I had not watched this show for a long time, and caught an episode on Hulu the other night. Though I may be wrong, the house interior, especially from the staircase with the door up camera looks the same as the Nelson house in I Dream of Jeannie. Also, the interior set in the living room has a similar set up. I think they might have used this same set, and dressed it up for a new show.
shareYep, it's the same one. ABC reused their sets often. If you've ever seen any Gidget episodes, Tony Nelson's house is in one of the episodes (it's a house where Gidget goes to a party). Also - if you take a look at the kitchen in Donna Reed, it's the same set up as the kitchen in the first house the Cleavers lived in on Leave It To Beaver. Here's another: the kitchen on the sitcom Hazel is the same as the kitchen in Gidget.
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it is clearly also used in I Dream of Jeannie as both shows were shot at Screen Gems Sunset Gower.
How did they split the usage up for both shows as Donna Reeds last season as Jeannie's first?
I also noticed that the Knots Landing set designer must have had a Donna Reed/ Jeannie fetish as Karen Mackenzie's house is a similar layout down to the louvered panels beside the stairs.
Odds are they cranked out their season's interiors in sequential production seasons. Since neither was filmed in front of a live audience, and the characters wore standard costuming, they could crank out multiple episode's interior shooting during a week, and finish a season's interiors in a couple months at most.
shareIt is not a question of which networks used which sets but which production companies. And, actually, the first two seasons of "Leave it to Beaver" were filmed at the former Republic Studios, not at the former Columbia Pictures (now Warner Brothers) Ranch where at least the exterior shots of "The Donna Reed Show," a Screen Gems production, was filmed.
Seasons Three through Six of "Leave it to Beaver" were filmed at MCA-Revue/Universal studios. One may notice exterior and interior shots of the "Beaver" sets in other MCA-Universal productions such as "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," and also, possibly, in "Bachelor Father," "General Electric Theater," "Thriller" (the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, not the Michael Jackson music video), and "The Jack Benny Program" when that series was filmed at Universal and not at CBS Television City.
The exterior of the second "Cleaver" home appears in the Paramount film "The Desperate Hours" (for which the four-sided facade was actually constructed, and, thus, also known as "The Paramount House" on the Universal lot) starring Humphrey Bogart.
Also, the first season of "Leave it to Beaver" aired on CBS, not ABC.
I was watching Dennis the Menace (also a Screen Gems show) and their interior living room looks the same as Donna Reed's.
shareI am not sure about the interior sets, but the same exterior facade of the "Stone" house from the first season or two of "The Donna Reed Show" was also used as the "Mitchell" home in "Dennis the Menace," both series' having been shot at the former Columbia Pictures (now Warner Brothers) Ranch.
You may also recognize the fountain in the park of "Dennis the Menace," as it is the same one used for the opening titles' sequence of "Friends."
I find this comment interesting, because Dennis the Menace actually showed up on the Donna Reed Show in one episode (which may be one of the very first crossovers in the history of television.)
shareABC loves their sets. They are STILL using the Kravitz house as well as the Leave it to Beaver house just recently on Desperate Housewives.
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