Night Gallery
The Merciful
TV Flash files “The Merciful” as hour 23 of 98 in the TV Flash guide — Night Gallery (1969–1973) on NBC, season 2, episode 6, aired 1971-09-22, 3 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E06: listed hour 23 of 98 in the Night Gallery guide, hour 6 of 64 in season 2. It aired 1971-09-22 (3 min). The listed hour before it is “Death in the Family” (S02E05). Next is “The Class of '99” (S02E07).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A wife uses bricks and mortar to help her ill husband.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Merciful sit in the Night Gallery guide?
S02E06 is listed hour 23 of 98 — hour 6 of 64 in season 2, season 2 episode 6.
When did Night Gallery S02E06 air?
The Merciful aired 1971-09-22 and is listed at 3 minutes.
Where should I start?
The 1969 pilot, including the Spielberg-directed 'Eyes,' is the lore on-ramp; then any series hour that uses a painting as the portal. Anthology, so order is optional.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Night Gallery is Rod Serling after The Twilight Zone: paintings as cold opens, color horror, nastier punchlines. The 1969 NBC pilot even carries a young Spielberg directing credit in the lore. Serling's anthology brand shifts into a darker decade — less civics lesson, more gallery-wall dread, host still selling the moral in a tailored suit.
The silhouette is a painting used as a cold open. *Gallery-wall dread, color horror, a host still selling the moral in a tailored suit.* Night Gallery is Rod Serling after The Twilight Zone: nastier punchlines, less civics lesson, anthology dread entering the 1970s doorway. The 1969 NBC pilot even carries a young Spielberg directing credit — the segment Eyes — in the lore; the series ran 1970–1973. Serling hosts tales of horror and dark fantasy introduced through eerie gallery paintings, and wrote many segments,…
Filed against
- Rod Serling as Host
Rod Serling created and hosted The Twilight Zone — moral fables in a black suit, twist endings that taught America to fear its own reflection. Sponsor and censor battles are as legendary as the episodes. On TV Flash he is prestige…