Arts Alliance Slates 'Donna Reed' For Holiday Shoppers

16 Aug, 2008 By: John Latchem

Another classic American sitcom is finally heading to DVD. The Donna Reed Show: The Complete First Season streets Oct. 28 (prebook Sept. 23) as a $39.95 four-DVD set from Arts Alliance America.

The set is timed not only for the holiday season, but also the 50th anniversary of the show, which debuted on ABC Sept. 24, 1958, and ran for eight seasons and 274 episodes. The first season includes 37 episodes.

ôDonna Reed is AmericaÆs first television sweetheart,ö said Joe Amodei, president of Arts Alliance America.

Reed previously was known for such movie roles as Mary Bailey in ItÆs a Wonderful Life and as Alma Burke in From Here to Eternity. The latter earned her a best supporting actress Oscar.

On her eponymous show, she played housewife Donna Stone, with Carl Betz as her husband, and Shelley Fabares (ôCoachö) and Paul Peterson as their children.

ôThe show is a great example of wholesome programming, very different than whatÆs on TV today,ö Amodei said. ôIt wasnÆt all fluff. The family dealt with some tough issues.ö

Extras on the first season include a photo gallery of rare and never-before-seen photos, and a digitally enhanced original TV spot. Amodei said future seasons will include more.ôWe want each season to be a collectorÆs item,ö Amodei said.

Mary Owen, ReedÆs daughter, hopes baby boomers who grew up with the show will share the DVD with their children and grandchildren.

ôIn the 1960s, before we lived with computers and cable TV with over 200 channels of mostly junk, the Stone family showed what love, respect and support for one another looked like,ö Owen said.