THE DONNA REED SHOW: SEASON 5 (3 Viewers)

[HunterMan]

Nice pic, Mark! Haven't ever really seen any of the Kelseys much.

 

[Greg2356]

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[Greg2356]

Nice pic, Mark! Haven't ever really seen any of the Kelseys much.

(y) Glad you like it Drew!!! I remember watching the 'Seventh Season' when the show was still on prime time on the ABC Network, and I recall it had the Stones and the Kelseys together quite a lot!

 

[HunterMan]

(y) Glad you like it Drew!!! I remember watching the 'Seventh Season' when the show was still on prime time on the ABC Network, and I recall it had the Stones and the Kelseys together quite a lot!

I grew up with the show on Nick-at-Nite in the 80's...so I don't remember much of the Kelseys. Was Season 7 shown on N.A.N.? Don't remember... I don't remember much about Season 8 either...other than the final episode with Leslie Gore guest-starring as herself.

 

[Greg2356]

I grew up with the show on Nick-at-Nite in the 80's...so I don't remember much of the Kelseys. Was Season 7 shown on N.A.N.? Don't remember... I don't remember much about Season 8 either...other than the final episode with Leslie Gore guest-starring as herself.

Season 7 was not shown on "Nick at Nite" nor Season 6. The reason given for this, was something like this series had more episodes than "Nick at Nite" had wanted or needed for their network. I bet if they had known ahead of time how very successful "The Donna Reed Show" was going to be on their "Nick at Nite" network, that they would have certainly acquired more episodes from this great family show!!

 

[Greg2356]

I think it's a bit strange in regards to this 'Cast Photo' for *Season 6* from "The Donna Reed Show" which I had posted at the top of this page, that you only see Paul Petersen's hands keeping guard of his sister, but you don't see his face! If indeed those are Paul Petersen's hands? I am pretty sure they are, since I know he was always protective of his little sister. When people see this photo who know little about this series, they are likely to think that they lost both Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen in this show, which of course, isn't the case at all!!

 

[HunterMan]

Season 7 was not shown on "Nick at Nite" nor Season 6. The reason given for this, was something like this series had more episodes than "Nick at Nite" had wanted or needed for their network. I bet if they had known ahead of time how very successful "The Donna Reed Show" was going to be on their "Nick at Nite" network, that they would have certainly acquired more episodes from this great family show!!

Yeah, I knew there were a couple seasons that Nick at Nite didn't show...I didn't think Season 4 was either. That excuse is stupid, in my opinion, considering other shows they aired had just as many seasons if not more--such as "Andy Griffith"! I've read that "Donna Reed Show" became one of N.A.N's most popular shows and it became their longest running show before they finally dropped it (airing from 1985, when N.A.N. started, to 1994). Why they didn't show Seasons 6 & 7 too is beyond me? I think Seasons 4 & 5 were owned by the family and had tons of music rights to deal with as well...so although I was disappointed those seasons were not shown, I understand why, at the time.

I think it's a bit strange in regards to this 'Cast Photo' for *Season 6* from "The Donna Reed Show" which I had posted at the top of this page, that you only see Paul Petersen's hands keeping guard of his sister, but you don't see his face! If indeed those are Paul Petersen's hands? I am pretty sure they are, since I know he was always protective of his little sister. When people see this photo who know little about this series, they are likely to think that they lost both Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen in this show, which of course, isn't the case at all!!

This is true...the "mysterious" supportive hands. I bet you anything it is Paul Petersen and maybe by this time was willing to not always be in every pic or promo, and had no problem letting his sister be in the "lime-light" for once. It's a cute pic...but one might assume Paul was now gone too, if they didn't watch the show on a regular basis.

 

[Greg2356]

Yeah, I knew there were a couple seasons that Nick at Nite didn't show...I didn't think Season 4 was either. That excuse is stupid, in my opinion, considering other shows they aired had just as many seasons if not more--such as "Andy Griffith"! I've read that "Donna Reed Show" became one of N.A.N's most popular shows and it became their longest running show before they finally dropped it (airing from 1985, when N.A.N. started, to 1994). Why they didn't show Seasons 6 & 7 too is beyond me? I think Seasons 4 & 5 were owned by the family and had tons of music rights to deal with as well...so although I was disappointed those seasons were not shown, I understand why, at the time.


This is true...the "mysterious" supportive hands. I bet you anything it is Paul Petersen and maybe by this time was willing to not always be in every pic or promo, and had no problem letting his sister be in the "lime-light" for once. It's a cute pic...but one might assume Paul was now gone too, if they didn't watch the show on a regular basis.

