Own the rights?
16 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Barbie She Ain't, 19 June 2006 Author: dougdoepke from Claremont, USA
Talking Tina does say the darndest things for a cute little play thing. But then she doesn't know she's messing with Kojak-- tough-talking Telly Savalas as the stepdad. But then stepdad doesn't know this sweet little curly-head was a Demons R' Us purchase from the Twilight Zone. The face-off between one mean stepdad and one infernal doll is an epic one and not without moments of deliciously wry humor. It's not an episode you're likely to forget, perhaps because there's something of a role reversal near the end. Anyhow, some folks might take this as an exercise in abnormal psychology since stepdad does seem to have a problem in, uh, 'relating'. Except for the clumsy final scene, the episode works, and it works well. Charles Beaumont may not have been Serling's artistic equal, but he could come up with some good gimmicky scripts. This is one of them.
10 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Marvelous Chiller, 5 July 2007 Author: chrstphrtully from Washington, DC
When his wife and stepdaughter bring home a talking doll, Erich Streator (Telly Savalas) takes an instant dislike to the toy -- a sentiment reciprocated and expressed by the doll. Although many of the episodes from the series' final season were clunkers, this one easily ranks with the series' best, mixing a chilling Twilight Zone plot, with extremely well-drawn characters and superb acting.What raises this above the level of many remakes of the same story (Child's Play, in particular) is the depth of the lead character, whose actions are not motivated by simple hatred, but deeply rooted in his own feelings of inadequacy. As the doll becomes more vehement in its dislike, Savalas' character's actions become more understandable and -- strangely, more sympathetic. In conveying this, Savalas makes no effort to soften his character, having real confidence in the character as developed in Jerry Sohl's (who ghostwrote the script for Charles Beaumont) script. Mary LaRoche is equally up to the task as a woman struggling on the one hand to protect her daughter from emotional cruelty, and desperately trying to understand the man she married on the other.If you want to see how a horror story can be made without gore and cheap shocks, watch this....
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: An early, subtle look at domestic abuse, 11 September 2008 Author: rbecker28 from United States
The main thing to note about this episode is that Erich (Telly Savalas) is quite obviously an abuser, even though the extent of his abuse is likely understated because of the sensitivity of the subject at the time. One sees that his wife and stepdaughter live in terror of him, yet also are too fearful of what he may do to try to leave him or tell anyone else. As such, Talking Tina is not just an evil doll like Chucky, but the only hope for escape that this mother and daughter have. Talking Tina sees Erich for the abuser that he is and is not afraid of him, and realizing this, he sets out to destroy her.The one thing that disappoints me is the ending, which seems a bit rushed and could have been handled more dramatically. (I have an idea for a different ending with the same basic result, but I'll hold it for now). I feel that the writers chickened out a little there. For overall effect, however, this is one of the true classics of the original Twilight Zone.
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Creepy...An Absolute Fave Episode!, 8 June 2006 Author: scott88-4 from Canada
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Best TZ episode? For me..yes! I found dolls and mannequins creepy throughout my life, and apparently others did as well, hence the other episodes in TZ and "Night Gallery" that dealt with the subject.The story begins with a young girl coming home to her father (Telly Savalas) with a new play thing: the "Talky Tina" doll. Father isn't overly impressed and kind of hard on the kid. But while the doll spews such sap as, "I love you" when you pull her string, when father is alone in the room with "Tina", she says, "I am going to kill you". Of course Mom and daughter don't hear this side of "Tina", and Telly has a problem! What follows is father trying in vain to get rid of the accursed doll, but it doesn't go away that easily! It doesn't end nicely! A very creepy episode with a dark feel throughout. Any fans of the doll genre in horror films must see this episode. It's a classic in my eyes and one of the scariest of all the TZ episodes.Fans of the Simpsons will remember the Halloween Special a few years back with the talking "Krusty" doll that kept trying to kill Homer. Obviously a direct takeoff of the "Talky Tina" doll from this great TZ moment....to a T! "Krusty and Homer ended up buddies in that story....."Tina" and Telly certainly do NOT!
