Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th - Page 2

Re: Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th

Yes, I know the Fourth Season was Syndicated on ABC Reruns that were edited for daytime, but that was when The Donna Reed Show was still currently on the air on the ABC Network at night with new episodes as well. I meant that in my area at least after the summer of 1966 when The Donna Reed Show went off the air and the ABC Daytime Reruns went off as well, I didn't catch the Fourth Season being shown in reruns anymore in my area. But, I guess it was shown in other areas. And it was probably shown in the Los Angeles Area and surrounding Areas as well because when I went to Disneyland with my family, we saw lots of old shows in our Motel Room that we hadn't seen for years!

I do know very well about the 100 Episodes that have been missing from "The Donna Reed Show" with the Fourth Season included among these Missing Episodes. Two years before The Donna Reed Show aired on Nick at Nite, they were airing The Donna Reed Show again in my area in which I supplied all of the Trivia Research on this show so that the hosts could present it every Weeknight just before The Donna Reed Show aired on our Local TV Station at 7pm. Also, I did the Trivia Research for Father Knows Best, Hazel and Dennis the Menace. There were a lot more seasons of Hazel that aired at that time. And if I had known what I know now about Hazel's 2,3,4, and 5th Season Color Episodes being held back because of legal issues that are being disputed regarding who owns the rights to this show, I would have recorded all these Color Episodes from Hazel when they aired in my area. Since my Mother just loves the First Season black and white episodes of Hazel that Sony Pictures put out on Home Media.

Donna Reed's Children have the Family Trust Rights to Seasons 1 through 5 concerning The Donna Reed Show, but do not have the rights unfortunately to Seasons 6,7,and 8!!!! Other Share Owners have the rights to these last Seasons of The Donna Reed Show Paul Petersen says it is because of Music Rights. I am grateful that Nick at Nite was able to air the Eighth Season of The Donna Reed Show before it too got caught up in legal right issues! And I am so glad the Children of Donna Reed now have the Legal Rights to the Great Fourth Season that includes a missing 39 Episodes from this Great Sitcom!!! At least I do hope the episode, "Donna's Prima Donna" with the "Johnny Angel" song is included among the other Episodes from this particular season!!!!

Re: Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th

Correction: I had meant in my last post that The Donna Reed Show episodes were shown in Edited Daytime Reruns on the ABC Television Network. They of course weren't as yet Syndicated!!! Sorry about that!!!!!

The reason I had gotten the idea that the Fourth Season of "The Donna Reed Show" was Never Syndicated is because I had called Columbia Pictures in about 1984 asking them about these 100 Missing Episodes from the Fourth, Sixth, and Seventh Seasons. The person I had talked to at Columbia told me in no uncertain terms that 100 Episodes from "The Donna Reed Show" were Never Released by the ABC Television Network for Syndication. They told me this after I had enquired about the missing episodes from the Sixth and Seventh Seasons of The Donna Reed Show which had featured Bob Crane.They got very uptight when I had mentioned Bob Crane's name!

Re: Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th

Auto Focus talks about the rumor of what Bob did to horrify Donna

Re: Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th

What is that rumour? I've seen the film, but don't recall that part.

I never realized there is so much red tape drama around certain seasons of my favorite shows which is preventing the release from coming forth.

Re: Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th

What's this about the 2d through 5th seasons of "Hazel" being in legal hell?

Is the "Dennis the Menace" series also in legal hell? I've read the real Dennis hated his father, and if he's the heir to the whole mess, that might be the end of it.

Re: Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th

in the movie, towards the end of Crane's career, he's talking with his agent about the rumor that he was fired by Donna Reed after she saw some of his photography.

Re: Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th

Sony owns the rights to the Jay North "Dennis the Menace" TV series, but it will have to first get past the red tape issues with the company "King Features". I don't know exactly what the negotiating problem is that has held back this beloved series from being released on DVD for such a long period of time! This series had such an excellent & sharp pristine B&W Picture Resolution on every episode when it aired on Nick at Nite! It had a consistently Clearer Picture than all the other Sitcoms that appeared on Nick at Nite. If they had used "Legend Films" Advanced Coloring Process to Colorize this Classic Show, I bet it would have appeared that this series had always been in color!!!! I had heard they colorized one episode of "Dennis the Menace" as an experiment, but that was many years ago.

As far as "Hazel' goes, I saw on a website as I was surfing the Net one night that Hazel's subsequent seasons were in the middle of negotiations regarding a copyright issue. Also, a few years ago when TV Land had this show on, they could only acquire the Rights to Season One. I am going to try and find out more information about this... If I succeed, I will be posting again on this subject concerning the "Hazel" TV Series.

