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The Flying Nun
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Bernard Slade, based on the book by Tere Rios
Starring	Sally Field Madeleine Sherwood Marge Redmond Shelley Morrison Alejandro Rey Linda Dangcil Vito Scotti
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	82
Production
Running time	0:25 (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 7, 1967 – September 18, 1970
External links
IMDb profile

The Flying Nun was a sitcom produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the book The Fifteenth Pelican, by Tere Rios. The sitcom ran for three seasons, and produced 82 color episodes from 1967 until 1970.

Developed by Bernard Slade, it centered on the adventures of a group of nuns in the Convent San Tanco in Puerto Rico. The comic elements of the storyline were provided by the flying ability of a novice nun, Sister Bertrille, played by Sally Field in her second sitcom role after Gidget. She could be relied upon to solve any problem that came her way by her ability to catch a passing breeze and fly (attributed to her small stature and heavily starched cornette—the headgear for her habit). Her flying talents caused as many problems as they solved. She once explained her ability to fly as, "When lift plus thrust is greater than load plus drag, anything can fly."

The unusual premise caught the attention of the public and the program was a success, yet the storylines were limited, and by the end of the show's run, the writers were struggling to create new situations that would allow the heroine to take flight. Critics never responded favorably to the show, and credited most of its success to the appeal of Sally Field.

Madeleine Sherwood played the Mother Superior, Marge Redmond played Sister Jacqueline, Shelley Morrison played Sister Sixto, and Alejandro Rey played local playboy Carlos Ramirez, who Sister Bertrille would run into with alarming frequency.

The show was commended by several Roman Catholic orders in the late 1960s for humanizing nuns and their work. It also offered a difficult typecasting obstacle for star Sally Field to overcome. Its three season run left such an indelible impression upon its viewers that, more than 30 years after it ceased production, it continues to be satirized and referenced in modern films and television. These concerns are what has kept the series from being revisited during any of the "nostalgia" or "retro" phases of modern pop culture. In fact, a TV movie had been proposed by ABC in the late 80's, where Field's character would have appeared as the new Mother Superior, Mother Bertrille, for the convent, and having to deal not only with another diminutive nun who learns that she too can fly, but the fact that she is jealous of this new "flying nun" because she can no longer fly due to her finally putting on weight over the years. Field, seeking to distance herself from this role further, vehemently declined the offer.

Another problem the show's producers had to contend with was the fact that during much of the filming schedule of The Flying Nun's second season, Sally Field was noticeably pregnant with her first child. This was a logistical nightmare for a series in which Field's character was supposed to be a religious celibate, and skinny enough to fly away in the wind. The show solved the problem by using props and scenery to block view of Fields' body below the chest, and using long shots of Fields' stunt double for the flying sequences.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released the first and second seasons of The Flying Nun on DVD in Region 1. The 3rd Season has yet to be released.

Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earl. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 - Present. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003.

• The Flying Nun at the Internet Movie Database
• The Flying Nun at TV.com