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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.
1961
Mary dates a famous singer, not realizing who he is. Shelley Fabares.
Jeff needs help with his poetry homework and Mary is there to help. Unfortunately, the poetry does not sound like Jeff wrote it.
Jeff has discovered he is growing whiskers, and decides that since he is no longer a little boy that he needs to start acting like a man. He insists on taking a job to pay his way at home.
Iris advises Donna that it's up to the wife to keep the marriage going with surprises and changes every now and then. When Iris goes from blond to black hair, Donna decides to go Platinum Blond! But once she comes home with her new hair color, she decides not to show it to Alex. She avoids him and quickly changes it back to the color it was whew! What a close call!
First some large animal has trampled Mary's flowers. Now when Alex is out of town, Donna and the kids keep hearing noises late at night. Upon investigating, they peek out the front door window and see a large, furry creature sitting on the porch!
Nothing seems to be going right in the house. Old Man: Arthur Hunnicut. Ma: Doris Kemper. Carl Betz, Shelley Fabares.
Donna and Alex get involved in their friends' marital problems.
Trouble ensues when Jeff tampers with the school bell. Paul Petersen, Carl Betz, Shelley Fabares. Walter: Lee Aaker. Smitty: Darryl Richard. Miss Tucker: Anne Sargent.
Newspaper-delivery boy Jeff decides to go into business. Paul Petersen, Carl Betz, Shelley Fabares. Bill: Skippy Shane. Craig: Stephen Barringer.
Mary gets tutoring in French from a handsome student. Joel: Peter Votrian. Shelley Fabares, Carl Betz, Paul Petersen.
Alex applies his child psychology to his own offspring. Carl Betz, Paul Petersen, Shelley Fabares. Dave: Lindsay Workman. Alma: Dorothy Lovett.
The Stones try helping a boy overcome his laziness. Victor: Johnny Crawford. Mrs. Warren: Dori Simmons. Carl Betz, Paul Petersen, Shelley Fabares.
A meek boy tries to prove he's the toughest kid in school. Barlow: John Clifford. Mrs. Crawford: Holly Harris. Zack: Paul Engle. Paul Petersen, Carl Betz.
Jeff sells his possessions to buy his girl a present. Angie: Candy Moore. Roger: Stephen Hammer.
Mary decides to forsake college and embark on a singing career.
Jeff and his friends try to raise money for a telescope. Coxey: Earle Hodgins. Earnshaw: Ken Niles. Paul Petersen, Carl Betz.
Alex moves his pediatric practice out of the house and into a new office downtown.
While Donna and Alex are away, Mary's little get-together with a friend somehow turns into open house party.
Alex and Jeff build a cart for the Hilldale 500. Carl Betz, Paul Petersen. Gordie: Darryl Richard. Angie: Candy Moore.
Jeff's team-mate on the baseball team has an overbearing father who drives the son hard and constantly berates him, thinking this will help him be a star player someday. Alex tries to set him straight.
Jeff and his friend Smitty seem to have Smitty's little brother tagging along with them. They convince Donna to watch him while they go to visit their girlfriends.
This was actually an unsold pilot episode of ""The Roberta Sherwood Show."" Roberta Sherwood and Gale Gordon star as a typical couple raising three children in a typical small town. The only untypical thing about them is that they break into song.
To earn money, Jeff sells an advertising scheme to a shop. Paul Petersen, Carl Betz, Varney: Paul Tripp.
Alex has a patient who needs constant care. Jeff wants his father to help him get his driver's license, and Mary wants him to help repair a pair of shoes she needs for her graduation ceremony.
Mary gets carried away by the romance of a friend's wedding. Shelley Fabares, Carl Betz.
1963
Jeff has a plan to sell trees to many people and soon the backyard is filled with trees.This plan is slightly changed, however,after Hobie Smith-neighborhood boy with a crush on Trisha-carves hearts into all of the trees.
Neighbor Dave Kelsey gives Trisha a tiny fawn he found on the roadside. How can Donna and Alex break it to her that they can't keep Tiny?
