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(More customer reviews)"The Flying Nun", which premiered in late 1967 has always been a great 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 situation comedy about a young novice nun who could fly benefited from not only a totally charming premise but boasted a cast lineup that was second to none. Despite having a popular 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 trouble plagued Sister Bertrille. Despite her own 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 Superior, the delightful 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 present comical 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 broad sitcom humour many moments of great warmth and emotion and really succeeded in humanizing much of the great work carried out by nuns.
The "Complete First Season" of "The Flying Nun", contains all 29 episodes of the 1967-1968 season plus the original pilot which introduces all the characters and the locales that we grew to know so well over the three seasons that the show ran. I believe that all of the episodes maintain a high standard thanks to the talented cast and there definitely some standouts that help illustrate the great charm that this series held for viewers in the late 1960's. Some of my favourites are "Ah Love, Could You And I Conspire", a very funny story 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 beautiful "Wailing in a Winter Wonderland", which is a touching Christmas story where Sister Bertrille goes to great lengths to make an elderly Nun's last wish come true, and "The Sister and the Old Salt", where Sister Bertrille becomes the inspiration to an old man who has a very big dream he wants to fulfill. One episode "The Reconversion of Sister Shapiro", which tells of a young jewish girl who wants to be just like Sister Bertrille even contains some clips from Sally Field's previous series "Gidget", in a showing of "old 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 contain nice little morals in among their humour which often surprisingly make 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 difficulty in working on the series at a time when the world was changing so quickly and certainly this series along with possibly "The Brady Bunch", was really the last of the "cute" series to be produced near the end 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 hold 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 popular target for those strange 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 look beyond the wild premise of the show to see all the great work that went on in the creation of shows like "The Flying Nun". Considering the poor standards on present 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 journey back to a far more innocent time on television "The Flying Nun", makes essential viewing and never fails to leave a big smile on my face at the end of each episode. Hopefully Seasons Two and Three will follow this first season release soon onto DVD so that we can enjoy in full the funny antics of Sally Field and her friends in properly restored prints of this special little series. Enjoy!
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Two-time Academy Award®-winner Sally Field (1984, Actress in a Leading Role, Places in the Heart), flies in and out of trouble as Sister Bertrille in this classic and timeless series. Always with benevolent aims, Sister Bertrille gets into all kinds of hysterical situations and manages to get in trouble with Sister Jaqueline (Marge Redmond), with the Reverend Mother Superior (Madeleine Sherwood) and with a local clubowner, Carlos Ramirez (Alejandro Rey). From being mistaken for enemy aircraft to having a pelican fall in love with her to disrupting a meeting of mobsters, Sister Bertrille constantly manages to find herself in precarious and hilarious situations.
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