Like many children of the '80s and '90s, I grew up reading R. L. Stine's classic Goosebumps stories, and I even caught nearly every episode of the TV series on Fox. Now, some of the books didn't translate very well to the screen, but most of them turned out pretty well. Today is Halloween, and I'd like to spotlight one such episode. When you see the title and you learn the premise is about a magical remote control that can transform and alter the world around you, you might immediately think of the 2006 Adam Sandler movie of the same name, and how he and his team STOLE the idea and managed to avoid any plagiarism lawsuits because they claimed it was a "coincidence". Gotta love the power behind corporate money and what Hollywood can get away with these days. But, let's take a look at the original Click, purely from the mind of R. L. Stine. It all started when young Seth Gold came home from school to find a special delivery in his mailbox: a universal remote control from the Armchair Electronics corporation. It can control your TV, your stereo, your VCR, and more... MUCH more. So as Seth relaxes to watch TV, his annoying little sister chooses that moment to perform her tap dancing routine right in front of him. As you may have noticed, annoying younger siblings are a staple of many Goosebumps stories, much like dead parents are a staple of most Disney movies. Increasing the volume does little to drown out little Jamie's tapping, so for a lark, he points the remote at her and hits pause... and it works. The little brat stops dead in her tracks. Baffled and confused by what had happened, Seth eventually manages to unfreeze his sister, now realizing just what sort of power he now wielded. He could control the whole world around him. Naturally, he goes out to practice on his neighbors, and I should like to point out that every time Seth misuses the remote, he gets a message, usually by way of TV or phone, from Tony, the CEO of Armchair Electronics, who always gives him a veiled warning against doing so. But, as is usual with protagonists in stories such as these, Seth will fail to heed his warnings.
I'm sure Seth will use his new powers for good, right? Well, at school, he literally changes the channel of the stereotypical bully, however this later resulted in yet another warning from Tony. I'll give the guy this: he's a very proactive CEO. Imagine if every time you looked up porn on your Apple computer, Steve Jobs showed up on screen to scold you... and he probably would have too. Next, Seth pauses his classroom to finagle the answers to a pop quiz from the teacher, and yet again, Tony contacts him to deliver yet another cagey warning. If I were Seth, I'd be very concerned about this guy who is clearly stalking him and knows his every move. Sure, there is a reason to be concerned, but Seth hasn't caused any major damage yet. He cheated, yeah, but I'm sure there will be no dire consequences from having a little innocent fun with a world-changing remote. Next day, bratty Jamie continues tormenting him and even tries taking his remote, which drops in the process. She goes crying to Mommy and Daddy, and in worlds such as this, they ALWAYS take the little kid's side and order Seth to surrender the remote. He quickly pauses them and tells them to chill out, even though they obviously can't hear him, and then hits the pause again... and nothing happens. He tries again and again, but his mother, father, and sister are frozen in place. Uh oh Spaghetti-O's! Unable to reach customer support for help, Seth and his friend Kevin venture to the headquarters of Armchair Electronics, which turns out to be a creepy, rundown old abandoned warehouse. Desperate to right his wrong, Seth decided to try and fix the broken remote himself, which results in a phone call from Tony telling him not to do so. Well, then don't make yourself unavailable to help him when he needs it, you weirdo! Seth locates a loose chip and fits it back into place, determining that to be the problem, so he tries the remote on his family again... and it works! His family is back and are none the wiser. Well, that was a relief. Now get rid of that damn remote before you cause any more trouble. But unfortunately, Seth learned nothing from this mishap and keeps his little instrument of destruction. Unlimited power in the palm of his hand. So I guess he's evil now. When Kevin discovers that Seth didn't throw away the remote like he promised, he tried to take it away, but Seth fought him off. After one final warning from Tony, Seth again fights off his friend, though discovers the remote is slowly breaking again. He hits the 'power' button and ends up in a dark, empty void. What happened? Well, as Batman would say, "confound it, the batteries are dead!" Tony shows up to basically tell him he's screwed and disappears, leaving Seth all alone in the private hell in which he had imprisoned himself.
