Say Cheese and Die!/TV episode

Say Cheese and Die is the fifteenth episode of Season 1 of the Goosebumps TV series. The episode first aired on Fox Network on February 9, 1996. The episode was based on the  Goosebumps  book Say Cheese and Die!  It was directed by Ron Oliver.

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
 * Dan Petronijevic as Joey Ferris
 * Christian Tessier as Mickey Ward
 * Scott Speedman as Officer Madison

Differences from the Book

 * There are several differences between the book and the television adaptation. Here are the primary ones (spoiler alert):
 * The book is set in a small town called Pitts Landing, during the summer. The television adaptation resets it in some unnamed city during the autumn.


 * In the book, Gregory 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' 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 Gregory 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.


 * Gregory only snaps four pictures with the camera in the tv version (if you count his dream, which in the book is only discussed, never seen). 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.


 * Gregory and Shari are depicted as even more brave than their book counterparts. In the book, when Gregory 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, Gregory basically ropes Shari into accompanying him on his mission; in the TV version, Shari voluntarily goes with him. Also, in the TV version, Gregory 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, where in the book it was an accident.


 * Spidey's true name is never revealed in the television version, and also he claims to be the sole inventor of the camera during his confrontation with Gregory 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. When Joey and Mickey find the camera, Spidey gets released, however.

Trivia

 * The actor who played Greg Banks in Say Cheese and Die! was a young Ryan Gosling. Also look for a young Scott Speedman in 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".
 * Say Cheese and Die - Again! is included in the 2012 DVD release.
 * The theme tune in this television 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.
 * 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.