<P> This show was the first TV family sitcom to feature the mother as the center of the show . Reed's character, Donna Stone, is a loving mother and wife, but also a strong woman, an active participant in her community, a woman with feelings and a sense of humor . According to many of Reed's friends and family, Reed shared many similarities to the character that she portrayed on screen, implying that the fictional Donna Stone was a near - identical copy of Reed herself . </P> <P> In a 2008 interview, Paul Petersen (Jeff Stone) stated, "(The Donna Reed Show) depicts a better time and place . It has a sort of level of intelligence and professionalism that is sadly lacking in current entertainment products . The messages it sent out were positive and uplifting . The folks you saw were likable, the family was fun, the situations were familiar to people . It provided 22 - and - a-half - minutes of moral instructions and advice on how to deal with the little dilemmas of life . Jeff and Mary and their friends had all the same problems that real kids in high school did ." Petersen continued, "That's what the show was really about, the importance of family . That's where life's lessons are transmitted, generation to generation . There's a certain way in which these are transmitted, with love and affection ." </P> <P> Episodes revolve around the lightweight and humorous sorts of situations and problems a middle - class family experienced in the late 1950s and the early 1960s set in fictional Hilldale, state never mentioned . </P> <P> Donna, for example, would sometimes find herself swamped with the demands of community theatricals and charity drives; Mary had problems juggling boyfriends and finding dresses to wear to one party or another; and Jeff was often caught in situations appropriate to his age and gender such as joining a secret boys' club, avoiding love - smitten classmates, or bidding at auction on an old football uniform . </P>

Where did the donna reed show take place