Trisha decides to go into business for herself.She and all her neighborhood friends say they'll fix anything Dave needs fixing around the house.They spend the entire day trying to fix things,but cause trouble for the most part.Dave,in the meantime,has bought himself new golfballs-which he tries to hide from Midge.Trisha sees that Midge resents Dave spending less time with her.Midge wishes she and Dave would just have marshmallows together.Trisha gets an idea,and substitutes marshmallows for golf balls-and Midge and Dave have a wonderful time.Dave truly appreciates the favor Trisha did for him and says it was worth all the previous hassles.
Alex mutters the word Pinafink in his sleep,and Donna tries to figure out what it means.Alex doesn't remember at first-but later he realizes what he was saying.He keeps the secret from Donna for a while.
1964
Donna and Alex's anniversary is coming up, and Jeff has something special planned for the occasion.
Alex's father drops by for a visit, terrorizing the population of Hilldale by driving recklessly in his antique Duesenburg. Now Donna needs to find a tactful way of getting him to agree to give up driving.
Alex's dabbling in the stock market has resulted in a profit. So the Kelseys want to be let in on his good stock tips. Will this put a strain on their relationship?
The Stone household is turned topsy-turvy when quadruplets are born.
Donna has overdrawn her bank account, and she goes to any length to prevent Alex from finding out.
Jeff gets a job in a gift shop and he goes overboard in drumming up new business.
Alex has found the perfect putter in the trading stamps store. Donna has five books of stamps that she was saving for a new pressure cooker, but the putter costs ten books. Can the family get the rest of the stamps in time for Alex to get the new putter to use in an upcoming golf tournament?
Trisha is sick,so Donna stays home with her for the weekend while Alex and Jeff go on a camping trip.Donna tells Trisha about all the vacations the Stones had took in the past,as there are scenes from previous programs shown.
1958
In the premiere episode, Donna hopes to get away to a ski weekend with her brood, but pediatrician husband Alex's on-call schedule makes this tricky, especially since one of his young patients, Eddie Barclay (played by one of the Corcoran siblings of Disney film and TV fame; sister Noreen was on "Bachelor Father" with John Forsythe), has a mysterious illness and Alex doesn't want to leave him in the care of another doctor.
1959
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.
1965
Jeff has finally gotten a date with Theresa, a new girl who has an over-protective father. One taste of freedom makes Theresa go wild, and her father puts all the blame on Jeff.
Jeff gets a black eye from a boy who mocks Donna's acting in a local play. So, Donna tries to teach Jeff how to box.
Donna tries to prove women can outsmart men when Dr. Stone is called away to treat a patient.
Alex tries to prove his independence when Donna buys a suit for him.
Jeff wants a uniform for the team picture, but is told he must work for the money to buy it.
A baby is abandoned at the Stone’s place.
Donna spreads herself thin, running between three places on the same night, for her family.
Mary has a crush on the school basketball star, George, who wants to take her to the prom, but hasn’t asked her because he can't dance.
Donna tries to get a famous concert pianist to perform at a benefit, and, at the same time, Jeff is trying to raise money for a football tackling dummy. These two seemingly unrelated projects intertwine.
A problem child takes refuge at the Stone’s house, and Donna tries to get through to him.
Alex is judge at a Beautiful Baby contest run by Donna's club.
When Donna longingly admires a lovely, expensive bag at a store, the saleswoman (along with a female friend of hers) schemes to coax Alex into getting it for her for a birthday gift. But Alex is suspicious that Donna is pulling the strings behind the scenes, instead of being forthright about it.
Charismatic Uncle Fred visits the Stone family and a brouhaha ensues.
Donna searches for the mysterious person who puts on a Christmas party in the children’s ward at the hospital every year. The quintessential comedian Buster Keaton guest stars.
Mary's Junior prom is imminent, and she has trouble deciding between two boys on the football team who might ask her. She also dangles another nice boy on a string. But, eventually, the resultant consequences of her selfish decisions come to fruition.
