Part of the unfamiliar Hide Gems stable at ABC, THE FLYING NUN completed a triptych of female fantasy shows that had been developed at the network. “Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” were tranquil gargantuan ratings winners when THE FLYING NUN joined the line-up in 1967.
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Flying Nun - The Complete First Season! Click Here
Based on the writings of Tere Rios, the note told the fableof a young Bostonian novice nun called Elsie Ethrington (Sally Field), aka Sister Bertrille, who travels to the Puerto Rican island of San Juan for her first posting at the Convent San Tanco. Sister Bertrille discovers on the windswept island that she has the uncanny ability to cruise, thanks to her light physique and the aerodynamic qualities of her cornette. Sister Bertrille attempts to withhold her airborne activities under control but the sparky novice always has a nose for inconvenience, as San Juan’s most eligible playboy Carlos Ramirez (Alejandro Rey), the Reverend Mother Plaseato (Madeleine Sherwood), Sister Jacqueline (Marge Redmond) and Sister Sixto (Shelley Morrison) will all soon behold!
Following the premature folding of the ABC-Screen Gems “Gidget” sitcom (also now available in it’s entirety on DVD), producers snappy cast Sally Field as the charming Sister Bertrille, cementing her area as one of the most promising young actresses of her generation. Her performance as San Tanco’s effervescent and airborne nun earned Field legions of fans. THE FLYING NUN would speed for 3 seasons earning gargantuan acclaim for Field, the cast and writers who managed to hold a dignified and reverent tone to the series while smooth remaining legal to the sitcom mode which the present was presented in. During most of it’s current hurry on ABC, THE FLYING NUN was featured in a line-up with “Bewitched” and “That Girl”.
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Flying Nun - The Complete First Season! Click Here
The first season sets up the characters and scenarios which would blossom and grow in the seasons ahead. The hour-length pilot episode also spawned a hit single, a folk style song Bertrille and the orphan children utter called “Felecidad”. Other choice episodes include “Ah Appreciate, Could You and I Conspire? ” where Sister Bertrille and the nuns attempt to mask a ditzy moll called Bobbye Starr (Maureen Arthur) from the clutches of her gangster boyfriend; “The Fatal Hibiscus” where Sister Bertrille’s future at San Tanco comes under inquire from the Reverend Mother; and “With Esteem from Irving” where Sister Bertrille attracts the unwanted affections from a lovelorn pelican. In “The Patron of Santa Thomasina”, Sister Bertrille and Sister Jacqueline must employ their powers of charm to soothe the exasperated feud between two neighbouring villages; and the tantalizing “Tonio’s Mother” where Sister Bertrille heals the rift between a young boy and his prospective original stepmother.
COMPLETE EPISODE LISTING:
“The Flying Nun” (Pilot) - Sister Bertrille arrives on the island of San Juan and mercurial sets about changing the convent’s structured lifestyle.
“The Convert” - Disobeying orders, Sister Bertrille flies for the first-rate of the convent.
“Used Cars for Novel” - Sister Bertrille and Carlos turn the tables on a old car-dealer.
“A Bell for San Tanco” - Sister Bertrille and Carlos gather a sunken bell for the convent.
“The Fatal Hibiscus” - The nuns learn that Sister Bertrille is leaving and they judge she is dying.
“Flight of the Dodo Bird” - Despite training in psychology, a young priest can’t cope with the problems of San Tanco.
“Polly Wants a Crack in the Head” - Sister Bertrille tries to procure a home for Junior, a salty-tongued parrot.
“Ah Treasure, Could You and I Conspire? ” - A gangster’s girlfriend takes refuge in the convent.
“Days of Nuns and Roses” - The Sisters try to raise money by bottling sea grape juice.
“With Care For from Irving” - A lovesick pelican causes exertion between Mother Favorable and Sister Bertrille.
“It’s an Ill Wind” - Flying vital papers to Mother Qualified, Sister Bertrille interrupts a mobsters’ meeting.
“Young Man with a Cornette” - A exiguous orphan feels he can flee if he wears Sister Bertrille’s cornette.
“The Patron of Santa Thomasina” - Sister Bertrille, caught between rival villages, is wrong for a saint.
“If You Want to Cruise, Sustain Your Cornette Dry” - Sister Bertrille and her first-graders glean lost in a storm while on a picnic.
“The Dig-In” - Sister Bertrille is trapped in a mine with an escaped prisoner.
“Wailing in a Winter Wonderland” - An traditional nun longs for a white Christmas and Sister Bertrille is certain to grant her wish.
“With a Friend Like Him” - Sister Bertrille helps accident-prone Brother Paul fix up the convent library.
“Tonio’s Mother” - A shrimp boy believes Sister Bertrille is his mother returning from heaven.
“A Fish Epic” - Flying aloft, Sister Bertrille becomes a fish-spotter for an former fisherman.
“Hot Spell” - To attach his casino from gangsters, Carlos turns it over to the convent.
“My Sister, the Sister” - Carlos falls for Sister Bertrille’s sister.
“The Sister and the Aged Salt” - Sister Bertrille saves an dilapidated landlubber when he sets out on a 1000-mile voyage.