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: You'd Better Be Nice to Me!, 11 December 2008 Author: Hitchcoc from United States
This entry has stayed with me my entire life. I think it's the cute little doll face, expressing venom without a change in expression. Telly Savales is a mean man who has married a woman with a little girl. They make the girl so darned cute that when Telly goes ballistic, it seems even more cruel. The doll has some great lines and the expressions on Savales's face are priceless. No kindly, old lady loving Kojak here. We just know that this doll has an agenda and she's not going to stop. When Telly can't cut the things head off with his table saw, he knows that something just isn't right. The die has been cast and there's no going back. The concluding line is great and it sets up all kinds of possibilities.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Just Excellent, 6 June 2007 Author: stalinsrepublic from United States
For me its easy to see how people got along with 7 channels or so in the 60's. T.V. was much better then in many ways. This episode of Twilight Zone is a perfect example. I think the acting, directing, writing and musical score are all top rate. I really enjoy when Erich takes "Talky Tina" to the basement and is unable to destroy/harm Tina. Especially as he puts her head in the vice and Tina tells him, "I can take it if you can!" I just saw this episode again last night (for the 30th time or so) and it is as great as ever. Also as Erich dies in the end, as much as you expect him to say something as he is dying, he just quietly checks out at the foot of the stairs. Love it! Love it! Gary
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Where can I get one of those dolls?!, 9 September 2007 Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida
This episode gets very high marks for its "cool factor", as this is one of the spookier and more memorable episodes. Plus, it features a talking homicidal doll--a definite plus! Telly Savalas plays a brutal and cruel husband and father. When his wife returns home with the daughter, Savalas nags and berates them--running the house like he's a dictator. What really sets him off this time is that his wife bought the kid a new Talking Tina doll--something the skinflint Savalas can't stand.Oddly, while the girl loves her new doll, every time the father pulls the string to make the doll talk, it says things that seem deliberately pointed towards him. Eventually, the doll even tells him it's going to kill him--something the audience is rooting for since he is a terrible person.This is a very well-acted episode and what really helps is that Savalas managed to play such an unlikable person so very well. The malevolence he exudes really helps make this an enjoyable episode--one where you find yourself rooting for the doll to do him in once and for all!
'My name is Talking Tina, and I want to kill you', 29 March 2009 Author: Alex P (miskatonic86) from Baltimore, Maryland
Recently saw perhaps one of the greatest episodes of the original "Twilight Zone" ever. But sadly, it is also one of the least talked about too. We do not seem to realize that the episode "Living Doll" marks as a slap in the face to 1960s nuclear family.Telly Savales ("Kojak") plays Erich Streator, a cold, heartless man with a wife and stepdaughter, Christie. Little Christie loves her new doll, Talking Tina. It's sweet because when you pull Tina's string, she tells you how much she loves you. Just like the Chatty Cathy doll, right? Not when the father plays with it. She tells him how much she hates him, and she wants to kill him.Talking Tina shows you the inside into what a typical American household is "really" like. Lacking of love, and familial abuse. That's what made "the Twilight Zone" one of the greatest TV shows ever, is because still today, some 45 years later, it still tells the socio-political climate of America the way it is.
2 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Horror from simplicity., 22 April 2008 Author: Tommy Nelson from Long Beach, California
Before the evil Zuni fetish doll from Trilogy of Terror, and before Chuckie the murderous doll, was Talky Tina. Unlike the other two dolls, which run around and stab at people and seem almost humorous, Talky Tina does very little. She can talk, but has no mouth movement, she can move her arms, and can blink and wink. Doesn't seem like much of a threat, but Talky Tina is a much scarier doll than either of the other two.Erich Strader's wife has bought his step-daughter a new doll, Talky Tina. Erich is just a downright bitter man, and doesn't want his wife spending money on that stuff. When his step-daughter picks up Tina, it says, "I'm Talky Tina and I love you very much!". When he picks it up, it says, "I'm Talky Tina and I think I hate you." He begins to talk to the doll, and the doll talks back threatening him, but his wife doesn't believe this. The doll, voiced by June Foray is really threatening, and actually kind of scary in a simple sort of way. Just a look from this little piece of plastic is enough to make you pause the set at night and finish the episode in the morning. Telly Savalas plays Erich and he's great at being a jerk. The wife, played by Mary LaRoche, is good with her false British accent of the time period, and the daughter's pretty good. This is really a classic episode of this classic show, and I suggest you check it out.My rating: **** out of ****. 30 mins. TVPG
1 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Twilight Zone, Sci-fi and the Dark Side of Dolls, 16 June 2008 Author: space_patroller from United States
There was also another malevolent doll To-to from the X Minus 1 tale "Perigi's (sp?) Wonderful Dolls" in the mid '50's. This diminutive daemon had a much bigger agenda than our Little Miss Wonderful. I believe that Bob Cummings also had a "Living Doll" that was nowhere near malevolent: Rhoda the Robot was an android trying to make it as a person in this sitcom from the middle 1960'sAlong these lines was another "doll", an episode of Twilight Zone, the title of which I forget features a man who is sentenced to live a solitary life on some habitable planetoid. As an act of kindness, the fellow who brought him supplies brought him a kit to build a robot girl, with unsettling results...So it seems that there were quite a few dolls before Chucky came to torment up. In fact, it seems that Chucky was a Johnny-Come-Lately.As recently as 2007, I heard June Foray, being interviewed on WBZ 1030-AM being interviewed, do a but of Talky TinaI also found interesting in the reference to the names Christie and Tina, the idea that the doll was acting out the little girl's thoughts, I thought I was the only one who got that notionI wonder what became of the doll that was Talky TinaFor those of you wondering what became of Talky Tina: she turned up in the Thirtieth Century HTTP://spacepatrol.us/wantedtina.htmlwhere she is still cause persons a good deal of consternation.Or, maybe she came from then. Enjoy
Add another review