 

[Greg2356]

Drew: Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in regards to "The Donna Reed Show" were not owned by the family in the 1980's as yet. And 'Season 5' was absolutely aired on Nick at Nite! 'Nick at Nite' began airing seasons 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 starting in 1985.

In 2003, I had contacted Paul Petersen in asking him why "The Donna Reed Show" was not offered on DVD like other shows such as "The Andy Giffith Show," Paul immediately sent my email to Mary Owen. Mary Owen had kindly contacted me for the very first time and explained to me that their family was trying to get the rights to the first 5 Seasons of her Mom's show. After the family won the rights to Seasons 1 through 5 sometime in the mid to late 2000s, Mary Owen had went through absolute agony in trying to get 'Season 4' released onto DVD even though her family had now owned the rights to it! There were so many hoops she had to go through to get 'Season 4' released onto DVD, and it had never been transfered to tape to be used for syndicated reruns. It was quite a trial for Mary and it had taken a big toll on her in more ways than one! And even when MPI had gotten a hold of the original 35mm Negative for 'Season 4' it was full of technical problems! The main guy who had worked on 'Season 4' for MPI, had said it was a nightmare in trying to put together 'Season 4' from "The Donna Reed Show." So the stress put on Mary Owen and others as well, was monumental in proportions!!

Yes Drew, it would make sense that those hands supporting his sister Patti on the cast photo for 'Season 6' are most likely Paul Petersen's hands, or maybe possibly Shelley Fabares' hands. Now I have it correct, they are definitely Shelley's hands!!!!! I knew, that I had recognized them!!!!!! LOLOL Just Kidding!!! I'm almost sure they are Paul Petersen's hands.

 

[HunterMan]

Drew: Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in regards to "The Donna Reed Show" were not owned by the family in the 1980's as yet. And 'Season 5' was absolutely aired on Nick at Nite! 'Nick at Nite' began airing seasons 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 starting in 1985.

In 2003, I had contacted Paul Petersen in asking him why "The Donna Reed Show" was not offered on DVD like other shows such as "The Andy Giffith Show," Paul immediately sent my email to Mary Owen. Mary Owen had kindly contacted me for the very first time and explained to me that their family was trying to get the rights to the first 5 Seasons of her Mom's show. After the family won the rights to Seasons 1 through 5 sometime in the mid to late 2000s, Mary Owen had went through absolute agony in trying to get 'Season 4' released onto DVD even though her family had now owned the rights to it! There were so many hoops she had to go through to get 'Season 4' released onto DVD, and it had never been transfered to tape to be used for syndicated reruns. It was quite a trial for Mary and it had taken a big toll on her in more ways than one! And even when MPI had gotten a hold of the original 35mm Negative for 'Season 4' it was full of technical problems! The main guy who had worked on 'Season 4' for MPI, had said it was a nightmare in trying to put together 'Season 4' from "The Donna Reed Show." So the stress put on Mary Owen and others as well, was monumental in proportions!!

Yes Drew, it would make sense that those hands supporting his sister Patti on the cast photo for 'Season 6' are most likely Paul Petersen's hands, or maybe possibly Shelley Fabares' hands. Now I have it correct, they are definitely Shelley's hands!!!!! I knew, that I had recognized them!!!!!! LOLOL Just Kidding!!! I'm almost sure they are Paul Petersen's hands.

This is true...I didn't state my first comment very accurately. I did know that the family didn't own the rights to seasons during the Nick at Nite days, and that Season 5 was aired. For some reason I thought it was Seasons 4 and 7 that were not aired...but I guess Season 6 was not either. I figured that it was mostly because of music rights that Season 4 wasn't aired--but didn't really know why Seasons 6 or 7 wer not aired...but I guess it was because of supposedly not wanting to air every season.

I'm glad that the family ended up getting the rights to the first 5 seasons later, though--probably better than some studio company that didn't/dosen't care. They didn't start putting TV shows (especially old ones) on DVD until about 10 years ago (2002/2003)...so if they acquired the rights to the seasons in the 90's, I'm glad they kept them and eventually wanted to get the show out! But, anything worth while in life is never easy--if it sounds too good to be true...it usually is. So, I'm sorry if it was so trying and stressful for the family...but it was well worth it! The results of both Seasons 4 and 5 on DVD were superb! Now it's up to Sony to "cough" up the last 3 seasons.

