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The Best Episodes of The Donna Reed Show Season 3

Every episode of The Donna Reed Show Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Donna Reed Show Season 3!

The Best Episodes of The Donna Reed Show Season 3

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...

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  1. 8.2/10(30 votes)

    #1 - Mary's Driving Lesson

    S3:E36

    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?

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    Writer:N/A
  2. 8.1/10(34 votes)

    #2 - The Mystery Woman

    S3:E2

    A lady spots Donna and Mary having lunch in a restaurant, so she stops to say hello. She recognized Donna, even though ""it's been 13 years."" Donna doesn't recognize her but is polite and too embarrassed to ask her name. Later, Donna realizes she must find out who the mystery woman was.

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  3. 7.9/10(40 votes)

    #3 - How the Other Side Lives

    S3:E5

    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 a wild unruly younger brother Jeff at home?

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    Director:James Sheldon
  4. 7.8/10(43 votes)

    #4 - Donna Decorates

    S3:E3

    Donna tries to redecorate the house, but neighbor boy Dennis Mitchell (Jay North) tries to help her...and ends up making things more of a mess. Donna finally calls Dennis' nearer neighbor Mr.Wilson (Joseph Kearns) to ask if Dennis would help him with anything. (I'm sure Mr.Wilson sympathized.) This was a crossover show-with two people from ""Dennis the Menace"" guesting. It turns out both shows are set in the town of Hilldale...but Dennis probably lived in a different neighborhood than Donna.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  5. 7.8/10(29 votes)

    #5 - Never Marry a Doctor

    S3:E9

    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. Could the handyman be a thief? Mrs. Cruikshank thinks so and makes Donna wonder if it's true.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  6. 7.8/10(27 votes)

    #6 - The Lean and Hungry Look

    S3:E15

    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, so he decides, well, you get the picture! And will Jeff ever repay the money he borrowed from Mary so she can buy that sweater she's been wanting for a long time. And what do you think happens when she finally does get that sweater and tries it on?

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    Writer:N/A
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  8. 7.8/10(31 votes)

    #7 - Let's Look at Love

    S3:E31

    No description available

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  9. 7.7/10(32 votes)

    #8 - Worried Anyone?

    S3:E7

    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!

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    Writer:N/A
  10. 7.7/10(35 votes)

    #9 - Someone is Watching

    S3:E14

    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 front yard. Gordie proceeds to fake a leg injury that puts him in Jeff's bed overnight, with Donna taking care of him. Why would Gordie do that? Does it have anything to do with his new stepmother or his dad giving him anything he wants? Does Donna have an idea about how to help Gordie's mom with this problem? You bet she does!

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  11. 7.7/10(28 votes)

    #10 - Music Hath Charms

    S3:E30

    The piano becomes a ""parking lot"" with everyone dropping things on it, like books, the newspaper, so Alex decides to sell it. All of a sudden Mary has a problem with that idea and won't let it go. She'll start practicing again, every day. It turns out a boy she'd like to date just loves to play the piano!

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  12. 7.6/10(36 votes)

    #11 - Weekend

    S3:E1

    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?

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    Director:N/A
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  13. 7.6/10(33 votes)

    #12 - The Love Letter

    S3:E4

    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.

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  14. 7.6/10(36 votes)

    #13 - Alex's Twin

    S3:E6

    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.

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    Writer:N/A
  15. 7.6/10(29 votes)

    #14 - Jeff, the Treasurer

    S3:E33

    Yes, Jeff is elected class Treasurer. He has the class dues to protect all $32 of it. Now what could possibly happen? Could he, oh, I don't know lose 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. Can Jeff find it in time?

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  16. 7.5/10(31 votes)

    #15 - Donna Directs a Play

    S3:E20

    Donna fills in for the director of Mary's drama group when he is called to Hollywood for a part in a movie.

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    Writer:N/A
  17. 7.5/10(31 votes)

    #16 - Aunt Belle's Earrings

    S3:E25

    No description available

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  18. 7.5/10(31 votes)

    #17 - Military School

    S3:E35

    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? It's another good ""Mary learns a lesson""

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    Writer:N/A
  19. 7.4/10(33 votes)

    #18 - The Stones Go to Hollywood

    S3:E19

    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, They do! Also enjoy Donna dreaming that she is a big Hollywood star.

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    Director:N/A
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  20. 7.3/10(26 votes)

    #19 - It Only Hurts When I Laugh

    S3:E10

    The tables are turned as Alex becomes a hospital patient, and a difficult one at that.

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    Writer:N/A
  21. 7.3/10(30 votes)

    #20 - Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

    S3:E12

    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. They go to the Hungry Onion coffeehouse and listen to poetry. They get into money troubles with dinner at the Flamingo Club, and that's when Mary makes the right decision.

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    Writer:N/A
  22. 7.3/10(28 votes)

    #21 - The Busy People

    S3:E23

    In a try for more togetherness, Donna signs Alex and herself up for painting lessons.

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    Writer:N/A
  23. 7.3/10(25 votes)

    #22 - Donna's Helping Hand

    S3:E28

    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.

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    Director:Norman Tokar
  24. 7.3/10(26 votes)

    #23 - For Better or Worse

    S3:E32

    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 permission? Like Alex and Joe, who tell the guys they will go fishing and they don't need to ask their wives. But see, Joe has a system: he bribes his wife Myra with an expensive gift first. Now Alex, on the other hand, faces an episode-long issue with Donna about this matter. Does he resort to a bribe, too?

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    Director:Norman Tokar
    Writer:N/A
  25. 7.2/10(24 votes)

    #24 - Mary's Heart Throb

    S3:E27

    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.

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    Director:Norman Tokar
    Writer:N/A
  26. 7.1/10(26 votes)

    #25 - Variations On a Theme

    S3:E18

    Donna and Alex remember their honeymoon and this wonderful musical tobacco jar for Alex. When the jar is broken, unknown to one another Donna and Mary buy an identical replacement, Alex also finds another one, while Jeff glues the original tobacco jar back together! The Stones now own 3 musical tobacco jars!

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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Mary's Driving Lesson" is the best rated episode of "The Donna Reed Show" season 3. It scored 8.2/10 based on 30 votes. Directed by Robert Ellis Miller and written by N/A, it aired on 5/25/1961. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "The Mystery Woman".