Hi Charlotte, I was also very fortunate to live that era (born 1950) - I grew up with those shows. The family, neighbors, church, community, youth groups (4-H, Boys/Girls Scouts), the Media (TV, Radio, Movies...) reflected, reinforced, and promoted traditional American values and principles. We were not perfect but America was "beautiful" and we lived with optimism and innocence. Ciao, L (Baby Boomer Veteran).

I agree. She was super gorgeous!

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with that!

+Cyn Mann I completely agree! I love their chemistry!

The Cleavers and the Andersons were great TV families at that time, too, but I agree - if I had to choose the most natural TV family during the 1950s and '60s I would vote for the Stones. Donna, Alex, Mary and Jeff (and later Tricia) were so natural together that anyone would believe they were really related. I read or heard somewhere that after the show ended the four of them would still go out and eat together. What a treat that would have been to have had the good fortune to be eating at the same restaurant as "the Stones." "The Donna Reed Show" has definitely stood the test of time and is a true classic! Thank you to all of the people involved in making that series.

Yes

How Could we forget that Morticia and Gomez had a special chemistry also fortified with Uncle Fester Grandma Ma pugsley and Wednesday in the show The Addams family.. they took family to another level. But it all comes down they handle things differently but still there are family

Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke DEF had chemistry!

I just viewed the first two seasons on DVD. The really great touch was I was able to rent it at the local library. Go check it out and enjoy!!

Amazon Prime... all 8 seasons....

Right. I only have up to season 5 (the first season with Trisha). It would be nice to have the last three seasons.

I know I would.

Thom O'Connor what episode is the one where she’s tapping her foot,because they all seem to be taking advantage of her?

@@moonmadness6939 It’s from season 1 I think. Drawing a blank on the name but it was a good episode.

I agree with you 100%, well said. :)

@JA E I think about those days all the time too. If there was a time machine I would go back to the 1950s. 💖 Have a good night & God Bless. 🙏🏻❤️

So young when she died .65 omg

I agree. I also enjoyed "The Donna Reed Show," as well as "Father Knows Best," "Leave it to Beaver" and "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" all for many of the same reasons you stated you appreciate "The Donna Reed Show." Although with "Ozzie & Harriet" there was also a very ahead-of-its-time production which frequently broke the fourth wall of comedy and also Incorporated dream sequences fairly often as a device, many episodes exploring the mundane and ordinary situations of everyday life to the level of absurdity, while incorporating multiple convoluted storylines. In that sense, "Ozzie & Harriet" was really the first sitcom "about nothing," decades before "Seinfeld" purported to have innovated that non-thematic approach. But I also appreciate some of those older television sitcoms with non-traditional families, such as "Bachelor Father," "The Andy Griffith Show," "My Three Sons," "Family Affair" and "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," which had those same qualities as the sitcoms with traditional family settings except featured households where the mother was deceased and so the dad (or father figure, as represented by uncles) made the best of a sad situation with help from relatives and friends. That is also how reality was in my home after my mother died when I was 11 years old. So my dad raised my sister and I with help from his sisters (our aunts) and from some good neighbors who lived close by our home. Then two of those aunts (who had been sort of substitute mothers) died about a year after my mom's death. So my sister and I kind of raised ourselves some of the time, since our dad had to be at work. I certainly learned housekeeping skills (dusting, vacuuming, laundry, cleaning bathrooms) at an early age. And my sister took care of preparing the evening dinners. But we had actually been doing some of those chores even when my mom was still alive, since she had been in and out of the hospital a few years before she passed away from cancer. And my mom had also taught me, even as a very young boy, how to heat up a can of soup or bake a frozen pizza, make a sandwich, etc., so I would not be helpless. I don't think parents do their children any favors by making them too dependent. I think survival skills need to be taught at an early age, as early as is possible, just to be prepared for worst-case scenarios. But as sad as things were for the orphaned "Buffy," "Jody" and "Cissy Davis" in "Family Affair," they at least had a wealthy "Uncle Bill " who provided for them, plus a live-in butler ("Mr. French"). Yet even the "Davis" kids discovered other child peers who had things worse than them. I can distinctly recall one episode in which "Buffy" at first envied a schoolmate's independence, until she discovered how lonely this little girl was because there was no one at home for her most of the time, her mother either working as a waitress or out on dates trying to meet a prospective new mate; the episode dealing with the subject of so-called "latchkey kids." And then I also enjoyed some of those sitcoms which had little or no emphasis on family settings but more about the comic situations themselves, such as the series' starring Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. But even the popular sitcoms of later years (including the so-called "social relevancy" sitcoms), such as "All in the Family," "The Golden Girls," "The Nanny," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Frasier," or the more recent sitcoms such as "The Middle" and "Last Man Standing," still have their own family situations and often incorporate little morality plays within episodes. My biggest criticism with later sitcoms is they try too much for the laugh lines every 30 seconds at the expense of the overall moral and the character development. I wish there were at least a few TV comedies around today which didn't push quite so hard for the laughs at the expense of the character interaction and the moral of the story. I think it would be great if a few writers could create a "Leave it to Beaver" and "The Donna Reed Show" for the 21st Century.

