History CreepyDoll / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' has Talky Tina from "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S5E6LivingDoll Living Doll]]", a surprisingly creepy and murderous doll. Ironically, Talky Tina is more of the good guy of the story, especially considering what a jerk the guy she torments is to his wife and stepdaughter. [[spoiler: Though she does end on a rather menacing note to the wife, saying "You'd better be nice to me" as the poor woman stares in horror at her husband's body.]] At the end of the episode, Rod's closing statement says that while dolls can't really move or talk, children do pretend that they're friends and defenders. "Talky Tina" was inspired by a real toy, "Chatty Cathy", a doll produced by Mattel beginning in 1959. Creator/JuneForay, who provided the recorded voice Mattel used for Chatty Cathy, also provided CBS with the voice for Talky Tina.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' has Talky Tina from "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S5E6LivingDoll Living Doll]]", a surprisingly creepy and murderous doll. Ironically, Talky Tina is more of the good guy of the story, especially considering what a jerk the guy she torments is to his wife and stepdaughter. [[spoiler:At least until the end, anyway, when it's revealed that she wasn't just trying to teach him a lesson, but actually made good on her threats to kill him, thus showing that the doll is not only murderous but selfish as well, as her actions have nothing to do with getting him to be nicer to his wife and stepdaughter. It's implied that she will then control the mother with fear and eventually reveal her true form to the daughter.]] At the end of the episode, Rod's closing statement says that while dolls can't really move or talk, children do pretend that they're friends and defenders. "Talky Tina" was inspired by a real toy, "Chatty Cathy", a doll produced by Mattel beginning in 1959. Creator/JuneForay, who provided the recorded voice Mattel used for Chatty Cathy, also provided CBS with the voice for Talky Tina.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E6LikeAngelsPutInHellByGod Like Angels Put in Hell by God]]", voodoo dolls are inherently creepy, but when Claudia sees one that has been placed in front of her doorstep to curse her family, she picks it up, smiles at it, and pets its head.

* ''Series/Legion2017'': In "[[Recap/LegionS3E3Chapter22 Chapter 22]]", when Charles Xavier opens Gabrielle's box, he finds a [[https://25yearslatersite.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/legion-angry-boy.png scary-looking doll]] which is the miniature version of the Shadow King's guise as the [[https://i.imgur.com/7xXzIZO.png World's Angriest Boy in the World]] from Season 1. Charles is a bit creeped out by the toy's appearance (the eerie, discordant soundtrack reflects his discomfort), and he quickly closes the lid.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' has [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E126LivingDoll Talky Tina]], a surprisingly creepy and murderous doll. Ironically, Talky Tina is more of the good guy of the story, especially considering what a jerk the guy she torments is to his wife and stepdaughter. [[spoiler:At least until the end, anyway, when it's revealed that she wasn't just trying to teach him a lesson, but actually made good on her threats to kill him, thus showing that the doll is not only murderous but selfish as well, as her actions have nothing to do with getting him to be nicer to his wife and stepdaughter. It's implied that she will then control the mother with fear and eventually reveal her true form to the daughter.]] At the end of the episode, Rod's closing statement says that while dolls can't really move or talk, children do pretend that they're friends and defenders. "Talky Tina" was inspired by a real toy, "Chatty Cathy", a doll produced by Mattel beginning in 1959. Creator/JuneForay, who provided the recorded voice Mattel used for Chatty Cathy, also provided CBS with the voice for Talky Tina.

** In the animated segment "[[https://youtu.be/1fD_ERfqvq0 The Toothpaste March]]", the marching toothpaste tubes pass by several creepy dolls, including a Victorian girl doll, a [[Theatre/TheNutcracker Nutcracker]], a nightmarish teddy bear, and a [[Literature/RaggedyAnn Raggedy Andy]] doll unsettlingly reclining against a wall.

** In the animated segment "[[https://youtu.be/1fD_ERfqvq0 The Toothpaste March]]", the marching toothpaste tubes pass by several creepy dolls, including a [[Theatre/TheNutcracker Nutcracker]], a nightmarish teddy bear, and a [[Literature/RaggedyAnn Raggedy Andy]] doll unsettlingly reclining against a wall.

