Don't Go to Sleep!/TV episode

---

Navigation:

Book

Episode

Characters

Next entry

Previous entry

---

Don't Go to Sleep
Based On	Don't Go to Sleep!
Season	3
Episode	4
Air Date	September 20, 1997
Runtime (Approx.)	22 minutes
Directed by	John Bell
Written by	Rick Drew
Chronology
Previous Episode	"The House of No Return"
Next Episode	"Click"

"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

Plot

Matt Amsterdam is tired of being only 12. His older brother gets to go out late at night, even though it is a school night. His sister has a personal phone, and even his mom grabs the phone from him. Matt gets really sick of being treated like a child all the time. He asks his mom if he can move his room to the attic for more privacy, but of course, his mom says no to that idea. So when she leaves, Matt sneaks up to the attic, and checks out the items there. Then, he lays in an old bed up there, and says to himself, "Reality, who needs it? I hate reality!" Then, he falls asleep, and the bed and the attic seem to spin around until he wakes up the next morning in a new reality.

When he goes downstairs, his sister asks him if she can use the phone, but Matt's mom tells him that it is not her's. His brother tells him that he had a great game last night, and hat he did a good job. Matt is confused, but then a phone call interrupts his thoughts, and it is an endorsement offer. His mom tells them that they should leave all endorsement offers to Matt's agent, and to quit calling the house. Right after that, his mom is preparing him to go to his sports tournament against the Panthers, and Matt is so confused, and he finds out that it is a professional hockey sports team that he's been involved in for quite a while now. The coach keeps criticizing Matt and calling him names. Then two men come up to him, and they tell him that he doesn't belong there. Then, Matt jumps into a goal, and red and orange colors swirl about, and he is warped into another reality.

This time, two other people are looking down at him, and they address him as Dr. Amsterdam. They tell him that he has to perform a very delicate brain surgery on the U.S. President. (The president is not identified as any one in particular.) One of the doctors give him a razor cutter, and they keep telling him to start the operation. Then the two men (also known as the Reality Police) come back to get Matt. Then, he jumps away from them, and warps into another reality.

Here, he finds himself in a strange building with metal pipes and tubing. He calls out for someone, and then three men come and tell him that he must defuse a bomb from exploding, and he has to cut the right wire. He only got 20 seconds until detonation, and he has no idea which wire to cut. Then, he tells them to cut them all, and he jumps, and warps into another reality. He lands face down in the grass with a nice black suit. He gets up and sees that he is at a wedding, and that he is the groom to a horribly ugly bride, who eats an onion right in Matt's face. She tells him that she has been waiting for so long. The Reality Police tell him that he won't get away this time. He screams, and is then transported to the last reality.

He is in a dark building, and he reads a sign (which is the only thing actually lit up, except for a spotlight on himself). The sign reads 'Supreme Court of the Unified Universe'. He then hears voices from his previous realities, until the two Reality Police come up to him and tell him who they are. Then, Matt gets pushed into a chair and is swung into the court building. There, the judge accuses him of hating his old reality, and then calls him guilty and sentences him to jail. Then, he spins around in the red and orange swirl once more, and wakes up in the old bed in the attic.

He comes downstairs, and tells his mom that he loves his real reality, and that he wants to live under the attic from now on. Then, his mom tells him to go get his comic book and flashlight from the attic. When he gets there, Matt remembers how boring his real life really is, and he says that he's back to his boring old reality again. Then the two Reality Police come back and say "Boring- Oh, Matt, the fun's just beginning!" Then the attic door slams shut, and the men laugh maniacally.

Differences from the book

• In the book, Matt wants to sleep in the guest room. On the TV show, it's the attic.
• Lacie, Bruce, and Wayne (a twelve-year-old girl and two leather-clad teenage thugs, respectively) 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 after he turns into a Godzilla-like reptile and punish him by forcing him to drink a potion that will put Matt in an eternal sleep and set reality back to normal. In the episode, Matt is placed under arrest for warping reality, goes to trial for being unhappy with his reality, and is sentenced to being 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 mother and father, the son of a circus performer, an old man, a Godzilla-like reptile who nearly destroys his neighborhood, a fat kid, and a squirrel. In the episode, it's a hockey player who has to score the winning shot, a brain surgeon who has to perform surgery on the U.S. President, a bomb defuser who has to disarm a bomb, and a groom to an ugly bride.
• 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 return.

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.

Title	Release date	Media type
The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight	March 31, 2009	DVD
3-Pack Thriller	August 26, 2014	DVD

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.
• The dark void that Matt stands in before his trial is nearly identical to the spot at the end of "Click".

Gallery

Bruce and Wayne.