“The Donna Reed Show” was primarily sponsored by the famous American company, Johnson & Johnson. As an agreement, the show’s producers made it a priority to advertise their products throughout the series. All supermarket scenes in the show featured Johnson & Johnson products only, like Campbell’s Soup and Franco-American Spaghetti.
Even outside of the supermarket, Johnson & Johnson products could be seen literally in every scene whenever they had a chance to be featured. If you revisit the show, you will quickly notice the blatant and unmistakable advertising, as everything that could be used in the house was Johnson & Johnson.
Reed Disapproved of the Industry's Depiction of Women
After playing her role of Donna Stone, the middle-class American mother/housewife, Donna Reed rejected several offers to star in new TV series and Hollywood films, even as a guest star, if the role seemed disrespectful to her. According to Reed, she was making a stand against Hollywood. Hating the fact that women in Hollywood were always depicted as inadequate, and unable to offer anything stimulating or challenging.
Her character on "The Donna Reed Show" was undoubtedly the most assertive of all other television mothers at that time. This made her a pioneer for female lead characters at the time. She wanted to depict women as being strong and independent, and she wanted her roles on TV and film to be cast accordingly.
The Munsters and Donna Reed
“The Munsters” is Another TV show that debuted in 1964. This show was created as a parody of “The Donna Reed Show”. It depicted the home life of a family of monsters. Herman Munster, a Frankenstein-like monster, was the head of the family, while Lily Munster, a vampire, was his wife.
The show also mocked all the popular shows and movies at that time. One very obvious similarity between the two shows is their opening credits sequence where Lily Munster passes out lunches to the children before they head to school. Donna Reed’s character, Donna Stone, did the same at the beginning of her show.
Greatest TV Dads of All Time
One of the best features of "The Donna Reed Show" was not only Donna Reed’s portrayal of a strong and independent woman, but also her husband, Dr. Alex Stone, the handsome pediatrician that was played by actor Carl Lawrence Betz. Carl earned national recognition for his role that jump-started his career as an actor.
He was also ranked #16 in TV Guide’s list of the “50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time.” The family dynamic and the chemistry between him and his on-screen wife were really evident all throughout the show and are probably the reason why the show became as popular as it was at that time.
1 Actor, 3 Different Characters
Jimmy Hawkins was an actor who played alongside Donna Reed in the holiday classic movie "It’s a Wonderful Life." They had developed a special bond and friendship at that time, so they were not strangers to one another. Soon enough he also appeared on “The Donna Reed Show” as two separate characters.
In season three, he can be seen playing Donna's daughter, Mary's steady boyfriend called 'Scotty'. Later on, in seasons 6 and seven, he played 'Jerry'. Years later, he would go on to serve on the board of directors of the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts, for 20 years!