Another testament to the popularity of “The Donna Reed Show’” is the fact that it’s still referenced in pop culture. For instance, it was featured in the title of an episode of “Gilmore Girls,” an American comedy-drama TV series. The 14th episode of its first Season was entitled “That Damn Donna Reed.”
It featured a story in which Rory and Dean disagreed about their views on a woman’s role in the household while watching an episode of the “Donna Reed Show.” Iconic! Similar to “The Donna Reed Show,” “Gilmore Girls” had non-stereotypical female leads, and has generated praise for its witty dialogue, cross-generational appeal, and effective mix of humor and drama.
Not Exactly Critically Acclaimed
The show was a very big success, winning the hearts of millions of fans and viewers. However, the show did not get that same success critically, as it only broke into the top 25 shows once during 1963-1964. No matter what the critics felt, in the hearts of Americans, it was already one of the 25 most popular shows in the country.
Donna Reed herself has expressed her happiness with the show's accomplishments. Being the only one at the time, Reed proved that a show could be successful with a strong, non-neurotic, non-sexualized female lead. Today she is recognized as one of the trendsetters and inspiration for such female leads that arose over the years.
Re-Runs and Re-Releases
Decades after its original TV run, MPI Home Video has acquired the rights to release all episodes of "The Donna Reed Show" on DVD in the hopes of banking on its huge success to make a profit. Fortunately, its DVD release still had a very warm reception from its die-hard fans. It has also opened up the show to more viewers which also contributed to its success.
The first season of the show was re-released on DVD on September 30, 2014. Following this success and the huge demand of the fans for more, the second season was re-released on March 24, 2015. Then, the third season was re-released on June 30, 2015. Seasons 4 and 5 were never re-released but are still available from its first DVD release. The show was a true classic, as even a new TV audience who hadn't been familiar with the show before enjoyed it. It had also been re-run on TV in September 2011 by Me-TV, a smaller TV network.
Hollywood Pays Homage
"The Donna Reed Show" became an inspiration for many more TV shows and movies years after it went off-air. While the series went off the air in the mid-sixties, the influence of "The Donna Reed Show" was prominently seen three decades later in the 1998 American fantasy-comedy-drama “Pleasantville”.
The critically acclaimed film starred Tobey Maguire, who came to be more famously known for his role as Peter Parker and Spiderman in the first Spiderman movie trilogy. This movie borrowed heavily from black and white sitcoms, mainly the core idea of a nuclear family famously seen on "The Donna Reed Show".
Re-Casting Guest Actors
Back in the time when "The Donna Reed Show" was televised, it was common practice for TV show casting agents to bring back actors to play other roles. That way they had a handful of actors at their disposal to play usually insignificant roles that the audience would probably not even notice. (Well, except for a few die-hard fans with a keen eye.)
"The Donna Reed Show" had its fair share of actors who appeared more than once, playing different roles throughout the show, these include Jimmy Hawkins, Richard Deacon, Gale Gordon, Miyoshi Umeki, Harvey Korman, Doodles Weaver, and Dick Wilson.