After nosy neighbor Mrs. Wilgus (the inimitable Kathleen Freeman) alerts Donna and Alex about Mary having a noisy party while they were out, the kids get lectured about being the children of a doctor, and that they should behave accordingly. Not too long after this, Jeff takes a ride from Mary's troublemaker friend Tommy Hendricks, who doesn't have a license and has taken his father's car out for a joyride, and they get into a minor accident while fleeing a cop.
David Barker finagles a return to the Stone’s home for his birthday celebration.
Mr. Popkin won't let Alex treat Joey because he has no money. So, Donna hires him to do repairs around the house, but Alex fires him. Then Donna tries another method to help him get the finances he needs.
Jeff becomes jealous and insecure about his parent’s love—feeling that they care about Mary more than him.
When Mary comes home utterly dejected from a terrible first date, Donna and Alex each, in “Rashomon”-style, tell her about their first date.
Donna decides that Alex’s obstetrician friend, Beau, is a lonely bachelor in need of a mate, so she tries to pair him and her good friend Celia (who has recently broken up with her boyfriend) up.
Donna and Alex help celebrate the 20th anniversary of Wilbur & Celia Wilgus, only for Donna to get caught up in a misunderstanding later.
Donna is worried when Jeff comes home with a report card full of Cs.
David Barker is brought to Alex to be treated for rabies, and is invited to stay the night. Later, Jeff is left in charge of David, as everyone else will be gone.
Donna keeps getting praised for being an excellent wife and mother—so much so, that she, illogically, becomes a bit paranoid that people really mean something negative about her beneath the surface of their words, and fears her kids are taking advantage of her.
Mary drives her family crazy, and worries her mother, in her quest to win the class vice-presidency.
Donna and Alex dine at a young couple’s home. The couple are still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage, and the experience gives Donna pangs of nostalgia.
When Buzz Barry, teenage idol (played by James Darren), comes to Hilldale to sing at a concert, he falls ill with the measles and the concert is canceled, leaving Mary and her friends devastated. Then he ends up staying at the Stone’s home to recuperate, causing unexpected complications.
Mary’s friend Babs confides in her that her parents are having troubles and may be divorcing soon. And, though she’s exaggerating, Donna is unaware of this and problems ensue in their family as a result.
Alex's roommate, Biff Jameson, comes to Hilldale, and though he charms the family and dazzles Jeff, Alex confesses to Donna that his old pal seems to be off from what he used to be.
Donna gives a speech, at a PTA meeting, on parent/child relationships urging parents to trust their child. Her advice, of course, ends up being tested.
Alex takes advantage of a tip on the market, and Donna and the kids start making plans for the expected profit.
Donna plans a testimonial dinner to honor Dr. Jason, a long-time denizen of the town and a beloved doctor, who finally intends to retire.
The family searches for a compatible housekeeper to help around the house while Donna manages a charity campaign.
After a particularly long week, Donna and Alex long for a weekend alone without kids. But when they get it, it’s not quite how they imagined it would be.
When Mary and George get in a fight over him and her best friend Babs, Donna advises her on how to handle the situation.
Alex insists Jeff pay back money he owes to develop good character for when he is an adult. Meanwhile, Donna decides to try to get the past due money owed to Alex by his patients.
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.
Donna has trouble deciding whether or not buy a new dress.
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.
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.
Mary wants to meet a boy, so she talks Jeff into going to his kid sister's party.
Alex is hurt that Jeff likes the new neighbor.
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.
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.
Jeff's friend, Phillip, has a problem. He wants to play football, but his mother is over-protective and won't let him.
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.
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 .
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.
Alex and Donna chaperone Mary's date with a college man.
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.
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.
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."
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.
Donna becomes offended by the way people seem to use the word ‘housewife’ condescendingly.
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?
Donna and Alex advise a newly married couple after their first big argument.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Donna makes Jeff take trumpet lessons when she discovers he has perfect pitch. Jeff would rather be on the track team.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jeff starts swapping possessions to pay off his debts.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
Jeff balks at organizing the freshman-sophomore party until he meets his lovely co-chairman.
There is confusion over whose ticket won the mink coat that was the door prize at the Ladies League Luncheon so Donna and Midge decide to share the coat.