Shelley's hands, huh... Yeah. What would have been truly "cute" was if they would have had both Shelley on one side of Patty, and Paul on the other--both holding her up and helping "support", but showing their faces as well. But, I wasn't born quite yet and therefore was not in charge.

 

[Greg2356]

This is true...I didn't state my first comment very accurately. I did know that the family didn't own the rights to seasons during the Nick at Nite days, and that Season 5 was aired. For some reason I thought it was Seasons 4 and 7 that were not aired...but I guess Season 6 was not either. I figured that it was mostly because of music rights that Season 4 wasn't aired--but didn't really know why Seasons 6 or 7 wer not aired...but I guess it was because of supposedly not wanting to air every season.

I'm glad that the family ended up getting the rights to the first 5 seasons later, though--probably better than some studio company that didn't/dosen't care. They didn't start putting TV shows (especially old ones) on DVD until about 10 years ago (2002/2003)...so if they acquired the rights to the seasons in the 90's, I'm glad they kept them and eventually wanted to get the show out! But, anything worth while in life is never easy--if it sounds too good to be true...it usually is. So, I'm sorry if it was so trying and stressful for the family...but it was well worth it! The results of both Seasons 4 and 5 on DVD were superb! Now it's up to Sony to "cough" up the last 3 seasons.

Shelley's hands, huh... Yeah. What would have been truly "cute" was if they would have had both Shelley on one side of Patty, and Paul on the other--both holding her up and helping "support", but showing their faces as well. But, I wasn't born quite yet and therefore was not in charge.

I did think you might have known some of the information that I had written Drew, but I had just wanted to make sure... I think your idea of having Paul and Shelley holding up and helping support Patti would have been a very good idea!! And maybe it would have helped in quieting down some of the talk which had insinuated that Patti practically kicked off Shelley Fabares from the series, which I think is just plain asinine!!! I didn't see a whole lot of 'Season 6' episodes, but did see one episode in particular where the character Trisha had called Donna (Mommy) and I think Donna abruptly said something to the effect of: Don't call me Mommy- I am not your Mother, call me Aunt Donna. I was shocked that the Donna Stone Character would be so unkind to a little girl!! It seemed so out of character for Donna to be saying something like this... Maybe I had just imagined this, since I was home sick from school, so I could of possibly had a fever, or merely had dreamed it!! LOL
In any case, I can't wait to see 'Season 6' to find out if there really is an episode like this or not!

 

[HunterMan]

I did think you might have known some of the information that I had written Drew, but I had just wanted to make sure... I think your idea of having Paul and Shelley holding up and helping support Patti would have been a very good idea!! And maybe it would have helped in quieting down some of the talk which had insinuated that Patti practically kicked off Shelley Fabares from the series, which I think is just plain asinine!!! I didn't see a whole lot of 'Season 6' episodes, but did see one episode in particular where the character Trisha had called Donna (Mommy) and I think Donna abruptly said something to the effect of: Don't call me Mommy- I am not your Mother, call me Aunt Donna. I was shocked that the Donna Stone Character would be so unkind to a little girl!! It seemed so out of character for Donna to be saying something like this... Maybe I had just imagined this, since I was home sick from school, so I could of possibly had a fever, or merely had dreamed it!! LOL
In any case, I can't wait to see 'Season 6' to find out if there really is an episode like this or not!

I'd never heard that some thought Patti had "kicked" Shelley off the show--that's ridiculous! I'm sure if Donna and the rest had had their way---Shelley would have stayed till the end too. But, she seemed to think she was in love with Elvis instead.

I don't think I've seen much, if any, of Season 6...that does seem strange that Donna would say that to Trisha. After all, don't the Stones end up adopting Trisha eventually? But, who knows...maybe there was a reason at that time. Did Trisha's supposed bio-mom ever make an appearance...or was she ever talked about on the show? Maybe Donna was trying to remind Trisha that she still had a mom...even if she wasn't living with her at the time. I truly hope Season 6 will get released to DVD!! Did Shelley still make an occasional appearance in Seasons 6 or 7--or was Season 5 her last? I can't remember.

 

[Greg2356]

I'd never heard that some thought Patti had "kicked" Shelley off the show--that's ridiculous! I'm sure if Donna and the rest had had their way---Shelley would have stayed till the end too. But, she seemed to think she was in love with Elvis instead.

