"The Donna Reed Show" (1958) TV series 1958-1966

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Creator:

William Roberts

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Release Date:

24 September 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

Another popular 1950's sitcom about a close family. The Stones consist of loving homemaker Donna, her pediatrician husband Alex...

Plot Keywords:

Sitcom | Marriage | Mother Daughter Relationship | Sibling Rivalry | Family Relationships

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Donna Reed	...	Donna Stone (275 episodes, 1958-1966)
Carl Betz	...	Dr. Alex Stone (275 episodes, 1958-1966)
Paul Petersen	...	Jeff Stone (275 episodes, 1958-1966)
Shelley Fabares	...	Mary Stone (191 episodes, 1958-1965)

Runtime:

30 min (275 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Columbia Pictures Ranch - 411 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Trivia:

The character 'Dr. Alex Stone' was ranked #16 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Exclusive (1992) (TV)

Life as we wanted it to be, not necessarily the way it WAS...

Many people enjoy poking fun at all the 50s-60s family comedies such as "Ozzie and Harriet", "Leave it to Beaver" and our own "Donna Reed Show" citing how unreal and "perfect" they were.

Well, I suppose they were, however, none were intended to be taken as documentaries. They were there to entertain, and along the way, perhaps sneak in some moral to their stories, a facet sadly lacking from todays TV crop of "family" comedies. I submit that ALL television families lack realism just by virtue of their BEING television families. "Roseanne" and her ilk are no more real than the Donnas and Junes or yesteryear. And, I'd much prefer living next the Stones than I would the Connors.

Also, to those of us who were the only child, or members of a family who yelled instead of discussing, such programs provided surrogate siblings and a look at rational parenting. Being an only child, I sort of bonded with these video families who came to visit once a week, and felt better for it.

For those who've never seen it, "The Donna Reed Show" presented the Stone family: Donna, former nurse, now a typical suburban wife of the era, her husband, Alex, a pediatrician whose office was in their home, at least for the first 7 seasons, their teenage daughter Mary, whose life revolved around school dances, boys, and fashion and who could be a bit self-absorbed and selfish (no perfection there) and their younger son, Jeff, who got into minor trouble at school occasionally (once he was even suspended! - hardly perfection there, either), enjoyed sports, and driving Mary to distraction as younger brothers are wont to do. During the last couple of seasons, Mary had gone off to college, and the Stones adopted pre-teen daughter Tricia, who was the sister of Jeff in real life as well as "reel" life. Alex was played by Carl Betz, Mary by Shelley Fabares, Jeff by Paul Petersen, and Tricia by Patty Petersen.

The program ran for eight seasons 1958-66, on ABC and was enjoyable enough, though hardly as "perfect" as it seemed on the surface. Parents Donna and Alex were involved in their children's lives and usually patient and understanding with them, reasoning through problems, though Alex sometimes raised his voice to a very un50s type bellow. As a child, I watched every week, and had a slight crush on Mary, and would recommend the show to those not completely jaded by our "modern" age.