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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!

Binge this in 12h 0m•Peaking at 8.1/10

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 32 - Jeff, the Financial Genius
    8.1/10(37 votes)

    S2:E32

    Jeff starts swapping possessions to pay off his debts.

    Director:Hy Averback
    Writer:Henry Sharp

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  2. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 23 - A Night to Howl
    8.0/10(40 votes)

    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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  3. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 17 - The Secret
    7.9/10(43 votes)

    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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  4. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 30 - Alex Runs the House
    7.9/10(36 votes)

    S2:E30

    Donna goes away to be with Jeff, who’s on Spring vacation at uncle Bill’s farm, and Alex has to manage the house and Mary.

    Director:Lawrence Dobkin
    Writers:Tom August, Helen August

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  5. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 38 - Cool Cat
    7.9/10(35 votes)

    S2:E38

    Jeff wants to keep a cat that followed him home, so can Harry the Cat stay? The Stone family will decide by using the democratic process.

    Director:Andrew McCullough
    Writer:Jacqueline Trotte

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  6. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 8 - Nothing Like a Good Book
    7.8/10(41 votes)

    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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  7. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 25 - The Gentle Dew
    7.8/10(39 votes)

    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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  8. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 28 - Pickles for Charity
    7.8/10(40 votes)

    S2:E28

    When the Woman's Medical Auxiliary Dance costs more to produce than the income from ticket sales provided, each member agrees to contribute $27 using her skills in moneymaking to make up the budget shortfall.

    Director:Norman Tokar
    Writer:Nate Monaster

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  9. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 31 - The Career Woman
    7.8/10(40 votes)

    S2:E31

    Donna's old school mate, who has been a single career woman all these years, is now engaged to a doctor. She visits Donna to see what life is really like for a doctor's wife.

    Director:Lawrence Dobkin
    Writer:Nate Monaster

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  10. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 2 - Sleep No More My Lady
    7.7/10(50 votes)

    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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  11. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 11 - Jeff Joins a Club
    7.7/10(42 votes)

    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
    7.7/10(38 votes)

    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
    7.7/10(43 votes)

    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
    7.7/10(39 votes)

    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 19 - Just a Housewife
    7.7/10(49 votes)

    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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  16. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 27 - The Perfect Pitch
    7.7/10(41 votes)

    S2:E27

    Donna makes Jeff take trumpet lessons when she discovers he has perfect pitch. Jeff would rather be on the track team.

    Director:Norman Tokar
    Writers:Tom August, Helen August

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  17. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 16 - The Broken Spirit
    7.6/10(33 votes)

    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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  18. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 35 - The Gossip
    7.6/10(37 votes)

    S2:E35

    Donna tells Emily, the town gossip, that Kay Watson is having a baby. Then Donna learns from Alex that Kay is keeping it a secret so that she can stay working longer. Donna is crushed, knowing that she may have let Kay's secret out.

    Director:Robert Ellis Miller
    Writer:David Adler

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  19. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 9 - Flowers For the Teacher
    7.5/10(42 votes)

    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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  20. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 33 - Mary's Crusade
    7.5/10(41 votes)

    S2:E33

    Mary vows not to go to the school dance unless Ellen has a date for the dance. Ellen is rather plain so Mary goes to work to transform Ellen into a glamorous young lady.

    Director:Lawrence Dobkin
    Writer:Nate Monaster

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  21. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 34 - The First Time We Met
    7.5/10(36 votes)

    S2:E34

    Donna and Alex have different stories about how they first met. Also, Donna plays matchmaker to a new doctor in town and a pretty nurse at the hospital.

    Director:Robert Ellis Miller
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 1 - That's Show Business
    7.4/10(45 votes)

    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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  23. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 4 - A Friend Indeed
    7.4/10(38 votes)

    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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  24. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 7 - The Neighborly Gesture
    7.4/10(38 votes)

    S2:E7

    Alex is hurt that Jeff likes the new neighbor.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:John Whedon

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  25. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Episode 15 - The Lucky Girl
    7.4/10(37 votes)

    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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Season 2 Ratings Summary

"Jeff, the Financial Genius" is the best rated episode of "The Donna Reed Show" season 2. It scored 8.1/10 based on 37 votes. Directed by Hy Averback and written by Henry Sharp, it aired on 5/5/1960. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "A Night to Howl".