I don't think I've seen much, if any, of Season 6...that does seem strange that Donna would say that to Trisha. After all, don't the Stones end up adopting Trisha eventually? But, who knows...maybe there was a reason at that time. Did Trisha's supposed bio-mom ever make an appearance...or was she ever talked about on the show? Maybe Donna was trying to remind Trisha that she still had a mom...even if she wasn't living with her at the time. I truly hope Season 6 will get released to DVD!! Did Shelley still make an occasional appearance in Seasons 6 or 7--or was Season 5 her last? I can't remember.

Trisha was never officially adopted in the show, and if you remember from 'Season 5' her Uncle Fred said, she had no parents or other living relatives besides himself!Shelley Fabares returned sporadically as a 'Guest Star' in episodes for two more seasons which were the 'Sixth' and 'Seventh Season' of "The Donna Reed Show." Okay Drew: Here are the titles from episodes that Shelley Fabares appeared in for the 'Sixth Season.' Ep. 194, "Mary Comes Home" Ep. 197, "What are Friends For" Ep. 200, "Moon Shot" and Ep. 213, "Day For Remembering."Now here are the titles from episodes that Shelley Fabares appeared in as a 'Guest Star' for the 'Seventh Season.' Ep. 223, "The Daughter Complex" Ep. 228, "Anyone Can Drive" Ep. 233, "Old Faithful" and Ep. 248, "Indoor Outing." In this last episode, they were actually flashbacks of Shelley and the rest of the cast taken from various past episodes of the series.Also there was a rather Special Episode from the 'Sixth Season' which was Ep. 202- entitled, "First Addition," in this episode Donna Stone reminisces about Mary's birth and goes back in time, which finds Donna lying in a Hospital Bed with baby Mary in her arms and with Alex by her side. Shelley Fabares doesn't actually appear in this particular episode, but indeed- the baby is supposed to be Mary Stone.And No, unfortunately Shelley Fabares did not return for the final show in the 'Eighth Season." Maybe she would have if they had made four more episodes as was originally planned, but Donna had gone to India the previous year and had caught a bug that she had a rather difficult time shaking off! Paul Petersen had said, that Donna Reed exclaimed on the set oneday, "That's It!" And Paul explained when Donna says "that's It" of course the show ended.

 

[HunterMan]

Trisha was never officially adopted in the show, and if you remember from 'Season 5' her Uncle Fred said, she had no parents or other living relatives besides himself!Shelley Fabares returned sporadically as a 'Guest Star' in episodes for two more seasons which were the 'Sixth' and 'Seventh Season' of "The Donna Reed Show." Okay Drew: Here are the titles from episodes that Shelley Fabares appeared in for the 'Sixth Season.' Ep. 194, "Mary Comes Home" Ep. 197, "What are Friends For" Ep. 200, "Moon Shot" and Ep. 213, "Day For Remembering."Now here are the titles from episodes that Shelley Fabares appeared in as a 'Guest Star' for the 'Seventh Season.' Ep. 223, "The Daughter Complex" Ep. 228, "Anyone Can Drive" Ep. 233, "Old Faithful" and Ep. 248, "Indoor Outing." In this last episode, they were actually flashbacks of Shelley and the rest of the cast taken from various past episodes of the series.Also there was a rather Special Episode from the 'Sixth Season' which was Ep. 202- entitled, "First Addition," in this episode Donna Stone reminisces about Mary's birth and goes back in time, which finds Donna lying in a Hospital Bed with baby Mary in her arms and with Alex by her side. Shelley Fabares doesn't actually appear in this particular episode, but indeed- the baby is supposed to be Mary Stone.And No, unfortunately Shelley Fabares did not return for the final show in the 'Eighth Season." Maybe she would have if they had made four more episodes as was originally planned, but Donna had gone to India the previous year and had caught a bug that she had a rather difficult time shaking off! Paul Petersen had said, that Donna Reed exclaimed on the set oneday, "That's It!" And Paul explained when Donna says "that's It" of course the show ended.

Oh that's right...Trisha had the Uncle Fred but no parents. Thanks for the episodes that Shelley returned in...good info to have! I think I might have seen "Mary Comes Home" once...but don't remember seeing any of the others. I really hope the remaining 3 seasons can be released to DVD!! I did remember that Shelley was not in Season 8--however, I didn't know that Donna just called it quits on set one day and that was it! But, I do know that she'd been wanting to stop making the series for a couple years before this...but the popularity/ratings and the network kept talking her back into another season each year. (I have a vintage 1962 TV Guide with Donna on the cover...and in the article she says something like she'd probably only do the show another year or so--well there were four more years. I have most if not all the vintage TV Guides with Donna on the cover). But, she finally must have had enough. But, that's odd she wouldn't just go ahead and make the final four episodes if that's all that was left...she must have been very dissatisfied by that time.