Jeff wants to buy a new car so bad that it will only cause trouble because Karen's Uncle Henshaw as no idea that car Jeff buys is a lemon (bad) car. Now Jeff has to figure out how to get rid of the car. Donna & Alex go and look at the car and find that the car is good.
Why can't the Stones get a Lesley Store credit card? The Stone's application for a card was rejected. But don't monkey around with Donna Stone! She'll figure out how to get one!
Professor Caldwell is retiring because of a school policy; he's too old. Jeff starts a petition to get the professor back into teaching by student demand.
Jeff asks Donna and Alex to take an aptitude test and finds out she can write and so she starts to write about the family, soon Alex Jeff and Trisha read what Donna wrote, they find out she wrote her family but the comments Donna wrote don't go over well with the family. Later Donna tells them that she wrote about her college teacher Trish's friend (who has a crush on Jeff and BA's Boys in the Attic.) Donna knew her family was reading what she wrote!
The tree outside Donna's house: does it belong to Donna or to the city? Can it be cut down without Donna's permission or not? Is this the plot of this episode? Yes!
Jeff's friend Bill was high school valedictorian, but as a freshman in college now is only making B's and C's. How can the Stone family help?
Jeff and Scotty take some girls to Lake Sherwood. When they separate, the 2 girls manage to get lost trying to drive home. So how will they do in the upcoming car rally where it's the girls against the boys?
Jeff and his combo want to cut a record, and in order to afford to do so, they sell shares in the venture.
Desperate for a summer job as a counselor, Jeff tries to recruit two boys for summer camp.
After the Stones agrees to take care of a friend's cottage on Echo Lake, Jeff decides it's the perfect locale for his frat party.
Jeff and his friends try to prove men are the stronger sex by dominating their girlfriends.
Jeff runs for city council after the Commissioner threatens to close the city park.
Donna and Alex spend weeks attempting to assemble a complicated stereo set for Jeff's birthday—unaware that Jeff and Smitty sneak in every night to repair the mess.
Frantic Donna and Alex try to stop Jeff and Bebe from getting married.
Willie Mays reserves two seats at a Giants game for his friends the Stones; but Donna, Alex, and Jeff each show up with a guest.
Donna and Midge take French lessons from the owner of a French restaurant.
When Donna's old boyfriend Mark, now a millionaire, comes to visit, Alex has trouble hiding his jealousy.
The Stones decide to vacation in California, but everyone thinks they should go elsewhere.
Exhausted after weeks of social engagements, Donna and Alex try to get out of a friend's dinner party—until they learn they weren't invited.
Donna and Midge set out to prove Alex and Dave aren't getting old.
The Stones put their house up for sale but, after reminiscing about their years there, change their minds.
Jeff and Smitty try to get Leslie Gore, who is appearing in town, to record their new song.
1962
Mary can't understand why her brother Jeff is being so polite to her - unless there is some ulterior motive behind his good behavior.
When Donna fills in for Alex's vacationing nurse, she is taken aback to find him an office tyrant.
Trying to save enough money to build a boat, Jeff and Smitty make a pact to give up dating. Then Jeff finds Mary's friend Joanne hiding under his bed.
Jeff decides wearing glasses would make him look older, and sets out to prove he needs them.
Mary decides it's time to leave home, and moves into the college dormitory.
Alex tries over and over to spend a day with Jeff,but his plans are always interrupted by emergency calls.Jeff later shows that he still loves his father by singing the song,""My Dad.""
Jeff discovers a lost bird.He thinks it might be a rare cockatoo and sends the story to the newspapers and audobon societies-only to find out that the bird is really a cockateel,not quite a cockatoo.
Donna is selected to take part in a survey of housewives to dtermine how long they spend doing their household chores.
Mary succeeds in helping a shy boy she knows become a singing star.
Alex and Jeff go camping in order to spend more time together, but the trip turns out to be a plot cooked up by Jeff to meet his friends.
Everyone chips in to buy the elderly baby doctor a new car.