Re: Donna Reed Show Season 2 - May 5th

In the late 1960's, I happened to see an episode of Gypsy Rose Lee's Talk Show, and Bob Crane was the guest. Gypsy made a snide comment regarding "The Donna Reed Show" something to the effect of that they were going to make another series about the 'Stone Family Characters' called, The Stones in the Stone Age. Bob Crane replied, "Hey, don't make fun of that show, I was on that show for Two Years!" And with the serious look on Bob's face you could tell he sincerely was defending "The Donna Reed Show". Gypsy Rose Lee just sort of put her head down since Bob Crane responded negatively to her joke.

I maybe wrong, but I personally think Bob Crane just got an offer he couldn't resist in getting the chance to star in his own series which of course was "Hogan's Heroes." I am sure that Donna Reed understood this as well... I think Bob Crane had the upmost of respect for Donna Reed since I have heard that she was such a warm and sincere person. But, Paul Petersen did have a negative experience with Bob Crane during Bob's run on "The Donna Reed Show" in which Paul explained about this on Stu's Shokus Radio Show which aired on December 29, 2008. According to Paul Petersen, Bob made it his business to hit on every girl that he knew Paul was interested in at that time... Paul said by the time Bob Crane left "The Donna Reed Show" he had already worn out his welcome.

So who really knows for sure, what things did or didn't happen when Bob Crane was on the set of "The Donna Reed Show." All I remember is that Bob Crane did a very fine job when he was on that show. I remember in the sixth season when they were reminiscing about the first time Alex introduced Donna to Doctor Dave Kelsey played by Bob Crane, and Donna didn't like him very much because unbeknownst to Alex, Dave had tried to hit on Donna when she was helping Alex out as a part time nurse in the hospital. (Donna Reed did play a Part Time Nurse from time to time on "The Donna Reed Show") Anyway, Dave didn't know as yet that Donna was Alex's Wife, and Donna had already decided that Dr. Dave Kelsey was a Womanizer. (Gosh, I wonder where she got that idea from? lol) So Alex eventually brings Dave home with him to have dinner with him and Donna, so Dave can meet Donna's Friend Midge in which he eventually marries. Midge has trouble containing her great enthusiasm about meeting Dr. Dave Kelsey because she desperately wants to marry somebody, but she finally agrees to take Donna's advice in not appearing to be too anxious to meet Dave. Well, when Dave first comes to the Stone's House for dinner, Donna greets both Alex and Dave at the Front Door with Midge standing behind the Front Door. Donna shoos Midge away, so Midge not knowing exactly where to go, haplessly decides to hide in the Entrance Hall Closet. Donna lets Alex & Dave in asking Dave if he would like to lie down before dinner and at the same time tries to push both Dave and Alex upstairs since she wants to get Midge out of the Hall Closet. Then Donna attempts further to get Dave and Alex up the stairs by asking Dave if he would maybe like to shave, and that Alex could give him a fresh blade. Dave reply's, "Well, I uhh - I could take a bath!" I started to laugh so hard when I heard that line!!! And Bob Crane had delivered that line so perfectly!!!! "The Donna Reed Show" did seem like a different sitcom when Bob Crane was on it. I am not saying that the show was better with Bob Crane than it had been in previous years, but just different...
Edited by Greg2356 - 10/8/09 at 11:25pm

TSoD verified the new release date for S2 for next week 07/28 .  I had that date on my spreadsheet earlier.  I think I remember TSoD posting something earlier about it with that date as a probable release date.

Anyway, it's in time for the DD sale

Just ordered (using store credit) from DVD Planet for $21.27.

I received notice that my copy shipped from DD yesterday. It's always a crapshoot with their "free" shipping, but with any luck I may have it by Monday. You can't beat the price though, $18.34 delivered! 

I'm surprised I can't find a review yet. Has anyone seen one?

My DeepDiscount order just showed up... even earlier than I hoped! 

I'll report back as soon as I've had a chance to check it out. But, first blush, everything looks promising. All 38 season two episodes are included (episode guide insert with original airdates) and one of the listed bonus features is called: "Downloadable Episode Scripts." I can't wait to see what that's all about. Also, for some reason, Virgil Films switched packaging this go-round and has gone to a standard Amray case with two double-sided disc trays. No floaters, so I guess it's no big deal. I just don't understand why studios can't keep consistent packaging from season set to season set.

I just wanted to post a quick follow-up. I watched the first 4 or 5 season two episodes last night and am pleased to report that overall quality is on par with season one. In other words, you can expect very serviceable video and decent audio. Yes, there is an occasional video blemish and the audio tracks do fluctuate a bit in level from episode to episode (just like season one.) But, the best news is that (in at least in the episodes I viewed so far) the programs are all uncut. There is still the little "quick fade" on the final closing title-card (like season one) but otherwise, these episodes all clock-in at just under 26 minutes. Long story short, if you enjoyed season one, then you're sure to be pleased by season two! 

