Tonight’s televised horror story is Twenty-Two, the fifty-fourth episode of The Twilight Zone.
First broadcast on February 10th, 1961 and written by Rod Serling, Twenty-Two tells the story of a dancer (Barbara Nichols) who is in the hospital, suffering from fatigue. As she tries to recover and get out of the hospital in time to catch a flight to Miami, Nichols finds herself having a reoccurring nightmare. In her dreams, Nichols goes down to the morgue and is told, by a smiling nurse, “Room for one more, honey.”
This episode seriously freaks me out! Perhaps it’s because I’m a dancer who, in the past, has suffered from fatigue or maybe it’s because I’m scared of flying but this episode scares me to death. Though the episode’s final twist may have been spoiled by far too many inferior imitations, Twenty-Two, as directed by Jack Smight, manages to perfectly capture the feel of a nightmare.
It’s the perfect episode for an October night.
Through the Shattered Lens 
Twilight zone is one of my favorite shows of all time…Good episode 😃
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What a great series. It is still not only entertaining and watchable, as observed in the previous TZ episode posting, it still creates that atmosphere of supernatural intrigue. It must have been especially mind-blowing for viewers of the original broadcasts in the early 60’s.
And as you mentioned, think of how many TV shows and films have reused one or more of the foreshadowed/ironic/justice served ending themes that are part of the Twilight Zone’s trademark, and have kept viewers talking about the show for decades. Especially when considered in the context of its time, but even now, this program lives up to the hype.
It’s also fun to see so many actors better-known for subsequent roles. In this case, we get Jonathon Harris (Dr. Smith) , from “Lost In Space”.
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I was watching this episode last year and I thought of you, Lisa Marie, because indeed, the main character is a dancer.
This episode is one of a handful of installments in “The Twilight Zone” that was recorded on video tape as opposed to film, hence the episode “Twenty-Two” having a different look from most other episodes. In fact, Jack Smight directed four episodes, three of them on videotape. It’s a pity they weren’t recorded on film, but even so, Jack Smight was at the helm of some great episodes.
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“Room for one more, honey”. Very good, daunting episode about the frightened girl who keeps having the same nightmare. That’s right, nightmare. Or is it? The scary ending is not for the tender, sensitive types. Also, for anyone who has seen the 2001 movie Final destination will see a very strong match. I even think I remember reading somewhere once that the writers of Final destination used this Twilight episode as an inspiration.
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