Jeff has a moral dilemma. He won a sports car with a raffle ticket he picked up off the ground after the original owner dropped it. Does Jeff keep the car or does he track down the original ticket holder?
If Jeff wants to be able to afford to go to a special event this weekend, he had better collect on the loans he gave his friends. This prompts Donna to suggest that Alex collect from his deadbeat patients.
After a conversation with a telephone lineman, Jeff decides that it's about time he becomes independent himself. He tests himself by going to a strange town without any money to see whether or not he can make it on his own.
Mary's friend, Marcia, is getting married. She and her fiance want a small, simple wedding, but her mother, upon arriving in town, has other ideas.
When Donna decides to run for town council, Jeff and Mary agree to take care of the house. And how! But when Alex dreams about Donna's political future, as Mayor, perhaps Governor, he decides he'd rather have her back home again.
At an auction a mysterious woman asks Donna to buy a huge Chinese horse statue and gives her the money for it, so Donna does buy it and takes it home. Mary, Jeff and Alex all wonder why?
A boyfriend of Mary's calls her wholesome,and she doesn't know weather to take it as a compliment or an insult.
A little girl named Trisha follows the Stones home from the park and says that she is one of the family.After a long effort to find her real parents,her uncle arrives.He realizes that the orphaned Trisha loves being in a family and that the Stones are fond of her.He arranges it so Trisha can stay with the Stones.Thus a new family member is added.
Mary learns the joys and pains of having a little sister,as she has to baby-sit Trisha on a night when she'd planned to go on a date.
On Jeff's 16th birthday he has a big fight with his girlfriend. Then he falls for an older woman.
Alex and Jeff spend the weekend at the cabin of Alex's friend Red. Donna and Mary follow them and prove that women can, ""rough it"" in the wilderness as well as men can.
Donna visits a reclusive woman who lives in an old Victorian house.She feels trapped in a haunted house after a while.
The Stones all end up at Shelter Bay during ""mid-term vacation"", better known today as ""Spring Break"". Mary doesn't know the rest of the family is there; she thought it was just her and her girlfriends. Donna, Jeff, and Alex get to stay on a fishing boat named ""Big Daddy"", and boy, does Donna hook a big one!
Alex and Donna prepare to go away for the weekend, but Donna suspects Trisha will be sick. Donna sees Trisha eating bananas and she always saw Jeff eating bananas before he became ill. Alex's collegue Dave (Bob Crane) tries to convince them otherwise ... and it turns out that Jeff is the one who came down with a fever. Trisha had been eating bananas because of her promised treehouse and she had wanted to climb trees like a monkey.
A new boy at college has taken a shine to Mary. To Mary's consternation, he follows her everywhere and scares off any other boy who approaches her. Mary decides to find him another girl to protect.
There is a local handyman Trisha knows who loves fooling around and making children laugh.Trisha offers him to help fix the little things around the house that need fixing,but it turns out that he is clumsy and inept.Donna and Mary feel helpless as he wrecks much around the house,but soon afterwards the ice-cream man arrives.He knows much more about reapir work- and he hates kids.Donna makes a suggestion,which is followed.The ice-cream man ends up fixing everything around the house-while the handyman ends up delivering the ice cream,and singing to all the kids as they play and have fun.
Dr.Dave Kelsey,who has been more and more frustrated by his in-laws(or outlaws as he calls them)moves into the house next door with his wife Midge.Midge is a neophyte when it comes to household chores,so for the first week or so Donna helps her all she can-and Dave is truly grateful that the Stones have helped both of them settle down.
While Jeff and Joanne are dating as seniors in high school and Mary and Scotty are dating in college, turns out Scotty would rather date Joanne, and Joanne would rather go out with Scotty got it? Then they all go to a college dance and Jeff and Mary wind up being the wallflowers. What can Jeff and Mary do?
Pitcher Don Drysdale appears in this episode along with his real-life wife and daughter. On a trip to Chicago, Jeff is excited about seeing his pal, Don Drysdale, again. He is supposed to get an interview with Don for the school paper. Jeff's excitement turns to disappointment when it appears that Don Drysdale can't deliver the interview.