Another quick follow-up. I'm not panicking yet, but I just stumbled upon what appears to be a cut episode. It's episode #9 on disc 1 (Flowers For the Teacher.) It's a little under 22 minutes, so my guess is that it is taken from a syndicated print. I just checked the final episode on disc 1 and it is full-length, so 9 out of the 10 programs on disc 1 are full-length. One other thing I forgot to mention, all of the episodes (so far) use the IIRC what was the daytime rerun show open (it showed up on few episodes in the season one set too.) It is not a big deal to me, but I wanted to make sure I mentioned it. The thing that always struck me odd about this show open is that we see Donna talking on the phone, but meanwhile we hear it ringing on the soundtrack. I guess 1959 was a more innocent time when it came to technical continuity... 

Edit - - The closing credits for the above episode are wrong, too. Marion Ross is the guest star as a first-time teacher at Jeff's school, but she is not listed in the credits. Rather, they are for a completely different episode. Like I say though, out of the 10 episodes that comprise disc 1, this is the only one that is problematic...

Edited by pitchman - 8/2/2009 at 09:47 pm GMT

There always seems to be something!

You may not be panicking yet, but I am!

Point well taken, Joe, but compared to the wholesale butchery that goes on with some sets (Rhoda, My Three Sons and WKRP to name just a few) I am willing to give a small player like Virgil Films the benefit of the doubt when it comes to one or two shows in an entire 38 episode season from 1959. IMO, just the fact this is a full season set (non-split) and that (for the most part) it appears to be uncut makes this box set worthy of our consideration. As always, YMMV, but I feel much better about supporting a company like this that is trying to do the right thing as opposed to some of the big names who seem perfectly comfortable in their occasional deliberate cash-grabs.

Final quick follow-up...

Since it will take me some time to view all 38 episodes, I went ahead and scanned the four discs for possible syndicated (or cut) episodes. The good news is that I only found one more on disc three (The Gentle Dew - 22 minutes and change.) All other episodes appear to be full-length (i.e. just under 26 minutes) except for the season finale (The Cool Cat) with a running time slightly under 25 minutes. (I'm not sure what that's about...)

I may post my overall reaction to the season when I finish it, but I wanted to pass this information along to all who are interested in the set. If you can live with two (possibly) syndicated cuts out of a 38 episode season (and you are happy with the "look and feel" of season one) then you can buy this one with confidence.

Cheers,

Thanks for alleviating my panic to some extent, Gary ... but it's odd they'd let two syndicated episodes slip through.  As I say, there's (almost) always something to aggravate me in a TV season set.

Glad to help out, Joe.

Not to defend Virgil Films, but we are talking about a small company and a fifty year-old TV program. I consider the fact that they got this much right with two full-season sets to be a minor miracle! My guess is that when you are dealing with such an old property (not to mention the large number of episodes per season) it's entirely possible that however these programs were archived, the two episodes in question simply slipped through the cracks. At least they saw fit to include them, albeit in truncated form. AFAIK, not too many programs ever had a 38 episode season. I have seen 36 on occasion, but even that is less common than the 30-33 episodes that was more the norm around the time.

The Donna Reed Show Episode "Cool Cat" has always been a little shorter than the rest of the second season episodes for some reason even way before Nick at Nite started cutting episodes up to add more commercials. This particular episode runs about 23 Minutes and 37 Seconds in length.

I had pre-ordered The Second Season of "The Donna Reed Show" from Amazon.com many months ago, and the price was Free! You see, there was a special deal on an Amazon Credit Card that I had been approved for on the spot while I was pre-ordering this Second Season of "The Donna Reed Show". And when you payed for your first item with this particular credit card they would reimburse you the money on your next statement, but only for the first item you had purchased on this particular credit card. So I lucked out Big Time with this unique offer from Amazon.com!

I just re-checked my disc 4. The episode run time is 24:13. I'm guessing that the extra several seconds don't make much difference, but it at least reaffirms that the episode is uncut.

Yes, I agree with you!

Pitchman said: "AFAIK, not too many programs ever had a 38 episode season."

Actually, in the 1950s and into the 1960s, shows were "supposed" to have 39 episodes a season, and then rerun 13 in the summer (or go off the air for 13 weeks with a "summer replacement" in the time slot.)

In actuality, due to various reasons (including pre-emptions for specials), it turned out to be rare that a show actually had 39 episodes a season.

The great and amazing exception would be "Leave It to Beaver," which had exactly 39 episodes for each of its six seasons (1957-63).

I'm mid-way through disc 2 and I've observed at least two episodes like that.

You are absolutely correct, Joe.  I don't know what I was smoking when I wrote that. I certainly know better...

It's startling to realize that over the years, we have somehow gone from a 39 episode "full season" to 22 (or less.) At this point, new programming is pretty much relegated to "sweeps" periods, only.