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The Best Episodes of The Donna Reed Show Season 2

Every episode of The Donna Reed Show Season 2 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Donna Reed Show Season 2!

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Revolves around typical family problems, such as firing a clumsy housekeeper, throwing a retirement bash for a colleague, and finding quality time away from the children.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 1 - That's Show Business
    7.3/10(42 votes)

    #1 - That's Show Business

    S2:E1

    Mary does a kind deed by encouraging a shy, insecure fellow student, Kenny, to appear in the school play. When she does, he ends up being paired with her in a dance number. But she regrets her good deed because she’s worried about how they’ll appear next to each other, as he’s shorter than her.

    Director:Oscar Rudolph
    Writers:Jerry Davis, Alfred Lewis Levitt

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  2. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 2 - Sleep No More My Lady
    7.7/10(48 votes)

    #2 - Sleep No More My Lady

    S2:E2

    Donna is too excited to sleep because Alex is giving a speech at a convention. While trying to sleep on the plane, Alex gives Donna a tranquilizer to help her sleep, which leads to an embarrassing chain of events.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 3 - A Penny Earned
    7.3/10(43 votes)

    #3 - A Penny Earned

    S2:E3

    Donna has trouble deciding whether or not buy a new dress.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Tom August

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  4. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 4 - A Friend Indeed
    7.3/10(36 votes)

    #4 - A Friend Indeed

    S2:E4

    Jeff's 'friend' Doug keeps getting him into trouble at school, and Jeff silently takes the blame for him because he knows Doug's mother constantly picks on him and wonders why he can't be more like Jeff, who behaves like an innocent cherub at their house.

    Director:Oscar Rudolph
    Writer:Tom August

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  5. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 5 - The First Child
    7.1/10(37 votes)

    #5 - The First Child

    S2:E5

    Alex must contend with overly anxious new parents who constantly call him in a state of panic, thinking that there is something wrong with their baby.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 6 - Going Steady
    6.9/10(38 votes)

    #6 - Going Steady

    S2:E6

    Mary wants to meet a boy, so she talks Jeff into going to his kid sister's party.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 7 - The Neighborly Gesture
    7.7/10(35 votes)

    #7 - The Neighborly Gesture

    S2:E7

    Alex is hurt that Jeff likes the new neighbor.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:John Whedon

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  8. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 8 - Nothing Like a Good Book
    7.7/10(39 votes)

    #8 - Nothing Like a Good Book

    S2:E8

    Donna mistakenly accepts an invitation to 'culture vulture' Lydia Langley's cocktail party, at which Lydia mentions that she also conducts a book discussion group. She goads Donna into joining it and then reporting on Tolstoy's "War and Peace" at her first meeting. Donna then attempts to immerse the whole family in culture.

    Director:Oscar Rudolph
    Writer:John Whedon

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  9. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 9 - Flowers For the Teacher
    7.5/10(40 votes)

    #9 - Flowers For the Teacher

    S2:E9

    Jeff's class has a new teacher, Miss McGuinness. The boys in particular complain that she is too strict, so Donna meets with the new teacher to get matters settled.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 10 - All Mothers Worry
    7.0/10(34 votes)

    #10 - All Mothers Worry

    S2:E10

    Jeff's friend, Phillip, has a problem. He wants to play football, but his mother is over-protective and won't let him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 11 - Jeff Joins a Club
    7.8/10(39 votes)

    #11 - Jeff Joins a Club

    S2:E11

    Jeff finds out the reason why he wasn't made a member of a club: He is friends with a boy no one else likes.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 12 - The Punishment
    7.6/10(36 votes)

    #12 - The Punishment

    S2:E12

    Dilemma in the Stone household: How to discipline the children without having Donna look like a villian by meting out the punishments, or having Donna look like a squealer when Alex does .

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 13 - A Difference of Opinion
    7.6/10(40 votes)

    #13 - A Difference of Opinion

    S2:E13

    Donna gets cornered into accepting an invitation from a couple that neither she nor Alex really care for. Alex refuses to go, sparking an argument that they try to keep quiet from the children.

    Director:Ida Lupino
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 14 - The Homecoming Dance
    7.6/10(37 votes)

    #14 - The Homecoming Dance

    S2:E14

    Alex and Donna chaperone Mary's date with a college man.