 

[Greg2356]

Oh that's right...Trisha had the Uncle Fred but no parents. Thanks for the episodes that Shelley returned in...good info to have! I think I might have seen "Mary Comes Home" once...but don't remember seeing any of the others. I really hope the remaining 3 seasons can be released to DVD!! I did remember that Shelley was not in Season 8--however, I didn't know that Donna just called it quits on set one day and that was it! But, I do know that she'd been wanting to stop making the series for a couple years before this...but the popularity/ratings and the network kept talking her back into another season each year. (I have a vintage 1962 TV Guide with Donna on the cover...and in the article she says something like she'd probably only do the show another year or so--well there were four more years. I have most if not all the vintage TV Guides with Donna on the cover). But, she finally must have had enough. But, that's odd she wouldn't just go ahead and make the final four episodes if that's all that was left...she must have been very dissatisfied by that time.

The reason Donna didn't do the last four episodes is because she wasn't feeling well. She had caught some virus bug, or whatever you might call it, on her visit to India and wasn't able to completely shake it off and was feeling bad physically with some days being worse than others I presume! I remember a scene at the beginning of one of the episodes from 'Season 8' where Donna was in the kitchen pouring coffee and her face looked like she had the Flu, her eyes looked terrible!! Yet in some other episodes she looked exceptionally beautiful!! In any case Paul Petersen was very upset and disappointed not to be able to do the last four episodes. Paul said that Donna did her best to try and console him.

 

[HunterMan]

The reason Donna didn't do the last four episodes is because she wasn't feeling well. She had caught some virus bug, or whatever you might call it, on her visit to India and wasn't able to completely shake it off and was feeling bad physically with some days being worse than others I presume! I remember a scene at the beginning of one of the episodes from 'Season 8' where Donna was in the kitchen pouring coffee and her face looked like she had the Flu, her eyes looked terrible!! Yet in some other episodes she looked exceptionally beautiful!! In any case Paul Petersen was very upset and disappointed not to be able to do the last four episodes. Paul said that Donna did her best to try and console him.

She probably knew it was the last season anyway...or had planned on it being that. With her being sick it must have just brought it on that much quicker, and she'd had enough. I'm sure Paul was upset when the show eneded...it was all he'd known and he probably didn't know where to go or what to do afterwards--he was so typecast. But, after some "dark" moments, thankfully he found his way over time.

 

[Greg2356]

Hello from "The Donna Reed Show" insider. lol.. Mary Owen has let me know that Seasons 6-8 are still being held up! MPI had a very positive meeting with a man from Sony Pictures, but then they turned over negotiations to someone else concerning MPI getting the rights to release seasons 6-8 on DVD. The person they turned over these talks to appears to have a poor attitude and lousy disposition in general. She doesn't want to talk about this subject and won't even answer any emails from MPI. She says if they don't make a big deal about getting these Donna Reed Show seasons and make a simple agreement, Sony will consider letting MPI release seasons 6-8 on DVD. MPI will try to negotiate again with "Sony Pictures" in the month of March. And the reason for this delay with MPI trying to convince Sony to let them release these seasons is because "Sony Pictures" right now is in the middle of downsizing and will be firing a lot of their employees. So this month of February is pretty much a mess for "Sony Pictures" studio.In the meantime, there is some better news to report: MPI is going to be working on Seasons 1-3 in regards to "The Donna Reed Show" and re-releasing them on DVD. Some fans didn't really approve of the technical quality on Seasons 1-3 which were done by another studio, so MPI is planning to improve the technical quality of these first three seasons which concern "The Donna Reed Show." I am excited about this...

 

[DaveHof2]

In the meantime, there is some better news to report: MPI is going to be working on Seasons 1-3 in regards to "The Donna Reed Show" and re-releasing them on DVD. Some fans didn't really approve of the technical quality on Seasons 1-3 which were done by another studio, so MPI is planning to improve the technical quality of these first three seasons which concern "The Donna Reed Show." I am excited about this...

They didn't look bad to me, though I wasn't crazy about the packaging on seasons 2 and 3. May buy the new ones as backups.

 

[BobO'Link]

Thanks for the update Greg! I'm fairly happy with my S1-S3 sets and don't know if I'd be willing to double-dip but you never know... At least there *seems* to be some movement towards getting those last 3 seasons released!

 

[Jay*W]

I'd be delighted with improved versions of S1-3 from MPI and some packaging consistency to boot.