** In the animated segment "[[https://youtu.be/1fD_ERfqvq0 The Toothpaste March]]", the marching toothpaste tubes pass by a creepy teddy bear and a [[Literature/RaggedyAnn Raggedy Andy]] doll unsettlingly reclining against a wall.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Rhm7kp-tk This creepy segment]] has nightmare inducing closeups of several dolls, accompanied by an extremely creepy march.

* ''Series/ScareTactics'' has a collector of creepy dolls -- one of which being his "mother" -- as one of their favorite setups.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Drusilla has a plethora of these. Her favorite doll is called Miss Edith. ("Miss Edith speaks out of turn. She's a bad example, and will have no cakes today.")
* On ''{{Series/CSI}}'''s seventh season, the Miniature Killer placed a picture of a creepy bisque doll in each of the crime scene miniatures. It turned out to be a symbol of her dead sister. Or possibly of her?
* ''{{Series/Legion|2017}}'': In "[[Recap/LegionS3E3Chapter22 Chapter 22]]", when Charles Xavier opens Gabrielle's box, he finds a [[https://25yearslatersite.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/legion-angry-boy.png scary-looking doll]] which is the miniature version of the Shadow King's guise as the [[https://i.imgur.com/7xXzIZO.png World's Angriest Boy in the World]] from Season 1. Charles is a bit creeped out by the toy's appearance (the eerie, discordant soundtrack reflects his discomfort), and he quickly closes the lid.
* ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'' had [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E126LivingDoll Talky Tina]], a surprisingly creepy and murderous doll.
** "Talky Tina" was inspired by a real toy, "Chatty Cathy," a doll produced by Mattel beginning in 1959. Creator/JuneForay, who provided the recorded voice Mattel used for Chatty Cathy, also provided CBS with the voice for Talky Tina.
** This was parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' "Treehouse of Horror" with a killer talking Krusty doll. However, unlike Tina, someone had accidentally set it to "evil" instead of "good."
** Also parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' episode "Little Talky Tabitha".
** Ironically in the case of Talky Tina, the creepy doll is more of the good guy of the story, especially considering what a {{jerk|assVictim}} the guy she torments was to his wife and stepdaughter. [[spoiler: At least until the end, anyway, when it's revealed she wasn't just trying to teach him a lesson, but actually made good on her threats to kill him, thus showing that the doll was not only murderous but selfish as well, as her actions had nothing to do with getting him to be nicer to his wife and stepdaughter, it's implied that she would then control the mother with fear and eventually reveal her true form to the daughter.]] At the end of the episode, Rod's closing statement says that while dolls can't really move or talk, children do pretend that they're friends and defenders.
* In the episode "Multiple Plots" of ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'', Doug delivers a package to a man who runs a doll hospital out of his home. While waiting, Doug picks up one of the dolls the guy is repairing. It says "Mommy!", Doug utters a terrified "Oh, my God!" and throws the doll away.
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'' had two creepy dolls in the episode "Tuesday the 17th"
** The first doll was a ''papier mâché'' pinata of Rick Astley created by Shawn when he was a kid
** The second was an exact replica of the ''Robert the Haunted Doll'' that was carried around by one of the characters.
** One could also argue that the two wrestling dolls Shawn and Gus played with in "Let's Get Hairy" were creepy
* A doll in ''Series/GhostWhisperer''. To make things worse, the doll was disfigured and its clothes were torn and stained. Ugh!
* Creator/RodSerling must have been a fan of this trope, because ''Series/NightGallery'' had the episode, "The Doll" which had, you guessed it, a creepy doll that was actually part of a revenge curse.
* Episode 12 of ''Series/TheAmandaShow'' had a skit called "Rock-a-Bye Ralph." A little girl (Amanda Bynes) can't sleep because of a thunderstorm, so her parents give her the eponymous toy--a smiling doll in pajamas that says cutesy bedtime phrases ("I love you! Time to go sleepy!"). While the girl thinks it's sweet at first, Rock-A-Bye Ralph [[MotorMouth refuses to shut up]] and endlessly blathers in his SickeninglySweet voice, driving her crazy and, paradoxically, keeping her awake even more. But no matter what she does--from ripping out his batteries to jamming him in a drawer to tossing him out the window--Ralph just keeps chattering. It looks as though the girl finally wins after calling her puppy to eat Ralph...that is, until [[HereWeGoAgain the doll starts talking from the dog's stomach.]]
* There were a few of these in ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'':
** The episode "The Tale of the Dark Music" had a ''life-sized'' walking and talking doll, with a creepy perpetual grin, dressed in a cute blue party dress acting innocent and nice, when it really had evil intentions and wished to lure the male lead in that episode into the dark cellar behind it.
** The episode "The Tale of the Dollmaker" was essentially about a girl who is distraught over the disappearance of her friend. She finds a mysterious doll house whose front door matches one she uncovers behind wallpaper in the attic. Through the door, she finds her missing friend who is slowly turning into a china doll. She herself almost turns into one as well.
** The episode "The Tale of the Crimson Clown" had a young bratty boy learn a lesson when an [[MonsterClown evil clown doll]] came to life and started to terrorize him.
** Heck, the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3pBBLN0w7NY#t=12 intro sequence]]'' features one at around 00:12. This show really loved its creepy dolls.
* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' had a creepy doll called Molly Dolly chase her around her home in a Halloween episode.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Chinga" (written by Creator/StephenKing) had one that drove people to inflict harm on themselves ("Let's have fun!").
** In "Born Again", Michelle's therapist would sometimes leave Michelle alone in her office with a doll, and Michelle would disfigure every doll by tearing off an arm and gouging out an eye. She shows Mulder an entire shelf of these dolls. It's even more disturbing when we learn ''why'' Michelle was doing this: [[spoiler:she was the reincarnation of a murder victim and she was re-enacting the post-mortem mutilation that had been done to his body.]]
* ''Series/DarkShadows'' featured an episode where two children are turned into dolls.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' explained the backstory of Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket; his parents were turned into two creepy dolls now owned by Rumpelstiltskin.

