"Twenty Two", Poll and discussion thread

A woman (Barbara Nichols) dreams that a nurse (Arline Sax) is beckoning her into the morgue.
Originally aired February 10, 1961.

(Title is often spelled "Twenty-Two," but appears as "Twenty Two" on screen, in the script, and in a growing number of sources including, as of October 25, 2007, the title of this thread. Check both spellings if you're using the board's Search function. )

Full video of the episode on CBS.com
List of musical cues

This is the preferred thread for any and all of your "Twenty Two" posts--facts, opinions, questions, speculations, and whatever else you can think of.* You can also give your opinion of the episode on a 1 to 10 scale, in the poll shown above.

Let the discussion begin!

*More specific instructions and suggestions about posting questions/comments related to this episode are located here.

what can be said bad about this one? this could terrify anyone. arlene martel is great (lookng) here (though i think she looked better on STAR TREK).
great irony at the end as well as the performances by the cast.

I'm not doing much posting these days but felt I would like to comment on this, my favorite. The whole atmosphere of mystery that permeates this episode is just so "Zonish", from the excellent score to the Vincent Price manner of the Doctor. A nice "premonition" story. The only things that bother me are the shrill nature of Liz and those distracting glasses Barney wears! This is a "cult" episide for me and one I try never to miss.

The excellent score that Crown 85 mentions is almost exclusively from "Elegy," composed by Van Cleave and reused in numerous other episodes, especially "Shadow Play." I can't think of any episode more dependent than "Twenty-Two" on the score of a single previous episode.

I like this one. I think Zicree gives it a bum rap. Not a perfect episode, but entertaining and spooky. Barbara Nichols is a great screamer, isn't she?

Whoa! there are votes all over the board for this one. I love Liz's lines when she talks to Barney. But I don't necessarily care for this one much. Average for me.

Leen

Creepy. Eerie. Chilling. The story is pretty awesome, how her nightmare foreshadows her possible death in the future, in real time. The mood of the nightmare sequences are spine chilling, which adds to its mystique. The acting is ok. An '8' in my book.

And I LOVE hearing that score played uninterrupted during that long, eerie walk down the hospital corridor. I don't think any piece of music in the series says "Zone" to me more than this one does.

This is a good one. I like it. Just the way Arlene Sax says "Room for one more, honey!" is enough to scare anyone, especially Liz, who apparently has already has her cage pretty well rattled by something (she wouldn't be in the hospital, otherwise, right?).

And yeah, she is a good screamer!

I read a story once by E.F. Benson called The Bus-Conductor (I think that was the title, it's been a while since I read it), which has the same basic premise as the episode. The title character said something similar, as well. The same theme was also used on an episode of Beyond Belief: Fact Or Fiction?, as well.

I've always wondered about why Liz was in the hospital. I had just kind of assumed it was because of the recurring dream, but that wouldn't really make sense since the dream takes place in the hospital. I guess it was your standard TZ nervous breakdown, a la Bob Wilson or Charlotte Scott.

I believe Rod's introduction explains it:
"This is Miss Liz Powell. She's a professional dancer and she's in the hospital as a result of overwork and nervous fatigue."

Who was Charlotte Scott?

The woman in "The Fear", who had "what is euphemistically known as a nervous breakdown".

I watched it yesterday for the first time in a long time and enjoyed it quite a bit. I'd forgotten much of it, so it seemed pretty fresh to me. Good atmosphere, pretty creepy feel to it in a good way. Good ending. I gave it an 8.

gave it a 9. From the beginning on this episode was just captivating. The way it began with the nightmare introduced a tension that was just thick throughout. Her agent was something of a comic relief to that tension which was okay. Great ending too, nevermind the special effects not being as swift as a lot would like...

gave it a 9. From the beginning on this episode was just captivating. The way it began with the nightmare introduced a tension that was just thick throughout. Her agent was something of a comic relief to that tension which was okay. Great ending too, nevermind the special effects not being as swift as a lot would like...

Couldn't have said it better, myself. Thanks for the support of my all-time favorite episode.