A very good cautionary tale about misusing a great deal of power. If the kid playing Seth looks familiar, it's also because he played Skipper in Attack of the Mutant, but that one ended much better for him. This was a fun story, as both the book and the TV episode are pretty much the same, though I don't recall in the book if a guy showed up to warn Seth every five minutes about misusing the remote, somehow manipulating his phone with that same five-tone melody. You may be wondering why this company would willing sell such a powerful and dangerous device to the public and expect them not to misuse it. Well, it's much like how God put the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden and warned Adam and Eve not to eat of it, but they did it anyway. I guess this company counted on their customers having a great amount of self-control... well, then no wonder they went out of business. I definitely commend Goosebumps: Click, as it's fun, it's chilling, and as said above, is a very good cautionary tale about abusing power. As for the Adam Sandler movie of the same name, I haven't seen it, but I've heard it's not too bad.
I'm sure Seth will use his new powers for good, right? Well, at school, he literally changes the channel of the stereotypical bully, however this later resulted in yet another warning from Tony. I'll give the guy this: he's a very proactive CEO. Imagine if every time you looked up porn on your Apple computer, Steve Jobs showed up on screen to scold you... and he probably would have too. Next, Seth pauses his classroom to finagle the answers to a pop quiz from the teacher, and yet again, Tony contacts him to deliver yet another cagey warning. If I were Seth, I'd be very concerned about this guy who is clearly stalking him and knows his every move. Sure, there is a reason to be concerned, but Seth hasn't caused any major damage yet. He cheated, yeah, but I'm sure there will be no dire consequences from having a little innocent fun with a world-changing remote. Next day, bratty Jamie continues tormenting him and even tries taking his remote, which drops in the process. She goes crying to Mommy and Daddy, and in worlds such as this, they ALWAYS take the little kid's side and order Seth to surrender the remote. He quickly pauses them and tells them to chill out, even though they obviously can't hear him, and then hits the pause again... and nothing happens. He tries again and again, but his mother, father, and sister are frozen in place. Uh oh Spaghetti-O's! Unable to reach customer support for help, Seth and his friend Kevin venture to the headquarters of Armchair Electronics, which turns out to be a creepy, rundown old abandoned warehouse. Desperate to right his wrong, Seth decided to try and fix the broken remote himself, which results in a phone call from Tony telling him not to do so. Well, then don't make yourself unavailable to help him when he needs it, you weirdo! Seth locates a loose chip and fits it back into place, determining that to be the problem, so he tries the remote on his family again... and it works! His family is back and are none the wiser. Well, that was a relief. Now get rid of that damn remote before you cause any more trouble. But unfortunately, Seth learned nothing from this mishap and keeps his little instrument of destruction. Unlimited power in the palm of his hand. So I guess he's evil now. When Kevin discovers that Seth didn't throw away the remote like he promised, he tried to take it away, but Seth fought him off. After one final warning from Tony, Seth again fights off his friend, though discovers the remote is slowly breaking again. He hits the 'power' button and ends up in a dark, empty void. What happened? Well, as Batman would say, "confound it, the batteries are dead!" Tony shows up to basically tell him he's screwed and disappears, leaving Seth all alone in the private hell in which he had imprisoned himself.
A very good cautionary tale about misusing a great deal of power. If the kid playing Seth looks familiar, it's also because he played Skipper in Attack of the Mutant, but that one ended much better for him. This was a fun story, as both the book and the TV episode are pretty much the same, though I don't recall in the book if a guy showed up to warn Seth every five minutes about misusing the remote, somehow manipulating his phone with that same five-tone melody. You may be wondering why this company would willing sell such a powerful and dangerous device to the public and expect them not to misuse it. Well, it's much like how God put the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden and warned Adam and Eve not to eat of it, but they did it anyway. I guess this company counted on their customers having a great amount of self-control... well, then no wonder they went out of business. I definitely commend Goosebumps: Click, as it's fun, it's chilling, and as said above, is a very good cautionary tale about abusing power. As for the Adam Sandler movie of the same name, I haven't seen it, but I've heard it's not too bad.
