THE DONNA REED SHOW 🌟 THEN AND NOW 2020

[Music] one of the most impressive shows of this era was the donna reed show which featured the star of the holiday fantasy movie it's a wonderful life yes not only was the show named after donna reid but it also featured her as the leading lady and she even wrote and produced many of the episodes taking on the role of a typical matriarch in a middle class family people expected donna reed to be your average housewife but she was so much more this show pushed boundaries tested the limits of sitcoms and gave women the chance to truly prove their worth of course if you have seen every single episode you probably think you know everything about the show but do you know these facts and behind the scenes secrets about the donna reed show it created a new trend the 1950s and the early 1960s was chock full of sitcoms in fact you couldn't turn on your television without seeing at least a few sitcoms trying to make those at home laugh so the donna reed show was just another one to add to the list right not quite although the show wasn't original in its genre it was original in the fact that it was one of the first television shows to ever use the mother as the lead star in the past the patriarch had always headed up the household when donna reed came around the producers decided to shake things up a bit and give the matriarch a go in the hot seat it's safe to say this risk paid off [Music] the idea came from a photograph have you ever wondered how the hack producers and directors come up with the idea for a new show while some people spend hours brainstorming and coming up with the perfect theme and genre there are others who find that inspiration strikes at the most unlikely of moments that's exactly what happened with donna reed and her show the actress was struggling to create a hilarious concept for a new project but it was actually an executive at screen gem who had the idea of creating a family sitcom this idea came to him when he saw a real-life photograph of donna and her family it was so simple it was right under their noses she didn't always want the limelight although donna reed and her character donna stone were the main people on the side of the donna reed show the actress didn't want it to be all about her because donna wrote many of the episodes of the show she had a lot of control over the storylines and wear the characters feet into that story while she knew that she would have to play a major part as the title character she also made sure that her co-stars got their time to shine she didn't always want the limelight and she wanted others to have similar opportunities as her [Music] the show was nearly cancelled today it's impossible to think of a world where all of the awesome seasons of the donna reed show don't exist but it seems as though this could have been a reality when this show first came onto the year the new concept and the fact that it was going up against some of the biggest sitcoms of the 50s did not work in its favor abc struggled to get viewers tuning in and the numbers just weren't heading up because of this they were seriously contemplating cancelling the show altogether however they eventually decided to give it one more chance [Music] not enough credit donna reed did not just star in the donnery show she was one of the main reasons it existed in the first place the production company for the show is called toaden and it was founded by reed and her then-husband tony owens reed was largely uncredited for her role in the production process of the show though the show was created by william roberts it was co-produced with owens and developed with weed donna wasn't your average character 1950s television wasn't exactly kind to the average woman females were depicted as stay-at-home mothers and they were there to cook clean and fulfill the gender stereotype although donna's character was like many of these women she also tried to break boundaries and break normal television rules she was not your average character and would do everything she could to become an active member of the community she proved herself to be a strong woman which meant she soon became one of the biggest role models of that era motherly love donna was making waves with her character that challenged gender roles of this time period back then women were supposed to confirm to society and know that they had a specific place where they belonged reed however wasn't having any of that her character went after a career because she believed that women can be mumps and work too the show was only the second one to have a woman star in it as a major character the first was i love lucy [Music] it could have been called something different we all know that tv series often go through a period of change in the development process and the donnery show was no different in fact it wasn't going to be called the donna reed show at all when the producers were creating the main storyline of the show and inviting donna to take on the lead row they wanted the title to highlight the fact that a woman was taken center stage so they had in their minds that they were going to call the show mother knows best thankfully they changed their minds there was almost a reunion you don't need to be a genius to know that the donnarito was hugely popular it brought in thousands of fans each week and more and more people were growing to love the hilarious comedy on their screens in 1979 the buzz around the donnery show had not slowed down even though it had not aired in over a decade the producers knew that many other shows from the 50s and 60s were creating reunion episodes and they wanted to do the same although all of the plans were in place they came crashing down when carl betts sadly passed away a mini reunion in 2011 some cast members did come together for a reunion at the paley center in los angeles charlie fabrez paul peterson and patty peterson were in attendance mary jeff and trisha stone donna's tv children the event included a screening of some of the show's highlights and best moments along with rare footage that hadn't been aired or seen in decades the mini reunion was the same day that the dvd titled season 4 the lost episodes was released with seldom seen episodes from the show the cast loved donna as the star of the show it seems as though donna reed was not only loved by her fans at home the cast of the donnery show only had good things to say about the actress both during and after filming [Music] paul peterson who played her on-screen son says that donna became the nurturing adult he needed in his life to survive his years of being a child star in the acting industry she helped him understand the goings-on of a tv set and she even helped him stay strong during a few tough years [Music] real-life siblings no the same last name is not just a coincidence between porn and petty peterson aka jeff and trisha stone the two are actually brother and sister in real life though they are only adoptive siblings on the show so yes they are good actors but they did not have to fake the process bond for their screen time because it was already very much there while jeff was a serious regular for all eight seasons trisha was adopted later on and joins the cast in season five we still don't know where hilldale is normally television shows give us a little insight into where they are located even if they are fictional towns and cities they are normally located in a real-life state but there are other shows that don't give us that information after all where the heck is springfield where's raytown the same can be said for hilldale because the cast never give any hints as to where this town is in the country yet many fans have speculated that it could be in iowa where donna reed grew up and lived for the early years of her life and that's all for now don't forget to leave a like subscribe and share this video with friends take care

Channel: HOW THEY CHANGED

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Keywords: how they changed, then and now, before and after, tv, film, actor, actress, tv series, celebrity, celebrities, famous stars then and now, Antes e Depois, Avant et Après, sitcom, top 20, top, top 15, viral, filmography, nostalgia, aging, thenvsnow, 70s, 80s, 90s, where are they now, fair use, soap, 2020, The Donna Reed Show, Donna Reed, Paul Petersen, Carl Betz, Shelley Fabares, Buster Keaton, James Darren, Jay North, Johnny Crawford, Cloris Leachman, William Schallert, George Hamilton

Id: f1fp5wlL8cc

Length: 10min 16sec (616 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 27 2020