* The incredibly creepy (at least, to a 12-year-old) 1985 BBC series ''[[http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/maelstrom/intro.shtml Maelstrom]]'' featured lots of scary dolls in the darkened attic of an old log cabin.
* Hidden camera show ''Series/ScareTactics'' has a collector of creepy dolls-one of which being his "mother"-as one of their favorite setups.
* ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' "I"m Cindy Sunshine, and I want to be your friend." Uh... no thanks. (It's not the voice speaking through it - provided by a known character - but more ''Film/TheExorcist''-like head-turning at one point.)
* The doll that started off the [[GottaCatchEmAll merry cursed antique hunt]] of ''Series/FridayThe13thTheSeries'' even had a name: Vita. She talks, she kills, she has telekinetic powers!
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': A female [=UnSub=] ''made'' creepy dolls out of her victims, which she kidnapped, [[AndIMustScream kept chemically immobilized but conscious]], dressed up and played tea party with until they died from lack of stimulation. In her defense she didn't intend to kill them and had a FreudianExcuse: Her real, er, ''actual'' dolls (American Girls expies) were a gift from her abusive dad after he molested her then electroshocked her to make her forget (he was a [[CriticalPsychoanalysisFailure psychiatrist]]), but when she saw him giving them to his latest victim she snapped.
** The dolls themselves caused some creepiness: a costume and essay contest by the doll company accidentally revealed some disturbed little girls; it turns out they had accidentally stumbled onto an (actual) form of trauma therapy.
* An episode of ''Series/GhostHunters'' had the team visit a woman who claimed her house was haunted. Among other things, she said that the ghost made her doll "perform" for her (something like the face moving). The team recorded the doll, but thank God nothing actually happened. One of the crew members was visibly relieved he didn't have to witness anything.
** An episode of ''Series/DestinationTruth'' had Josh and the group on the Island of The Dolls. A doll's eye actually opens up.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'':
** In one episode, Susan had a doll that looked just like George's mother, Estelle. George couldn't sleep with it in the bed, and he kept imagining it talking to him in Estelle's voice. Meanwhile Susan kept insisting that it looked nothing like Estelle and George was being ridiculous. When Frank saw the doll at the end of the episode, he also imagined it talking to him in Estelle's voice, then strangled it and pulled its head off.
--->'''George:''' ''[to Susan]'' I told you it looked like her.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The episode "Playthings" is chock full of 'em.
* One episode of ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' had a murder in a doll hospital. They ended up finding an important piece of evidence: a recording in a doll. To try and figure out how to activate it, they take off the doll's head, with all the wires hanging out of it, like veins and intestines. Then they turn it on and it says in a semi-demonic voice ''"My Name is Sophie."''

* ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'' used to have these brief skits where the jukebox had puppets that would play music. Let's just say the puppets were...horrifying and leave it at that.
* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'': The episode "Strung Along" features a marionette puppeteer about to make a comeback and gets the help of a young animatronics engineer, but as he starts suspecting his wife of cheating on him, the doll seems to speak to him, indicating that he is starting to go crazy with stress. [[spoiler: In the final act, the doll does attack his wife, though it turns out to be the work of the animatronics worker, as he and the wife had set up the whole thing to kill him. But when the police arrive, the two of them are dead as well, wires dangling from their limbs and leading up to the old man, now dressed up as his doll, grinning eerily from atop the bed. It's pretty freaky.]]
* Invoked, in a way, on ''Series/MadMen'': Sally is terrified of her baby brother because he was [[DeadGuyJunior named after]] her deceased grandfather, whom she loved dearly, and he now sleeps in his bedroom. Betty tries to give her a barbie doll "from the baby" to make Sally like him, but she throws out in the front yard. Don makes the mistake of bringing the doll in and leaving it on Sally's nightstand, looking right at her. Cut to Sally screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night, staring at that doll in utter terror. Not creepy to the audience, but clearly ''damn'' creepy for the character.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has the Doll Children from "Night Terrors", who [[IronicNurseryTune sing nursery rhymes]], [[GigglingVillain laugh like children]] and [[spoiler:can turn you into one of them.]] They aren't as well-put-together as some of the examples here, either, which possibly makes it worse.
* Freaky dolls with frighteningly big eyes appear in several Toei tokusatsu series ranging from ''Series/SpaceSheriffShaider'' to ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger''. Probably the freakiest example is in ''Series/JikuuSenshiSpielban''!
* ''Series/HardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries'': The episode "House on Possessed Hill" has Joe Hardy walking into a room of a cursed house...with a creepy animated toy doll nodding its head in time to creepy tinkly music box chimes.
* ''Series/TheRiver'' gives us this en mass in an episode based on La Isla de la Munecas (see RealLife section).
* ''Series/WhiteCollar'' has El's parents restoring a doll that they think she loved as a girl and giving it to her as a birthday present. It appears to be a beggar girl with enormous black eyes in an elongated head. El had shoved it into a crawlspace because she hated it so much.

