For some reason, the makers of most Horror anthology TV series seem to have the unexplainable urge to throw in dramatic episodes that handle topics such as marital problems and lack of parental attention instead of delivering Horror. This was also the case with "Child's Play", the second episode of "Thriller", a show hosted by the great Boris Karloff in the early 1960s. Most of the early episodes of the series aren't really Horror but mystery/crime stories; this one however, is pure drama, and a very boring one I may add.
The episode is about a 12-year old boy who, after being ignored by his father, debauches in fantasies so extensively that they become dangerous. This might be an interesting premise; however, the episode mainly focuses on endless conversations between the mother and father which are both cheesy and so boring that they are hard to endure. The father is a total jerk, the mother is hysteric and the son is annoying. The only interesting part about the story, the boy's obsessive fantasies, are so unlikely that they are simply ridiculous. Supernatural stories do not need to be realistic, but they should have a certain inner logic. Children are not idiots, and they do not confuse stories with reality out of the blue, just because daddy gives them too little attention. The most interesting thing about "Child's Play" is the fact that it shares its name with a popular 80s Horror film. The only reasons to see this episode are Boris Karloff's introduction or the wish to see all episodes of the series. I'd recommend any other "Thriller" episode over this one, especially the later ones in which the episodes became Gothic Horror tales instead of rather un-mysterious mysteries such as this one.