An ugly malformed alien enters a crowded elevator. When the elevator operator informs said alien that the elevator can only hold a maximum of ten people, he makes the operator disappear. And that's about it, folks. Barely lasting a minute long, this slight single joke anecdote is moderately amusing at best. Moreover, it's no surprise that Rod Serling didn't care for these dopey tongue-in-cheek comedic filler shorts that were a specialty of producer Jack Laird. With the notable exception of the one starring Victor Buono as a picky cannibal, they frankly aren't that funny and tended to stick out like proverbial sore thumbs.
5 Reviews
Maximum Occupancy - 10 People
classicsoncall13 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
There was a Rod Serling Twilight Zone episode titled 'Twenty Two' which had a recurring line by one of it's characters stating "Room for one more, Honey". It's kind of a creepy story but doesn't really have anything to do with this Night Gallery short except that it's something I recall for some odd reason. This one takes place on an elevator with a sign posted indicating a restriction of no more than ten people at a time. No problem, as an alien that comes on board has a unique way of making the occupancy limit. My question - where was the vampire for this one?
One of those weird ones
stones787 April 2016
My following review will take you longer to read than the amount of time it will take you to watch this extremely short segment, which is barely a minute long. This is what I call a "Jack Laird special", meaning he was the director/writer of many shorter comedic segments, which Rod Serling detested, I heard. Listening to Serling's quick monologue seconds before this story began, he almost seems resigned to the fact that he must take one for the team, so to speak. I think he and Laird butted heads over the comedy aspect for this show. In any event, I still enjoy the 70's cheesiness for some of these skits. Regarding this one, we get to see inside a somewhat darkened elevator, which appears full of people, probably headed to and from their jobs. Weirdness ensues when a man quickly turns into an alien(Lee J. Lambert) with a giant head; soon after, the elevator operator(James Metropole)shows the creature a sign that mentions something about 10 people being the maximum limit for the elevator, so the alien must get off. I'll let you wait and see what happens next, but it's not funny nor scary. If you can wait barely a minute, then you can sit through this one.
Not a high note
BandSAboutMovies29 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
As much as I hate to admit it, this is the last chapter of Night Gallery.
If you thought it'd be an incredibly poignant story from Rod Serling, you'd be remiss.
No, the last thing of the show is...a Jack Laird directed and written black out comedy tale.
"Room for One Less" takes place in a crowded elevator that stops to let in several more people in. A monster (Lee Jay Lambert) points to a sign that says "Occupancy by more than 10 passengers prohibited by law" to the elevator operator (James Metropole), which used to be a thing up until at least the 90s, as my art school had them. The monster has a sophisticated accent when he says, "Quite." He then blows up the elevator operator.
The end.
Ah, it's been a journey watching all of the Night Gallery episodes and writing about them for you. Did you have a favorite episode? Did any of these bring back memories for you? This gave me a sense of joy as there is so much good here, as well as some sadness, as by the middle of the second season you can start to see that Serling wasn't getting to tell the stories that he wanted to. Commerce always conscripts creativity but my memories before now were so rose-lensed that I forgot that even a show that I consider great has moments of not being all so good. That said, the great is enough to forget all of the one minute silly sketches that Jack Laird threw in which prove that sometimes, something extra can ruin the recipe.
If you thought it'd be an incredibly poignant story from Rod Serling, you'd be remiss.
No, the last thing of the show is...a Jack Laird directed and written black out comedy tale.
"Room for One Less" takes place in a crowded elevator that stops to let in several more people in. A monster (Lee Jay Lambert) points to a sign that says "Occupancy by more than 10 passengers prohibited by law" to the elevator operator (James Metropole), which used to be a thing up until at least the 90s, as my art school had them. The monster has a sophisticated accent when he says, "Quite." He then blows up the elevator operator.
The end.
Ah, it's been a journey watching all of the Night Gallery episodes and writing about them for you. Did you have a favorite episode? Did any of these bring back memories for you? This gave me a sense of joy as there is so much good here, as well as some sadness, as by the middle of the second season you can start to see that Serling wasn't getting to tell the stories that he wanted to. Commerce always conscripts creativity but my memories before now were so rose-lensed that I forgot that even a show that I consider great has moments of not being all so good. That said, the great is enough to forget all of the one minute silly sketches that Jack Laird threw in which prove that sometimes, something extra can ruin the recipe.
Extremely slight and forgettable.
Hey_Sweden1 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Another segment that only saw the light of day once the series went into syndication, 'Room for One Less' is another of the lame comic vignettes that series producer Jack Laird seemed to insist upon. The trouble is, although these segments *are* very brief (this one doesn't even last a minute long), they're usually *mildly* amusing at best; the "punchlines" typically landed with a thud.
And so it goes with this story about a crowded elevator with a stated maximum capacity of 10 individuals. Suddenly, a big ugly monster materializes. The elevator operator, nonplussed, asks him / it to get off. The monster deals with the problem in an obvious way.
In his brief introductory scene, Mr. Serling does look very weary but resigned. This viewer can hardly blame him for feeling the way that he did about these short comedy segments. The only good thing that I can really say about 'Room for One Less' was already mentioned, as this runs a grand total of 56 seconds. It's something to watch, I suppose, if you have a minimum of time to spare, but it's hardly worth the effort.
Four out of 10.
And so it goes with this story about a crowded elevator with a stated maximum capacity of 10 individuals. Suddenly, a big ugly monster materializes. The elevator operator, nonplussed, asks him / it to get off. The monster deals with the problem in an obvious way.
In his brief introductory scene, Mr. Serling does look very weary but resigned. This viewer can hardly blame him for feeling the way that he did about these short comedy segments. The only good thing that I can really say about 'Room for One Less' was already mentioned, as this runs a grand total of 56 seconds. It's something to watch, I suppose, if you have a minimum of time to spare, but it's hardly worth the effort.
Four out of 10.
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