    Director:Robert Ellis Miller
    Writer:John Whedon

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  15. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 15 - The Lucky Girl
    7.6/10(34 votes)

    #15 - The Lucky Girl

    S2:E15

    Lately, all Donna has been hearing is how wonderful Alex is, and how lucky she is to be his wife. After a while, this gets Donna wondering if what people really mean is that Alex got the short end of the stick by marrying her.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 16 - The Broken Spirit
    7.5/10(31 votes)

    #16 - The Broken Spirit

    S2:E16

    Jeff causes problems for everyone else in the house due to his selfishness and inconsideration for others. Because of this he gets a lecture, which he blows off. But then these same issues end up making him go overboard on being a model son when he fears the repercussions of hurting someone.

    Director:Lawrence Dobkin
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 17 - The Secret
    7.9/10(39 votes)

    #17 - The Secret

    S2:E17

    Mary gets an engagement ring and a phone call from Matt, a freshman at UCLA, but doesn't tell anyone in the family about the ring or why Matt is calling. So what's going on? As Donna says, "Alex, our daughter has a secret."

    Director:Norman Tokar
    Writer:Nate Monaster

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  18. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 18 - The New Mother
    7.0/10(34 votes)

    #18 - The New Mother

    S2:E18

    Little David Barker is very excited. His father is getting married and he hopes this means he can leave military school and live in a real home, but things don't work out the way David thought they would.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:John Whedon

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  19. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 19 - Just a Housewife
    7.6/10(46 votes)

    #19 - Just a Housewife

    S2:E19

    Donna becomes offended by the way people seem to use the word ‘housewife’ condescendingly.

    Director:Oscar Rudolph
    Writer:Nate Monaster

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  20. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 20 - The Free Soul
    7.3/10(37 votes)

    #20 - The Free Soul

    S2:E20

    Alex's Uncle Dan takes a break from traveling all over the world. Jeff likes the idea of going to Alaska, Saudi Arabia, Malaya, Australia, and doing whatever he wants, just like Uncle Dan. Jeff decides to join him. Will Donna and Alex allow him to go? Would you believe, yes?

    Director:Norman Tokar
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 21 - The First Quarrel
    6.9/10(37 votes)

    #21 - The First Quarrel

    S2:E21

    Donna and Alex advise a newly married couple after their first big argument.

    Director:Robert Ellis Miller
    Writer:Nate Monaster

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  22. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 22 - A Place to Go
    7.1/10(34 votes)

    #22 - A Place to Go

    S2:E22

    Jeff and his friends get into trouble when they are discovered breaking into an abandoned house. This prompts Donna and the other mothers to create a nice meeting place for the children.

    Director:Norman Tokar
    Writer:John Whedon

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  23. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 23 - A Night to Howl
    8.0/10(38 votes)

    #23 - A Night to Howl

    S2:E23

    Mary gets scared of how people get in ruts and seem to lose their sense of wonder and magic as they get older. She shares this feeling with her parents, who decide to do something spontaneous and go out for the evening.

    Director:Lawrence Dobkin
    Writer:John Whedon

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  24. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 24 - The Editorial
    7.1/10(34 votes)

    #24 - The Editorial

    S2:E24

    Jeff makes editor at the school paper. Excited about his first editorial, he decides to write about how he believes some teachers assign too much homework. But his topic is rejected.

    Director:Lawrence Dobkin
    Writer:Nate Monaster

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  25. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 25 - The Gentle Dew
    7.8/10(37 votes)

    #25 - The Gentle Dew

    S2:E25

    Alex lays down the law when Jeff and Mary slack off on their responsibilities at home and their schoolwork. Now Alex is furious when it appears that Mary didn't come home from a bowling date with Roger on time.

    Director:Norman Tokar
    Writer:John Whedon

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Season 2 Ratings Summary

"That's Show Business" is the best rated episode of "The Donna Reed Show" season 2. It scored 7.3/10 based on 42 votes. Directed by Oscar Rudolph and written by Jerry Davis, Alfred Lewis Levitt, it aired on 9/24/1959. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "Sleep No More My Lady".