Which Charles Beaumont story inspired 'Number 12 Looks Just Like You'?

“Which Charles Beaumont story inspired ‘Number 12 Looks Just Like You’? The answer is ‘The Beautiful People.’”

Charles Beaumont’s 1952 short story supplied the episode’s central idea: a future society where people are expected to undergo surgery and adopt one of a limited set of standardized attractive appearances. The television adaptation follows Marilyn Cuberle, who resists the supposedly joyous Transformation imposed at adulthood.

John Tomerlin adapted the story for television, while Beaumont received credited authorship. The episode first aired on January 24, 1964, as the 17th episode of the fifth season. Its title refers to the eerie uniformity produced when everyone is made to resemble the same approved models.

A common mix-up is confusing this story with “The Crooked Man,” another Beaumont dystopian work. That story concerns a society where heterosexuality is stigmatized; it was not the source of “Number 12 Looks Just Like You.” The episode also echoes “Eye of the Beholder,” but that earlier Twilight Zone story was a thematic companion, not its source.