The Donna Reed Show Season 2, Episode 16: The Broken Spirit

That's Show Business

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.

30 min

Sleep No More My Lady

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.

30 min

A Penny Earned

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

30 min

A Friend Indeed

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.

30 min

The First Child

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.

30 min

Going Steady

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

30 min

The Neighborly Gesture

Alex is hurt that Jeff likes the new neighbor.

30 min

Nothing Like a Good Book

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.

30 min

Flowers For the Teacher

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.

30 min

All Mothers Worry

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

30 min

Jeff Joins a Club

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.

30 min

The Punishment

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 .

30 min

A Difference of Opinion

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.

30 min

The Homecoming Dance

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

30 min

The Lucky Girl

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.

30 min

The Secret

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."

30 min

The New Mother

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.

30 min

Just a Housewife

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

30 min

The Free Soul

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?

30 min

The First Quarrel

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

30 min

A Place to Go

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.

30 min

A Night to Howl

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.

The Editorial

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.

30 min

The Gentle Dew

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.

30 min

The Fatal Leap

Alex's wild room-mate from college is getting married, and Alex is invited to the bachelor party. Donna doesn't like this idea at all.

30 min

The Perfect Pitch

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

30 min

Pickles for Charity

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.

30 min

Mary's Growing Pain

Mary suffers a lack of confidence when Roger shows up at her door, before a ski trip she and her friends are supposed to go to together, and informs her she’s now going with Tooey and Babs, as he wants to drive Darlene’s new car up there. She later develops a crush on a young intern working with her father.

30 min

Alex Runs the House

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.

30 min

The Career Woman

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.

30 min

Jeff, the Financial Genius

Jeff starts swapping possessions to pay off his debts.

30 min

Mary's Crusade

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.

30 min

The First Time We Met

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.

30 min

The Gossip

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.

30 min

Love's Sweet Awakening

Sixteen- year-old Petie is home from military school and visiting the Stone family. Petie and Mary have been friends for years, but seeing how beautiful Mary has become, he would now like to be more than just friends. As Alex puts it, ""springtime has come to Petie!"" How can Petie catch Mary's eye?

30 min

The Wedding Present

Aunt Lettie is coming to visit, so Donna and Alex try to find the wedding present she gave them so she would be certain to see it. It would help if they could just remember what it was! And by the way, Alex, can Donna buy a $250 Porcelain Dresden figurine?

30 min

Cool Cat

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.

30 min