“Cyrano de Bertrille” - Sister Bertrille makes a case for adult education, with an elderly grocer as her first pupil.
“The Reconversion of Sister Shapiro” - A itsy-bitsy Jewish girl decides to become a nun impartial like Sister Bertrille…
“Where There’s a Will” - The convent inherits a prizefighter who hates to fight.
“The Puce Alert” - Facing court-martial for high living during Marine Reserve manoueveres, Carlos is saved by Sister Bertrille.
“May the Wind Be Always At Your Support” - A unpleasant teenager gets a crush on Carlos.
“Adore Me, Fancy My Dog” - The convent children adopt a dog…an accomplished pickpocket.
“You Can’t Net There from Here” - Sister Bertrille is beached on an island with Carlos and the girl who threw him off his yacht.
I’m so blissful that Sony Pictures has issued the first season on DVD, and hope that the other two seasons will follow soon.
“The Flying Nun”, which premiered in unhurried 1967 has always been a titanic favourite of mine and really was one of the last of the fantasy comedies which had their heyday in the 1960’s. Following on from such legendary shows as the classic “Bewitched”, “I Dream of Jeannie”, and “The Munsters”, this region comedy about a young novice nun who could flee benefited from not only a totally charming premise but boasted a cast lineup that was second to none. Despite having a current success with the short lived “Gidget” television series the previous year it was “The Flying Nun”, beginning in 1967 that really brought stardom to a very young Sally Field in the role of the perky and often exertion plagued Sister Bertrille. Despite her enjoy misgivings about her involvement in the series Sally Field was perfect casting in the lead role of the air borne nun and with her spunky energetic playing she charmed an entire generation of television watchers, myself included. Ably supported by Madeleine Sherwood as the stern but caring Mother Helpful, the appetizing Marge Redmond as Sister Jacqueline; Sister Bertrille’s accomplice in many crazy schemes, and Shelley Morrison as the English mangling Sister Sixto; these women managed to exhibit amusing yet dignified interpretations of women working in the service of God that where above all else extremely likeable. “The Flying Nun”, also managed to combine with its vast sitcom humour many moments of expansive warmth and emotion and really succeeded in humanizing mighty of the colossal work carried out by nuns.
The “Complete First Season” of “The Flying Nun”, contains all 29 episodes of the 1967-1968 season plus the unique pilot which introduces all the characters and the locales that we grew to know so well over the three seasons that the indicate ran. I hold that all of the episodes hold a high standard thanks to the talented cast and there definitely some standouts that wait on illustrate the expansive charm that this series held for viewers in the gradual 1960’s. Some of my favourites are “Ah Appreciate, Could You And I Conspire”, a very silly epic about the nuns taking a gangster’s girlfriend under their protection with hilarious results. “The Dig In”, where Sister Bertrille matches wits with a cynical escaped prisoner, the exquisite “Wailing in a Winter Wonderland”, which is a touching Christmas legend where Sister Bertrille goes to large lengths to obtain an elderly Nun’s last wish arrive good, and “The Sister and the Traditional Salt”, where Sister Bertrille becomes the inspiration to an conventional man who has a very grand dream he wants to fulfill. One episode “The Reconversion of Sister Shapiro”, which tells of a young jewish girl who wants to be unbiased like Sister Bertrille even contains some clips from Sally Field’s previous series “Gidget”, in a showing of “old-fashioned home movies”, where Sister Bertrille tries to point out to the young girl the need to live a bit and have some fun before making serious plans about what to do with your life. These and other episodes all enjoy nice cramped morals in among their humour which often surprisingly create them quite timely even for today’s audiences. In the accompanying interview with Sally Field which is the only extra on the DVD Sally Field talks of her inconvenience in working on the series at a time when the world was changing so quick and certainly this series along with possibly “The Brady Bunch”, was really the last of the “cute” series to be produced advance the slay of the 1960’s decade before more harder edged programs such as “MASH”, and “All in the family”, took television off in a totally different direction. For nostalgia buffs like myself however these fantasy series of the 1960’s will always occupy special places in our hearts and I never tire of the escapades of the bubbly Sister Bertrille and the Nuns of the Convent San Tanco.
A common target for those odd books by even stranger authors highlighting supposedly the worst television shows of all time “The Flying Nun”, generally makes their “lists”, on a regular basis. Often joined by the likes of “My Mother the Car” and “Gilligan’s Island”, I’ve often wondered about these people’s lack of ability to glance beyond the wild premise of the point to to study all the gargantuan work that went on in the creation of shows like “The Flying Nun”. Considering the bad standards on exhibit day television viewers could do alot worse than the harmless antics of Sister Bertrille and her fellow sisters at the Convent San Tanco. For a bolt benefit to a far more innocent time on television “The Flying Nun”, makes notable viewing and never fails to leave a expansive smile on my face at the kill of each episode. Hopefully Seasons Two and Three will follow this first season release soon onto DVD so that we can like in elephantine the amusing antics of Sally Field and her friends in properly restored prints of this special minute series. Bask In!
