The Donna Reed Show
Donna Reed as upper-middle-class housewife Donna Stone stars in The Donna Reed Show, an American situation comedy. Carl Betz plays her pediatrician husband, Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen play their adolescent children, Mary and Jeff. From September 24, 1958, to March 19, 1966, the show aired on ABC. Patty Petersen, Petersen's younger sister, joined the cast as adopted daughter Trisha after Fabares left the show in 1963. Patty Petersen first appeared on the show on January 31, 1963, in the episode "A Way of Her Own." Bob Crane and Ann McCrea appeared as the Stones' friends the Kelseys in the final seasons, and Darryl Richard became a near-regular as Jeff's best friend, Smitty. Celebrity guests included Esther Williams as a famous dress designer, baseball superstars Don Drysdale and Willie Mays as themselves, teen heartthrob James Darren as a pop singer with the measles, canine superstar Lassie as herself, and young Jay North of CBS's Dennis the Menace. William S. Roberts created the show, which Reed and her then-husband, producer Tony Owen, developed. The episodes revolved around typical family problems of the time, such as firing a clumsy housekeeper, throwing a retirement party for a colleague, and finding quality time away from the children. Women's rights and press freedom were occasionally explored as edgy themes.