This one used to scare the hell out of me as a kid.

Based on an anecdote in Famous Ghost Stories,
edited by Bennett Cerf, this resembles many old stories.

One segment in the 1945 British horror anthology film
Dead of Night features a man in a hospital room
who looks out the window each night to see a hearse
from which the driver calls out, "Room for one inside, Sir!"
He eventually heeds this warning when it really counts.

I also once read a version involving a doomed elevator.

That was what the Beyond Belief: Fact Or Fiction? segment was about, too.

Ran across this at Rodserling.com and could not resist posting it. My, how the years change people.

http://www.rodserling.com/theystartedontz/01harrismartel.jpg
Jonathan Harris and Arlene Martel, who starred in the episode "Twenty-Two," met again 42 years later in an actor panel discussion at the Stars of the Zone Convention in Hollywood in 2002.

It seems the end credits erroneously list Joe Sargent as Angus Duncan.

Great job with the credits research, kanamit! (Also see "What You Need" and "Mr. Garrity And The Graves" threads.) Thanks for passing it along. If you find out anything else interesting, please let us know.

i love this episode its very scarey

Crown 85, what a good picture to post here.
I too enjoyed this episode and went to that site a while back as well.
Something else I stumbled across on that site as well was a comment regarding Arlene Sax and Jonathon Harris. A comment that seems very interesting in its own right.
Forgive me as I don't recall the exact comment but it went something like this...............Now remember, this was supposed to be at THAT convention, some 40 odd years later!

Arlene Sax looked over at Jonathon Harris and said........." You don't remember me do you?". After a slight pause he smiled and looked back and said.........
"How could I forget you saying (Room for one more honey!)"

Goes to show you that these shows affected us fans and the actors as well doesn't it.....?


TZ DZ Fan

Thanks, TZ DZ. I always love hearing new things about my all-time favorite TZ episode!

don't yall find this episode scarey?

Creepy would be my def.

creepy would do it:(

A not very interesting group of characters sinks "Twenty-Two". It is remarkably eventless and as the meaning of Liz Powell's nightmare unfolded, I really couldn't have cared less.

The videotape gives it an eerie feeling, especially during Liz Powell's decents into the basement. Arline Sax is an ominous presence as the morgue's nurse.

I found it pretty average. It was the first episode I saw that was shot on video and I was like "what the hell is going on?"

The plane disaster was pretty funny to me, but of course I understand that the special effects people did the best they could.

Actually I found the plane disaster to be fairly realistic. (ducks and runs)
Considering its looking out a window and the special effects at the time, I thought
it was OK.
You just can't compare it to stuff you see nowadays.

I thought there were things that could have been done better, but overall sooo
much better than most TV you see nowadays.
Of course, most all TZ is better than current TV.

P.S. I give it a strong 7.
Crown, I understand the attraction.

Thank you and good night,
TZ DZ Fan

TZ DZ wrote:

I agree, and thanks. It is unfair to judge a 1960-vintage videotape by 2005 high-tech standards. I'll bet first time viewers 45 years ago found it fairly realistic.

good episode.. i like the story because to me, it's like a creepy ghost story.

however, i didn't like some of the rude comments that the doctor says to ms powell regarding her occupation. not very professional.

also, after screaming and fleeing from the airplane, shouldn't the stewardess have been more concerned with ms powell. the stewardess just seemed to shrug it off.

My problem is with the lady and the vase Ms. Powell breaks after she runs into her! Wouldn't you be a little more pissy? "Hey, I just spent a thousand dollars on this! Pay up chick!"

its scarey when the plane blow up!

Thanks, Leen. I was watching this only a couple of days ago, and I was thinking exactly the same thing.

that woman that keep saying room for one more honey is cute looking

Thanks, Leen. I was watching this only a couple of days ago, and I was thinking exactly the same thing.

yeah.. that was pretty funny.. especially when one of the airport employees stands right on the broken pieces and doesn't even attempt a clean up.

clean up what?

The vase. How many previous posts do you scroll back and read?