Based on "Click", the eighth story in Tales to Give You Goosebumps (the first short-story collection from the Tales to Give You Goosebumps anthology series).
Seth Gold buys a new Universal Remote that he soon discovers can actually control his universe.
No relation to the Adam Sandler film Click. They both use the same concept of a Universal Remote Control, albeit executed in a different fashion.
The episode provides examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The episode adds Seth's friend Kevin and a character named Tony Valter who acts like the conscience for Seth, advising him to not abuse the Universal Remote Control's powers. The episode also adds a minor subplot where Seth decides to pause his family after he fights with his sister over the remote, only for the remote to stop working.
- And I Must Scream: When Kevin tries to take the remote from Seth by force, Seth tries to use the Power button on him in frustration. The world disappears and with the batteries dead, Seth is left trapped in a featureless void with no way out.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Seth's little sister Jamie repeatedly tries to annoy him by doing her tapdance act in the living room right in front of the TV.
- Canon Foreigner: Product spokesman Tony Valter and Seth's friend Kevin, neither of whom were in the short story.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Tony Valter, the President of Armchair Electronics. While there is guaranteed to be something sinister about the head of a seemingly non-existent business that sells a Universal Remote Control to random kids, he repeatedly contacts Seth through all sorts of ways to warn him about the dangers. When Seth keeps breaking the rules, he leaves Seth in a featureless dimension.
- The Conscience: Seth's friend Kevin, who takes umbridge with the more questionable uses of the remote control and keeps telling Seth to get rid of it because it's clearly too dangerous to use. More menacingly, Tony also repeatedly warns Seth not to abuse his power.
- Ennio Morricone Pastiche: At school, Seth uses the remote to knock his friend Kevin off his ass. He then handles the remote as if it were a six shooter, blowing at the end before "holstering" it in his pocket. This is accompanied by a Wild West jingle.
- Foreshadowing: After Seth fixes the remote and tries to unpause his family, he notes that it still isn't working, prompting Kevin to suggest that the batteries are low.
- Ignored Epiphany: Seth seems to learn his lesson after he manages to bring his family back to life and promises his friend Kevin to throw out the remote, but its powers are too great for him to give it up.
- Karmic Twist Ending: Seth becomes Drunk with Power and starts to abuse the magic remote more and more frequently. Eventually, when Kevin confronts him and is ready to fight him for it, Seth tries to use it on his own friend. The remote malfunctions because it's low on energy until Seth finally presses the OFF button in frustration. The world vanishes and Seth realizes that the remote's battery has finally run out. The salesman berates Seth for his arrogance and leaves him there.
- The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: Seth orders the remote control after seeing an ad in the newspaper for a shady company called Armchair Electronics. They don't answer the phone and they have no physical address; Seth and Kevin visit one, but it's just an abandoned, dilapidated warehouse. However, they seem to know what Seth is doing at any point and repeatedly warn him not to abuse the remote.
- Oh, Crap!: Seth decides to freeze his family when they annoy him. Unfortunately, the remote stops working right at that moment and Seth realizes the implications of what he just did.
- Time Stands Still: The universal remote can stop, rewind, or fast forward time. Naturally, Seth uses it for various questionable things, like freezing his class to cheat on a test, or freezing his family when they annoy him. Unfortunately, his family remains frozen because he damaged the remote and he is only able to bring them back to life after performing some risky DIY.
- Universal Remote Control: The whole premise is that Seth is given the Verona XG-20 Universal Remote Control, which gives him the powers of a Reality Warper. While he initially only uses it for mild pranks, he gradually becomes Drunk with Power when he realizes the full potential of the device.
