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

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Creator:

William Roberts
(more)

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)

(more)

Series Directed by
Oscar Rudolph		(50 episodes, 1958-1960)
Andrew McCullough		(29 episodes, 1958-1966)
Jeffrey Hayden		(21 episodes, 1960-1962)
Robert Ellis Miller		(20 episodes, 1959-1961)
Gene Nelson		(18 episodes, 1962-1965)
Lawrence Dobkin		(17 episodes, 1960-1966)
Norman Tokar		(16 episodes, 1960-1962)
Barry Shear		(14 episodes, 1961-1964)
Frederick De Cordova		(4 episodes, 1964-1965)
Alan Rafkin		(3 episodes, 1965)
Hy Averback		(2 episodes, 1960)
Gene Reynolds		(2 episodes, 1964)
Jerrold Bernstein		(2 episodes, 1965)
E.W. Swackhamer		(2 episodes, 1965)
Lee Philips		(2 episodes, 1966)

Series Writing credits
William Roberts		(275 episodes, 1958-1966)
John Whedon		(35 episodes, 1958-1962)
Nate Monaster		(31 episodes, 1958-1961)
Paul West		(23 episodes, 1962-1966)
Barbara Avedon		(20 episodes, 1960-1966)
Alfred Lewis Levitt		(17 episodes, 1959-1962)
Helen Levitt		(10 episodes, 1960-1962)
Henry Sharp		(8 episodes, 1958-1961)
Phil Sharp		(6 episodes, 1960-1964)
Sam Locke		(6 episodes, 1964-1965)
Joel Rapp		(6 episodes, 1964-1965)
Bob Fisher		(5 episodes, 1958-1959)
Alan Lipscott		(5 episodes, 1958-1959)
Jerry Davis		(4 episodes, 1959)
Clifford Goldsmith		(4 episodes, 1960-1966)
Phil Davis		(4 episodes, 1962-1963)
Andrew McCullough		(3 episodes, 1960-1966)
Howard Snyder		(3 episodes, 1960-1961)
Hugh Wedlock Jr.		(3 episodes, 1960-1961)
Frank Tarloff		(3 episodes, 1960)
Ben Gershman		(3 episodes, 1962-1964)
Sumner Arthur Long		(3 episodes, 1962)
Erna Lazarus		(3 episodes, 1963-1966)
Milton Pascal		(3 episodes, 1964-1965)
Jack Harvey		(3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Irving Taylor		(3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Phil Leslie		(2 episodes, 1958-1964)
Peggy Chantler Dick		(2 episodes, 1958)
William Cowley		(2 episodes, 1958)
Seymour Friedman		(2 episodes, 1960-1963)
Douglas Morrow		(2 episodes, 1960-1961)
Andy White		(2 episodes, 1961-1962)
Tommy Tomlinson		(2 episodes, 1964)
Jack Raymond		(2 episodes, 1966)

Series Produced by
Tony Owen	....	producer / executive producer (245 episodes, 1958-1966)
Phil Sharp	....	associate producer (76 episodes, 1959-1961)
Paul West	....	associate producer / producer (75 episodes, 1961-1963)
William Roberts	....	associate producer (37 episodes, 1958-1959)

Series Original Music by
Stu Phillips		(30 episodes, 1963-1966)
Van Alexander		(4 episodes, 1963)
William Loose		(2 episodes, 1963)

Series Cinematography by
Gert Andersen		(225 episodes, 1958-1965)
Frederick Gately		(18 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Film Editing by
Richard Fantl		(50 episodes, 1959-1961)
Robert B. Hoover		(28 episodes, 1962-1965)
Fredrick Y. Smith		(18 episodes, 1958-1962)
Michael Luciano		(12 episodes, 1958)

Series Art Direction by
Ross Bellah		(95 episodes, 1959-1966)
Robert Purcell		(87 episodes, 1960-1966)
Cary Odell		(32 episodes, 1960-1961)
Robert Peterson		(18 episodes, 1958-1959)
Paul Palmentola		(16 episodes, 1958-1959)
Phillip Bennett		(15 episodes, 1959-1960)
John T. McCormack		(4 episodes, 1959)
Carl Anderson		(3 episodes, 1959)