A tale of Joyce and Sabrina in a classic contest, which one will get Jeff to ask her to the big dance? Will it be poor, helpless Joyce or the dominant Sabrina? They both ply Jeff in their own manipulative ways. Poor Jeff can't make up his mind. When he asks his family for advice, all he gets for an answer is ""Why don't you toss a coin?""
Jeff buys an old bus at an auction and plans to use it as a school bus. However, it breaks down the first day-and no one can fix it. Trisha loves playing like she's driving the bus while wearing a bus-driver's hat. Mary is so worried because she had planned a party that night. Donna decides to decorate the bus-so it became part of the party.
Jeff makes a date with Rosemary for the senior prom. Smitty then lets Jeff know that Jeff has been nominated to run for Senior Class President. Now gorgeous Dolores wants Jeff to take her to the prom. What can Jeff do? He's already committed to Rosemary, or is he? Will Jeff actually dump Rosemary for Dolores?
1960
The family wants to get away for the weekend. The brochure shows Lakeview Lodge to be a great place to go, so Donna and Alex head up there early with Mary and Jeff to join them later, but Lakeview Lodge turns out to be a major disappointment. Now what can they do?
A lady spots Donna and Mary having lunch in a restaurant, so she stops to say hello. She recognized Donna, even though it had "been 13 years." Donna doesn't recognize her, but is polite and too embarrassed to ask her name. Later, after accepting a dinner invitation, Donna realizes she must find out who the mystery woman was.
Donna tries to redecorate the house, but neighbor boy Dennis Mitchell tries to help her...and ends up making things more of a mess. Donna finally calls Dennis' nearer neighbor Mr.Wilson to ask if Dennis would help him with anything. This was a crossover show-with two people from "Dennis the Menace”.
Nick the Greek is the handyman at the Stone's house. He's still learning how to write English, so he asks Jeff for help in writing a love letter to his girlfriend. Later, Mary finds this love letter in Jeff's handwriting and wonders if Jeff is involved in a new romance.
Mary's friend Ginny lives in a mansion with a maid, a tennis court, and a swimming pool. Now Ginny is going to spend the weekend at Mary's house. What can Mary do to impress Ginny, with the Stone family having no maid, no pool, no tennis court, and with wild, unruly younger brother Jeff at home?
Mary is enamored with the new boy at school, Elroy. Why? Because he reminds her so much of what her dad must have been like as a teenager. Alex can't see the resemblance at all.
Like, are we worried about Mary riding in Scotty's car? After all, its only a hot rod made with parts taken from wrecked cars!
Mary gives up boys when Roger and Elroy let a coin toss decide which one will play tennis with her. She decides to become a scientist. Boys are back in her life when she discovers the new boy Stanley mowing their yard and conducting a science project at the same time.
The Stones' cleaning lady has troubles. Her baby is sick and her husband lost his job due to illness. Alex takes care of the baby's health, and Donna hires the husband to do odd jobs in their house. Now the Stones have troubles. The twenty dollars that Alex left on the counter for Mrs. Cruikshank's charity is missing.
The tables are turned as Alex becomes a hospital patient, and a difficult one at that.
Mary goes to a session at Taffy Cinders Charm School and wins a scholarship to learn how to be a model. Most of the girls who went with Mary also "won" scholarships, too! Then the expenses mount up.
Mary is so indecisive, always asking her mother about what clothes to wear which boys to date. Tonight though, she starts making her own decisions when she, Roger, and Larry go out on the town.
Donna heads to a Blaine Women's College reunion, and while she's away, Jeff adopts Duke, the dog.
Jeff wants a motor scooter like Gordie just got, but Alex won't agree to that. Gordie shows off his riding skill until he drives the scooter into a tree in the Stones’s front yard. Gordie proceeds to fake a leg injury that puts him in Jeff's bed overnight, with Donna taking care of him.
Donna can't fit into the dinner dress she bought a few months ago, and she wants to wear it! She decides it's time to exercise and diet the extra pounds off. Then, Alex notices his tuxedo is a little too tight now. And will Jeff ever repay Mary the money he borrowed from her so she can buy that sweater she's been wanting for so long?
