Mary
Is it just me or does Mary seem like a bit of a social climber and a snob?
No Mary was a social climber and a little snot!
shareThat's also my impression of her along with being a bit of a know-it-all.A shame as Shelly Fabares is a lovely person in real life by all accounts & nothing like her Mary Stone character at all.
shareTo me, she seemed like your typical teenage girl at the time.
She's a sweetheart next to Betty Anderson on Father Knows Best. Betty was a first class snob!
"Fasten your seat belts!
It's going to be a bumpy night!"
I couldn't agree more. There is no comparison between the 2 girls. And Betty was such a cry baby. Always cried when she lost a contest or realized that she'd made a complete fool of herself.
Mary seemed pretty normal to me for that era.
Yes, she does seem like a social climber & a snob - and that is why she is my least favorite character on the show. For me, I think it also has to do with the fact that I knew Shelley Fabrares first as Christine on Coach and I couldn't stand her character on that show either.
I also don't understand why so many people say she looks like she could be Donna Reed's daughter - their whole facial structure is completely different. So many people on the show and on this board, also carry on about how "beautiful" Shelley is....I just don't see it though...
"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl
I agree that they did not really look alike, but they kind of talked alike and moved in the same way. To me, that is why people think she could have been her real daughter in real life. I also think Shelley Fabares in the 60's was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Heather Locklear and Sherry Jackson run a close second and third.
share
<<<I agree that they did not really look alike, but they kind of talked alike and moved in the same way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVm-_y7u0T0
I was a kid back then but I had a big crush on her, for what reason I don't know, and still can't look at her on tv, etc, without that feeling returning. Since I was a kid then I had no idea what she was, a snob, a whatever. All I know is that I thought she was cute. However, watching the DRS today she does seem a bit spaced out, an air head and self centered. Almost to the point that you can bet that she was heading for major therapy sessions in say, 15 years or so. I had crushes on her, Noreen Corocoran on Bachelor Father, Cissy on Family Affair and Candy Moore and The Lucy Show. I still haven't forgiven Ball for writing Moore out that show after the third season. 'Mary' made 3 movies with Elvis, one I saw, ironically, in a quonset hut PX movie hut in Nam in the late 60's. That was double mean as she was now grown up and real sexy, and I was there and there were no women around. At that age its not an easy thing. Thank goodness for cold showers. Ann Margret was the tops, I think, back in those days to attract us guys attention. No wonder Elvis went after her, too.
shareYep, Mary had a snobbish way about her, but she was a spoiled teenager who had everything done for her and she got everything she wanted. I always liked Mary though and enjoyed her and Jeff going at each other.
I must say that even though Mary was snobby, no one was worse than Betty Anderson from Father Knows Best.
I read where in her life SF was attracted to older men, like Gregory Peck. Maybe she was just mature for her age? Did you see the episode that Leslie Gore was in? I remember she had been in the T.A.M.I. show around the same time she was on DRS. Before 'Mary' had her big hit song.
shareher father was a successful doctor in the 60s and she had no worries except what to wear and who to date! I loved the show because it was so carefree and Mary always got what she wanted.
Of course a few episodes she did not get what she wanted. I remember one episode where she had this cute guy she was dating and he was just doing everything she told him to do and it was destroying his confidence and ego.
And Donna noticed it one day and dragged Mary into the house and gave her what for. Told her to stop it pronto.
But yes, Mary behaved just like Donna Reed. She took her cues from Donna Reed's behavior and way of talking on the show.
Just watch and see. Shelly also behaved this way in the 3 Elvis movies! So she probably got Mary gig because she acted so much like Donna.
Hey, ideabook, wasn't Candy Moore Jeff's girlfriend Angie on Donna Reed? She was a very appealing girl as I recall. I wasn't much of a Lucy fan by that time but I think it's the same young actress.
shareThat's right. She was also on Leave It To Beaver. I guess she got around. Her career didn't go much beyond DRS. Too bad.
shareShockingly, most teenage girls are obsessed with social status and superfical things like clothes and boys. Mary was no different and I never found the character to be a snob - just concerned with the silly things that most of us are when we're young.
That said, the character of Mary was fairly annoying in the first two seasons, as was Jeff. Mary was too much of a goody goody and bordering on a suck up while Jeff was just super annoying. Jeff's only reedeming qualities during those first years was that he was actually funny at times because he said what he thought for the most part. Thankfully both characters grew somewhat and were more tolerable.
Mary, for the most part,was a typical teenaged "know-it-all" girl. But as with many "suburban" girls, she did appear quite snobbish at times. I liked that her parent, and Jeff, would take her down a peg sometimes.
Also, I have always thought that the people responsible for casting did a great job. Shelly DOES favor Donna. Not greatly, but enough to pass as her daughter. And Paul and Alex indeed could've passed as father and son. Patty being Paul's little sister made it easy for Trisha to fit right in. No one would know Trisha was adopted if they didn't know.
Re: Betty Anderson: I got a giggle reading comments about her. Father Knows Best is now airing on Antenna TV and I'm watching for the first time since like the 80s or 90s. I didn't realize how much of a snob she was until I began watching the eps recently. I did not remember her being this way when I was watching as a kid.
“Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with” –Brian to Tracy in Mahogany
And as you keep watching, you will see that Betty gets worse.
shareIronically, sons tend to usually favor the mother, and daughters often look more like their fathers. I've seen that far more often.
Yeah, I know a family in particular where the oldest daughter literally looks like her dad wearing a wig! In my case, I'm male and think I do resemble my dad -- but recently I was told I look a lot like my mom.
"No cheesecake [photos]." -- Hazel (Shirley Booth)
I always laugh when I read about subject. I have two brothers. One favors my mom, one favors my dad. I have three sisters (and I am female). Two of us favor my mom and the other two favor my dad. Hahaha!! We are truly a house-divided!
I'm a paranoid schizophrenic. I AM my own entourage!
Allow me to add my take--here, under "Mary". First of all, let's offer a bit of belated congrats for "Johnny Angel", an epic ballad from a time--the Kennedy Era--when, gee, all families might be like the Stones--or those other TV families down the street. A great piece of wax.
I took avid new interest in "The Donna Reed Show", which is aired on the nostalgia-TV channel, when we returned to Standard Time last Fall. It's on at 8am.
I knew I was hooked when I heard Mary talk. That is, the words she spoke,..from the mouth of a pert, bright-eyed innocent 'teen': "Well, gee Daddy, I was only trying to help. You know, like spreading oil on troubled waters.." I don't care about so much about the other goings-on in the Stone household now. I just want to hear Mary talk.
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