to spend more time with her family and was worn out from producing nearly 30 episodes a year. To coincide with Fabares's plans to leave at the end of season 5 (1962–1963), Reed and her husband decided to end the show. Since the series was still very popular ABC offered Reed a more lucrative contract with an extension of three seasons, to which she agreed. Their new contract called for fewer episodes and other incentives to allow Reed more personal time. In addition, Shelley Fabares agreed to return to the show as an occasional guest in which her character of Mary would come home from college for a visit. In the last three years of the series, Fabares would make seven appearances. Beginning in Season 6 there was a reduction in the number of episodes produced, and work hours were shortened to please Reed. In the spring of 1966, Reed had grown tired of the weekly grind and wanted to retire. The program was rated #89 during its final season. After 275 episodes and eight seasons on ABC, The Donna Reed Show ended its prime-time run. Reed expressed no interest in taking on another series, declined television guest appearances, and shunned films because she thought their depictions of women vapid. She did express interest in a television reunion for the Stone family at one point, but the concept was discarded after Carl Betz's death in 1978. Tucker writes that women's lib supporters of the 1970s targeted the Donna Stone character as an unrealistic portrait of a modern woman and a stereotype of the impossibly perfect wife and mother. He believes that Reed "gave motherhood a tinge of glamour it usually lacked on TV". Cast changes In season 5, (1963) Mary departed for college, reducing Fabares's appearances, something which continued yearly with her role becoming a minor character. Fabares left the full-time cast to pursue opportunities in films. She eventually returned seven times for guest appearances (Season 6 episodes 8, 11, 14; Season 7 episodes 5, 15, 30; Season 8 episode 13). Following Fabares's departure, Petersen's real-life sister Patty Petersen joined the show as Trisha, a runaway orphan eventually adopted by the Stones. The program achieved its highest Nielsen ratings in Season 6, reaching #16 after Fabares' departure. A possible reason for higher ratings was the addition of new characters, Ann McCrea and disc jockey-turned actor Bob Crane as the Stones'