary-looking old-fashioned Polaroid camera, except that it was much heavier. In the television version, it has a more futuristic design. It's unknown why it was given a change of appearance, especially since the second DVD release also has the camera look ordinary.
 * Greg's nightmare of the family picnic where the photo he takes turns his family into skeletons is shown in full detail in the episode. In the book, Greg briefly describes it to Shari. This was due to R.L. Stine adding the dream into the book at the last minute after the cover art from Tim Jacobus was finished.
 * Greg only snaps four pictures with the camera in the TV episode (if you count his dream). The first time occurs when he snaps Douglas' picture leading to his friend's fall off the stairs, the second when he snaps a picture of his dad's new car, the third in his dream (of his family at a barbecue, with their image coming out as skeletons), and the fourth when he snaps Shari's picture, leading to her disappearance.
 * Greg and Shari are depicted as even more brave than their book counterparts. In the book, when Greg makes up his mind to take the camera to where he found it, Shari has already returned; in the television adaptation, she is still missing, and he makes up his mind to take the camera back because he thinks Spidey has kidnapped her and is holding her hostage. In the book, Greg basically ropes Shari into accompanying him on his mission; in the TV version, Shari voluntarily goes with him. Also, in the TV version, Greg not only resists Spidey's attack, he actually shoves the adult off, which he doesn't do in the book; also, Shari in the TV version snaps Spidey's picture on purpose, wherein the book it was an accident.
 * Spidey's true name, Dr. Fritz Fredericks, is never revealed in the television version, and he claims to be the sole inventor of the camera during his confrontation with Greg and Shari but never explains how it acquired its strange powers.
 * The ending of the television episode is different. Instead of dying of fright, Spidey gets trapped inside his own camera after his picture was taken. He can be seen inside the camera pleading to be released. When Joey and Mickey find the camera, Spidey gets released, however.
 * The scene where Shari vanishes is not set during a birthday party.

Filming Locations

 * Spidey’s hideout in this episode was filmed at and around the Distillery District in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Trivia

 * The actor who played Greg Banks was a young Ryan Gosling. Also, a young Scott Speedman makes a cameo as a policeman investigating Shari's disappearance.
 * Richard McMillan also appeared as Mr. Blankenship in the Season 3 episode "Teacher's Pet".
 * When Mr. Banks is in the hospital after the car accident, his cast reads, "You crack me up - Terry".
 * The theme song in this episode is played in a higher key and has a different atmosphere to it than the regular theme. The same occurs in the previous television episode.
 * The title of the episode removes the exclamation mark from the original book title.
 * Dr. Fredericks not dying of fright in this adaptation was most likely done due to television standards and practices not allowing depictions of death or murder in children's programming.
 * Goof: When Greg and Bird spot Joey and Mickey walking towards them from across the street, Greg says Mickey's last name is "Knotts". However, in the credit sequence, Mickey's name has been changed to "Ward", as in the book.
 * The DVD cover of the 2012 rerelease is a recreation of the Classic Goosebumps cover art. There are some differences including a skeletal hand on the ground, no skull in the camera lens, and a purplish night sky compared to the red hue of the cover art.
 * Richard McMillan and Christian Tessier both appeared in the Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode "The Tale of the Curious Camera" which is also about an evil camera. Additionally, Ron Oliver directed both episodes.
 * Coincidentally, Ryan Gosling also appeared in an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark entitled "The Tale of Station 109.1" which was also directed by Ron Oliver.

Gallery

 * -|Scenes=