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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LMLDallas78" data-source="post: 398788" data-attributes="member: 55682">Did Donna Reed just waltz on to set and declare, this is how I'm playing Miss Ellie?  Did Donna have that much authority and clout that the show makers just said, yes play it your way, crack on!Donna was not solely responsible for not playing Miss Ellie like Miss Ellie. What guidance was she given?  I was always under the impression that to take on another actors role for the same character would require some homework and knowing your subject. In this case not just an oil barons wife but Miss Eleanor Southworth Ewing who we all knew and most of us loved. Was Ms Reed ever told, well that's not really Miss Ellie you're portraying? Were they just grateful they had someone on board willing to take on such an impossible task?Did Donna herself demand to dress SO differently? Did she even try to mirror any mannerisms or wasn't that deemed necessary?Would it have made a difference?It's all been said before how badly Donna Reed was treated. A fine actress she may have been but Miss Ellie she was not and never could be, no one could probably.I hope the ghost of Donna Reed won't be offended even after all these years, that would give me no pleasure but also doesn't stop me from feeling able to critisise in a constructive way.Yes her portrayal of Miss Ellie was poor but the fact that portrayal was screened was beyond the depths of poor.</blockquote>