Series · Prime Video · 1958

The Donna Reed Show

A mother with a mind, in a form that later decades mocked without replacing.

Donna Stone is competent, and the show does not think competence is a consolation for a more exciting life. That is the argument worth recovering. The world of the show is narrow, white, and comfortable, and you should know that. Narrow is not the same as contemptible. A house can learn from the sight of a mother whose work is the house and who is not sorry.

Where to watch

Finding the page.

The eight

Industry
6/10
She runs the house as a skilled post. Alex practices medicine.
Household
8/10
The family is the entire subject.
Piety
4/10
Decency, assumed.
Courage
3/10
The stakes are domestic, correctly for the form.
Republic
4/10
A neighborhood of calls, school, and reputation.
Temperance
7/10
Orderly.
Truth
6/10
It believes a mother's judgment is interesting. It was right.
Stewardship
7/10
The children are being raised on screen, not parked.

Live historicallyLet the person who runs your house be interesting at dinner. Ask about the day and wait for the answer.

Series · Prime Video · 1966

That Girl

A young woman working, dated and decent. The ambition is ordinary, which is the compliment.

Ann is not a revolutionary. She is a young woman with a suitcase and a father who has opinions about the suitcase. The series is studio-bright and often slight, and it is on her side without making the boyfriend the villain or the prey.

Good for a teenager who thinks a start only counts if it is already famous. One or two episodes. The jokes are of their year.

Where to watch

Finding the page.

The eight

Industry
7/10
Auditions, temp jobs, a craft she has not mastered. The episode is usually the work.
Household
6/10
A father who worries, a boyfriend who waits, an apartment that is hers.
Piety
3/10
Manners, not piety. The world is kind.
Courage
6/10
She walks into rooms that can say no.
Republic
4/10
A city of small offices. No civic argument.
Temperance
8/10
Romance without a leer. The want is a career and a clean engagement.
Truth
6/10
It is honest that she is not famous. Trying is the story.
Stewardship
5/10
A picture, for 1966, of a daughter allowed to leave home and still call it.

Live historicallyLet someone in your house try a thing they are not good at yet. Do not narrate the failure.