Say Cheese and Die — Again!/TV episode

"Say Cheese and Die... Again" is the eighteenth episode of season three of the Goosebumps TV series, and the sixty-second episode overall. It premiered on February 28, 1998, on Fox during the Fox Kids block.

Cast

 * Patrick Thomas as Greg Banks
 * Louis Del Grande as Mr. Saur
 * Jennie Lévesque as Shari Walker
 * Paula Barrett as Mrs. Banks
 * Christopher Redman as Terry Banks
 * Alison Acton as Marci (as Alison Aston)
 * Jackson Harrell as Student #1
 * Paul Brogren as Student #2 (uncredited)
 * Joshua Haddon as Student #3 (uncredited)
 * Jack Harrell as Jon (uncredited)
 * Richard McMillan as Spider a.k.a. Spidey (uncredited)

Blurb
Greg's English Teacher, Mr. Saur, is a real grouch. He just gave Greg a big fat "F" on his oral report about the camera he found last summer. He didn't believe the stories about the pictures it took and the evil things that happened. Now Greg has dug up the camera and bad things are happening, really bad things... just like the first time.

Differences from the book

 * The episode opens with Greg having a nightmare where a grim reaper-like being takes his picture with the evil camera. This is exclusive to the episode. The book opens with Greg recapping what happened in the previous book for his oral report.
 * The book shows Greg giving his report to the class, while the episode just shows Mr. Saur reading it himself and grading it.
 * In the book, Greg finds the camera in a dumpster near the remains of the Coffman house. In the episode, he discovers the house has been leveled, except for the basement, where he finds the camera.
 * While Dr. Fredericks was not seen in the book, he can be seen during flashbacks in this episode. Also, when Greg learns that the Coffman House was sold and demolished, he screams into the sky, blaming Dr. Fredericks. Although he strangely calls him "Spider" instead of Spidey.
 * Doug and Mr. Banks do not make an appearance.
 * Like "Say Cheese and Die" before it, Michael Warner is omitted from the television adaptation.
 * Jonathan is an unnamed man whose presence is not explained, while in the book he was a kid who's dad has bought the Coffman house. This also changes the photo taken. In the book, the photo of Jon shows him clutching his foot in pain after being impaled by a carpenter's nail. In the episode, the photo shows the unnamed man unconscious on the ground after falling through the floor.
 * Greg's weight gain happens entirely differently. In the book, Greg wakes up only slightly pudgier, then goes to school and immediately becomes obese while sitting in class, then continually grows fatter and fatter as time goes on. In the episode, however, Grew wakes up very chubby and remains virtually the same size for the next several scenes.
 * Many of the scenes where Greg is overweight are omitted, including the scene where Mr. Saur mocks him as well as the scene where Greg has to be taken home in the back of a van due to his increased weight.
 * In the novel, Shari's voice is described as becoming weaker and tinier as she shrinks, whereas in the episode, her voice does not change at all.
 * The ending is different. In the book, Mr. Saur takes the camera and takes a picture of the class, with Greg trying to stop him and the story ending on that note. In the episode, Mr. Saur takes a picture of himself and the picture shows him balding and scared. He then starts losing hair as the class laughs.
 * The bullies Donny and Brian are absent.
 * The scene where Greg and Shari try to take more pictures to cure their ailments, only for Greg to develop reptile skin is altered. Instead, Greg simply becomes even fatter.
 * In the book, Greg needs to get a passing grade so he can be allowed to visit his cousins. In the episode, he wants to go to summer camp.

Home media
"Say Cheese and Die... Again" was released on DVD on September 7, 2010, as the second episode on Say Cheese and Die. It was re-released with new cover and disc art on September 11, 2012. It was included in a 3-Pack Thriller DVD on August 26, 2014.

Trivia

 * While this is the sequel to "Say Cheese and Die", the actors and actresses are different from the ones who played the characters from the previous episode. For example, Greg is now played by Patrick Thomas instead of Ryan Gosling. The episode nonetheless makes use of flashbacks from its prequel.
 * Patrick Thomas (as Greg) had to wear a fat suit and prosthetic makeup when Greg becomes fully obese
 * The picture that was taken that made Shari disappear/vanished is seen with her initially in it, and then her image fading away, unlike the first episode, which only pictured the tree she was standing under.
 * A poster of Party of Five is visible on Greg's bedroom wall.
 * In the last scene of the episode, viewers can see the names of students on Mr. Saur's roster. With the exception of Greg and Shari, all of the names belong to people who worked on the Goosebumps television series:
 * Alan Doucette and Jaclyn Shoub worked in the art department.
 * The name "Katy Trpn" is short for Katy Turpin, a member of the transportation department.
 * David Forsyth was an assistant director for the series.
 * Ian Brock was in charge of art direction and series design.
 * Christine MacLean worked on the set decoration.
 * Lena Cordina was a producer for the series.
 * Dan Belley is a stunt coordinator and stunt actor. While his work on the series went uncredited, his signature appears on multiple scripts in the series.
 * The music shares similarities to the Friday the 13th theme, except there were the audible words 'Say Cheese!'.
 * According to Ron Oliver in [The Goosebumps TV Companion], the network had them adapt the book because the first episode was a ratings hit. However, Ron felt the episode didn't work no matter how much they tried to recut it and it "didn't satisfy any of us"