We continue our countdown of my favorite 1950s Christmas TV episodes with 1958’s “A Very Merry Christmas” from The Donna Reed Show.
The Donna Reed Show was a very notable series when it launched in 1958 for being a family sitcom centered on the MOTHER of the family, which was a rare thing for the era (that was the main reason why Donna Reed was convinced to do the series).
Quality-wise, it’s essentially a knockoff of Father Knows Best (some episodes were literally just Father Knows Best scripts adapted for the series), but Father Knows Best was such a good show that even warmed over Father Knows Best is still pretty good. The show is also well remembered for the oldest child on the show, Mary, was played by Shelly Fabares, who became a singing star during the series and eventually left to also do movies (Fabares planned on leaving the show after Season 5, but when the show was renewed for three more seasons, she agreed to do occasional guest spots with her character visiting from college, which was nice of her, I think).
This episode is very much a Father Knows Best-esque plot (you will be seeing multiple Father Knows Best episodes on this countdown. It was a really well-written show) where Donna Stone is bemoaning how commercialized Christmas has become (while also giving out fruitcakes as tips to the mailman and the paper boy, much to their dismay) until she discovers that no one seems to have planned a Christmas part for the kids who are stuck in the hospital for the holidays (Donna’s role as the wife of a prominent doctor is one of her major roles in the series, as there’s always some sort of charity function for her to run or attend). Seeing the kids in the hospital for the holidays makes the Stone kids realize that they are being too caught up in commercialism, as well, and they donate their time and gifts to help the kids.
It’s a very adorable, well told story. Bonuses for no “maybe Santa Claus IS real” moments!
Really “well written”? By whose standards? The family is gifted a pin-up calendar as a Christmas gift by a locally owned business. Bizarre.
It’s MEANT to be bizarre. It’s a joke that the guy thinks that was a good idea (it was not).
Says who? Have you personally spoken with the writers of the episode? Back in the 1950’s era women were routinely cast by Hollywood as sexpots (think Marilyn Monroe, Jane Mansfield, etc.) and virtually no one in the culture thought it inappropriate or objectionable. Men were proud to taunt “it’s a man’s world” and women had to acquiesce as individuals who were thought of as not being capable of driving properly, only recently earning a right to vote, didn’t earn equal pay, etc. The episode may raise eyebrows today, but not then. Sexual innuendos & discriminatory language were pervasive within Hollywood until ONLY very recently.
The scene says it through context clues. Just watch the scene. It’s clearly meant to be inappropriate, and Alex humorously keeps glancing at it awkwardly (and then yes, the joke is ALSO that he was hoping to get a nice Christmas present from the Stones, and instead “only” got a fruitcake).
The thing to keep in mind, as well, is that Donna Reed’s show was fairly progressive for its time. I don’t think it’s unusual at all that the show would have acknowledged that a cheesecake calendar would be an awkward gift to give to a family.