I do too, Lyn. I am an old soul who prefer an era I wish I was born in as opposed to this era known as TODAY.

Someone once told me that in his younger days,he'd had a crush on Donna Reed.I said I understood...and hoped he understood that I had a crush on someone on the Donna Reed show who was a lot younger.(Chuckle!)

I know this was a while ago but I had a big problem trying to find a way to watch it here in the UK. I contacted Amazon and they have added seasons 1-5 to Amazon Prime video!

@@StaceyW078 Thanks for this tip!

Sal, I was in HS at that time. I watched the show all the time too. I can relate to your comment. Well said.

Sal Salvator I watched reruns growing up and now my 11 yr old daughter watches with me every morning before she gets ready for school.

I totally agree Sal.

People "love and identify" with a lot of goodness -- but to emulate that goodness is what counts. Maybe you do and that's great, but our culture didn't become the way it is simply because we don't have shows like these anymore. There are still plenty of people who grew up on those such shows -- but somewhere along the way, they lost their sense of being grounded to the goodness that they believed in. The same can be said about "faithful Christians" -- they have all the tools they need to embody goodness (a blueprint for it, in fact). But in the pursuit of their values, most of them forgot the importance of virtue in how you go about getting what you want.

Hello Rhonda👋, How are you doing?

I agree!

So true!! The most perfectly cast of all families on TV! I love Donna and her family.

I think that there was some resemblance between Paul Petersen and Carl Betz. Not only did they gave great chemistry but they looked like they could have been related.

Sorry that's "have" not "gave". Typo😆

It’s my belief that Donna Reed and Dick Van Dyke Shows were perfectly cast- look wise and chemistry wise

Hello Theresa👋, How are you doing?

Hello Diana👋, How are you doing?

What do you mean by "updated version of 'My Dad'?" Did some other musical act cover that Paul Petersen hit?

Davy Jones sang it on a record before he was a monkee

And she sang great songs like "Johnny Angel"!

Hello Mary👋, How are you doing?

Hello Cheryl👋, How are you doing?

You are aware that nobody said nigger right?

Whenever I watch this, I see my mother. And I remember that, aside from my mother, the person I loved best was Mary Ollie, the woman who was hired to "help out ". She truly was family. Until a boyfriend convinced her that working for a "white family " was something degrading. I am in my 50's now, and I still cry when I remember the day she walked out on us. My first experience of real racial prejudice. And, yes, I still love her.

I agree with you, Jada and fully understand what you mean.

Hello Cheryl👋, How are you doing?

1958-1966

I’m thankful you enjoyed it and that you took the time to let me know.

It is

Christopher Kinzig my mom had the biggest crush on Carl Betz lol, she got me into watching the show :) I grew up in the 90s, I have to say this is the best show ever, I loved Shelley Fabares. I am from Asturias, Spain, born in the USA deviating you are right, they were awesome :)

@@yvonnelopez3183 I grew up in the 50's and 60's and rate TDRS one of the best, right along with Father Knows Best. I, too, loved Shelley who followed in the footsteps of Elinor Donohue, another great actress.

Search for the "This is Your Life" show on Donna--you'll get to see her parents, siblings & children.

@@rebeccagable9629 I just watched it .. Oh ,man that was beautiful... Probably one of the few women who went to Hollywood and kept her standards Id guess ...will we ever be like that again ..Thank you ... That was uplifting

@@gacj2010 So glad you watched it!