When Donna's letter-to-the-editor about parents needing to make sure that their children follow through by finishing what they start gets published, it prompts Donna to follow through herself. Now Mary can't play tennis till she finds her lost jacket and returns a library book, and Jeff can't rest till he finds the tire pump he borrowed from a friend.
Jeff just can't seem to do anything right. The family needs to build up his spirits, so when he does mediocre imitations of movie stars like James Cagney, Peter Lorre, and Edward G. Robinson, he gets all the family's praise. So, he decides to enter the upcoming school talent show! Now what can Mary, Donna, and Alex do?
Donna and Alex remember their honeymoon and this wonderful musical tobacco jar for Alex. When the jar is broken, the search for a replacement ensues.
Alex needs to go to Hollywood to discuss suggestions for a Children's Clinic, so the whole family takes the opportunity to go along and see Hollywood, except it rains—for 2 days! They had so much wanted to meet a movie and TV star before they leave.
Donna fills in for the director of Mary's drama group when he is called to Hollywood for a part in a movie.
Jeff has been complaining that there's nothing to do. To top it off, Ricky comes over and brags about how his dad is taking him on an exciting camping trip this weekend. Now Jeff wants to go camping, but Alex is away at a conference.
The new doctor has a Japanese Geisha girl for a wife. She is constantly seeing to her husband's needs, can't do enough for him. The married couples of Hilldale have a difficult time adjusting to her. Leave it to Donna to "Americanize" her in matters of wifely duties.
In a try for more togetherness, Donna signs Alex and herself up for painting lessons.
While driving through Hilldale, Tony Martin is arrested for speeding by a policeman using radar. He knows he wasn't speeding, but figures he'll just pay the fine and be on his way. In court, Tony sees Donna fighting a parking meter violation and insisting on a jury trial rather than pay a $2 fine.
Donna and her friend consider opening a poodle parlor, where owners can bring their poodles to get clipped and buy them fancy accessories. The husbands think the whole idea is ludicrous, which makes the ladies all the more determined to succeed.
While babysitting for the Damons, Mary meets their older son, Rick, who has dropped out of college because he wasn't accepted by his father's old fraternity. He plans to join the Foreign Legion and wants Mary to help him.
Dr. Steinhaus is retiring as the head of the Board of Health. Donna thinks this is the perfect opportunity for Alex to have a position that offers him more regular hours and she intends to help him get it.
Income tax time, so Alex decides to save money and prepare his own taxes this year, rather than have Harvey do it. When Alex figures out he owes money, he gets mad about a hat he thinks Donna bought for $49.50.
The piano becomes a "parking lot”, with everyone dropping things on it, so Alex decides to sell it. All of a sudden, Mary has a problem with that idea.
A story about every married couple's dilemma: what decisions can a husband make on his own and which require a conference for his wife's agreement?
As class Treasurer, Jeff is responsible for the class dues and ends up losing it. It's Thursday. The class picnic is Saturday. Mrs. Haskell needs the money to pay for the bus that will take the class to the picnic.
When the school bully, Jocko, makes fun of Jeff being in the choir, Jeff starts “pumping iron” because it looks like there will be a fight.
When Herbie suggests his visiting friend Ken goes along with them to the dance, Mary decides not to go to the dance at all. Then she meets Ken, who's in full uniform from the Carter Military Academy. Yeah, she wants to go to the dance now! But where does that leave Herbie?
Scotty, smitten by Mary, agrees to teach Mary how to drive. Oh boy! Does he have his hands full! Will their romantic friendship last through this experience?
Alex growing a mustache turns out to be quite a controversial event in the Stone household.
Mary and Mark decide to have a Saturday nursery school (i.e., day care) to earn enough money to paint Mark's car. Alex, on the other hand, would like to sleep late on Saturday morning, unaware of the bedlam that's about to take place!
Donna Reed
Donna Stone
Carl Betz
Alex Stone
Paul Petersen
Jeff Stone
Patty Petersen
Trisha Stone
