Treehouse of Horror III, 1992

''Living Doll,'' in which a cute Talky Tina toy terrifies its owner's stepfather, is widely considered one of The Twilight Zone's scariest episodes — and portions of this spoof (which recasts a talking Krusty doll as Talky Tina and Homer as the object of its wrath) are genuinely spooky. More than that, though, it's unfailingly clever on a line-to-line basis (''There goes the last lingering thread of my heterosexuality''), and its conclusion (ohhh, someone turned on the doll's ''evil'' switch!) is the sort of smart-stupid gag early Simpsons did so well.

Best Line: It's not a line so much as an exchange:

Store owner: ''Take this object, but beware — it carries a terrible curse!''

Homer: ''Ooooh, that's bad.''

Owner: ''But it comes with a free Frogurt!''

Homer: ''That's good!

Owner: ''The Frogurt is also cursed.''

Homer: ''That's bad.''

Owner: ''But you get your choice of topping!''

Homer: ''That's good!''

Owner: ''The toppings contains Potassium Benzoate.''

(Homer stares)

Owner: ''That's bad.''