It's "Living Doll" All Over Again

Remember the episode of "The Twilight Zone" about the evil Talky Tina doll that kept trying to kill Telly Savalas? I don't quite know why that was the first thing that came to my mind when I read about the latest in toy doll technology:

...a marvel of digital technologies, including speech-recognition and memory chips, radio frequency tags and scanners, and facial robotics. She and her team have christened it Amazing Amanda.

...

[T]he 18-inch-tall doll promises - right on the box it will be sold in - to "listen, speak and show emotion." Some analysts and buyers who have seen Amanda say it represents an evolutionary leap from earlier talking dolls like Chatty Cathy of the 1960's, a doll that cycled through a collection of recorded phrases when a child pulled a cord in its back.

Radio frequency tags in Amanda's accessories - including toy food, potty and clothing - wirelessly inform the doll of what it is interacting with. For instance, if the doll asks for a spoon of peas and it is given its plastic cookie, it will gently admonish its caregiver, telling her that a cookie is not peas.

Then of course there was the Simpsons Halloween episode with the Krusty the Clown doll that tried to kill Homer--"Here's your problem. This thing was set to 'evil.'" Parents should probably keep an eye on that.