Series Set Decoration by
Louis Diage		(94 episodes, 1958-1965)
Morris Hoffman		(38 episodes, 1961-1962)
William Kiernan		(36 episodes, 1958-1961)
Alfred E. Spencer		(23 episodes, 1958-1966)
Sidney Clifford		(16 episodes, 1959-1965)
James Crowe		(11 episodes, 1959-1963)
Milton Stumph		(7 episodes, 1958-1959)
William F. Calvert		(5 episodes, 1959-1960)
Frank Kramer		(4 episodes, 1961)
Darrell Silvera		(3 episodes, 1960)
Frank Tuttle		(2 episodes, 1959)
Ben Berk		(2 episodes, 1960)
Frank Welch		(2 episodes, 1960)

Series Makeup Department
Clay Campbell	....	makeup artist / makeup supervisor (204 episodes, 1959-1965)
Gertrude Wheeler	....	hair stylist (169 episodes, 1960-1966)
Helen Young	....	hair stylist (76 episodes, 1958-1960)
Frank McCoy	....	makeup artist (21 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Production Management
Seymour Friedman	....	production supervisor (194 episodes, 1958-1966)
Lawrence Werner	....	post-production supervisor (132 episodes, 1961-1966)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerrold Bernstein	....	assistant director (190 episodes, 1958-1965)
John D. Bloss	....	assistant director (21 episodes, 1959-1961)
Bill Lukather	....	assistant director (19 episodes, 1965-1966)
Carter De Haven Jr.	....	assistant director (5 episodes, 1958)
Max Stein	....	assistant director (4 episodes, 1958-1959)
Herb Wallerstein	....	assistant director (4 episodes, 1958-1959)

Series Sound Department
Roy Siegel	....	sound effects editor (74 episodes, 1961-1963)
Sid Lubow	....	sound effects editor / sound effects (31 episodes, 1963-1965)
Fred J. Brown	....	sound effects editor (27 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Editorial Department
Richard Fantl	....	film editor / supervising editor (101 episodes, 1958-1961)
Robert B. Hoover	....	film editor (90 episodes, 1962-1966)
Fredrick Y. Smith	....	film editor (39 episodes, 1961-1962)

Series Music Department
Irving Friedman	....	music supervisor (74 episodes, 1961-1963)
Ed Forsyth	....	music supervisor (58 episodes, 1963-1966)
Emil Cadkin	....	music editor (39 episodes, 1961-1962)
John Seely	....	composer: theme music (37 episodes, 1958-1959)
Igo Kantor	....	music editor (35 episodes, 1962-1963)

Series Other crew
Seymour Friedman	....	production assistant (48 episodes, 1958-1960)
Milton Pascal	....	script consultant (38 episodes, 1964-1965)
Ray Singer	....	executive script consultant (20 episodes, 1965-1966)

Production Companies

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1958-1966)
• Screen Gems Television
• Todon

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1958-1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (2001)
• Columbia TriStar Television
• Radio Tokyo Television (1959) (Japan) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Television (2002-)

Other Companies

• Campbell Soup Company  original sponsor (Franco American spaghetti, Campbell soups)
• Johnson & Johnson  original sponsor

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 "The Nanny: Here Comes the Brood (#1.4)" (1993)

I Still Love the Stones--Donna & Alex--not the Rock Group!

I too would rather live next door to the Stones and not the Conners! I've heard people say that this show was "syrupy", "unrealistic", etc. My reply is "have you ever sat and watched an episode?" Anyone who watched the show knows that Donna and Alex had their quarrels and so did Mary and Jeff. They even quarreled with their parents. But in the end, they all made up with one another, and kept the family unit in tact. Having come from a terribly unstable "dysfunctional" family, I loved to watch this show; I always believed that when I had a family of my own it would be like the Stones. Friends told me that this was unrealistic and I said why? If other families can live trashy, unstable lives, then why can't I have a stable, moralistic life? Why can't I have a stable family that I love, and take care of? They had no reply to this. Anyway, when times are difficult, and the world seems so chaotic & cold, I put in a tape of the Donna Reed Show, and things don't seem quite so bad-it gives me hope. I still believe in the family unit and I most certainly do not believe that we have to live like Roseanne. I know that life does not have to be like the Conners or the Bundy's--and anyone who thinks that these shows are normal and funny needs to take a long hard look at their own lives. These are not funny--they are sad.