* ''Series/TowerPrep'': Senor Guapo appears as one of these during Gabe's dreams.
* ''Series/{{Psychoville}}'' has Freddy Fruitcake, Joy's ReplacementGoldfish for the real baby she lost to cot death. It's unclear whether or not there may be a spark of life in Freddy.
* ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' has Kiyo-chan, the bald, white-suited doll belonging to [[MadScientist Dr. Maki]]. [[spoiler:It originally belonged to his older sister, who he killed in a fire.]] It has a rather unsettling habit of moving apparently on its own.
* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' had a few of those:
** "Belly Speaker": The belly speaker's puppet was very disturbing. The fact that it was manufactured to look like its owner, complete with different colored eyes, added to the creepiness factor.
** In "Me, Myself and Murdoch", the constables found a rag doll without an eye found in a CreepyBasement. It was buried there with a chopped up skeleton.
** "Murdoch in Toyland": Detective Murdoch was taunted by a series of dolls with recorded messages as a part of CriminalMindGames scheme. Lampshaded by Inspector Brackenried: "I know it's supposed to be adorable, but to me it just looks bloody creepy."
** In "Friday the 13th 1901", Julia gets locked in a cold storage cellar and finds a childish drawing and a doll, which triggers her memories of James Gillies [[spoiler: who kidnapped her and buried her alive]]. She is later reminded of this again when going over Gillies case file and looking at a photo of one of the dolls.
* ''{{Series/Salem}}'': The poppet Mary puts in Anne's room.
* Prudence from ''Series/OneBigHappy'' has a pair of creepy marionettes that she used to entertain children with at a hospital. Marionettes just happen to be Luke's fear. [[HilarityEnsues She hangs the puppets above their bed]].
* ''Series/OneHundredThingsToDoBeforeHighSchool'': CJ's doll freaks out her father. It has one eye missing. He especially dislikes the accompanying knife that the doll can hold.
* ''Series/BarRescue'': Royal Oaks, one of the decrepit bars, is ''littered'' with them, amongst other equally uncomfortable and offensive decor.
* ''Series/FaceOff'' season 7 had a design challenge based around making these; every artist had to pick a different type of doll and make it into a fantasy/horror creature. Creepy dolls have also been made in other episodes, including one that was both a doll and [[MonsterClown a clown]].
* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': Season Four episode "[[Recap/LegendsOfTomorrowS4E7HellNoDolly Hell No, Dolly!]]", the Legends find themselves fighting against the spirit of a serial killer known as Mike the Spike that possesses dolls to murder his victims.
* ''Wrestling/LuchaUnderground'': Between Seasons 3 & 4, [[ButtMonkey Ricky]] [[FromNobodyToNightmare Mundo]] visited the Island of the Dolls and returned with Rosa the Doll, who ups the ante with a healthy dose of DemonicPossession. [[spoiler: At the end of the Season 4, Rosa possesses Taya Mundo and proclaims herself [[AGodAmI a god]].]]
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' [[Main/PlayedForLaughs plays this trope for comedy]]: [[spoiler: After Dennis leaves in the finale of season 12, Mac has apparently purchased a life size male Sex Doll and dressed it to resemble Dennis. Initially it creeps out everyone who encounters it, but over time the cast begin hallucinating conversations with it (the waitress eventually ends up sleeping with it). At the end of the episode, it briefly appears that the Gang have lost their minds, as the doll suddenly speaks and moves about. It's then revealed that Dennis was actually back; he tossed the doll out of sight and took its place because he wanted to gaslight the rest of the Gang.]]
* Inverted by ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' in a cut-for-time ParodyCommercial for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWBNCnU_PK0 "My Little Step Children" dolls.]] The dolls are rather gothic-looking, but otherwise harmless and in fact [[TheWoobie sympathetic]]. The creepy part comes from the fact that they're marketed to kids who want to play WickedStepmother and abuse their "children" in campy, melodramatic fashion.
-->"The first time I bought Lisa a doll, she said she felt no real connection to it, like there was a sheet of glass between her and the doll. With My Little Step Children, she no longer feels forced to change that."

-->"The first time I bought Lisa a doll, she said she felt no real connection to it, like there was a sheet of glass between her and the doll. With My Little Step Children, she no longer feels forced to change that."

* Episode 12 of ''Series/TheAmandaShow'' had a skit called "Rock-a-Bye Ralph." A little girl (Amanda Bynes) can't sleep because of a thunderstorm, so her parents give her the titular toy--a smiling doll in pajamas that says cutesy bedtime phrases ("I love you! Time to go sleepy!"). While the girl thinks it's sweet at first, Rock-A-Bye Ralph [[MotorMouth refuses to shut up]] and endlessly blathers in his [[TastesLikeDiabetes saccharine voice]], driving her crazy and, paradoxically, keeping her awake even more. But no matter what she does--from ripping out his batteries to jamming him in a drawer to tossing him out the window--Ralph just keeps chattering. It looks as though the girl finally wins after calling her puppy to eat Ralph...that is, until [[HereWeGoAgain the doll starts talking from the dog's stomach.]]

* In the episode "Multiple Plots" of ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'' Doug delivers a package to a man who runs a doll hospital out of his home. While waiting, Doug picks up one of the dolls the guy is repairing. It says "Mommy!", Doug utters a terrified "Oh, my God!" and throws the doll away.