It sounds like a punchline. A 90-pound novice nun in San Juan, Puerto Rico, discovers that the starched wind-resistance of her cornette—that massive, winged headgear—combined with a stiff breeze, can literally lift her off the ground. That was the pitch. That was the show. Honestly, if you sit down to watch the flying nun episodes today, you’re hitting a very specific vein of 1960s high-concept camp that feels both impossibly sweet and deeply weird.
Sally Field played Sister Bertrille. She was young. She was energetic. She was basically a human hang glider. While the premise was based on Pete Luckent’s 1965 book The Fifteenth Pelican, the TV adaptation took the "physics" of aerodynamics and threw them right out the window of the Convent San Tanco. People loved it. People hated it. But most importantly, people couldn't stop looking at it.
Aerodynamics and Aloft: The Logic of the Convent
How did she fly? The show actually tried to explain it, which is the funniest part. It wasn't magic. It wasn't a miracle from above. It was "lift." Sister Bertrille weighed next to nothing. When the wind hit 35 miles per hour, those stiffened habit wings acted like an airfoil.
The special effects were... ambitious for 1967. They used wires. Lots of wires. Sally Field has famously talked about how much she hated the harness, which was understandable given she was often suspended high above a studio backlot or against a grainy blue screen. You can see the physical toll in some of the early the flying nun episodes; she’s stiff, trying to maintain a "graceful" posture while essentially being hoisted by her crotch.
It’s easy to forget that the show was a massive hit right out of the gate. Screen Gems, the same studio that gave us Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, knew they had a formula. Take a beautiful woman, give her a "glitch" in the laws of physics, and surround her with a cast of exasperated but loving character actors.
The Core Cast of Characters
Alejandro Rey played Carlos Ramirez. He was the local casino owner and playboy. He was the "secular" foil to the convent's holiness. Then you had Marge Redmond as Sister Jacqueline, the narrator and the wise one. Madeleine Sherwood played Reverend Mother Placido. She spent most of her screen time looking at the sky in a mix of prayer and sheer annoyance.
The chemistry worked. It shouldn't have, but it did.
Why People Still Search for The Flying Nun Episodes
There is a nostalgia for "innocent" television, sure. But there’s also a surrealist quality to the show that fits modern internet culture. It’s "liminal space" TV.
One of the most frequent things fans look for is the episode where she almost gets shot down. In "The Flying Nun" (the pilot), the military gets involved. They see a blip on the radar. They think it's an enemy aircraft. Nope. Just a nun. That set the tone for three seasons of escalating absurdity.
Season 1: Finding Her Wings
The first season is where the show is at its most grounded, if you can call it that. It focuses on the convent's financial struggles. Sister Bertrille uses her gift to help. Sometimes she’s delivering medicine. Sometimes she’s just trying to get a better view of a construction project.
Season 2: Doubling Down on the Gags
By the second year, the writers stopped caring about the "science" of the wind. She was just flying whenever the plot needed a shortcut. The show introduced more slapstick. It started leaning into the "fish out of water" tropes, even though she’d been in San Juan for a year.
Season 3: The Decline and the Baby
Season 3 is usually where the casual fans drop off. The show moved to a different time slot. It competed with The Brady Bunch. They tried to freshen things up by having Sister Bertrille take care of a baby (not hers, obviously). It felt desperate. The ratings tanked. Sally Field was over it. She has been very vocal in later years about how she felt the show was "mindless" and how she struggled to be taken seriously as an actress while wearing a giant white bird on her head.
The Controversy You Probably Forgot
It wasn't all sunshine and soaring. Believe it or not, some religious groups weren't thrilled. They thought a flying nun made light of the vocation. They thought it was "sacrilegious" to have a sister hanging out with a casino owner.
On the flip side, the show was actually quite progressive in its own weird way. It showed a group of women running a community, managing finances, and solving problems without needing a man to lead them. The Reverend Mother was the boss. Period.
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Real Production Hurdles
- The Location: It wasn't Puerto Rico. Most of it was shot at the Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch in Burbank. If the "mountains" in the background look familiar, it’s because they’re the same ones from Fantasy Island.
- The Costume: The cornette had to be reinforced with plastic to stay upright during the "flying" sequences. In regular scenes, it was made of lighter fabric.
- The Pregnancy: During the second season, Sally Field got pregnant. How do you hide a pregnancy on a nun? Huge habits and very careful camera angles. If you watch those episodes closely, she spends a lot of time standing behind large desks or carrying oversized baskets of laundry.
Ranking the "Must-Watch" Episodes
If you’re going down a rabbit hole of the flying nun episodes, you don't need to watch all 82. Most are repetitive. However, a few stand out for their sheer "What were they thinking?" factor.
- "Cousin Stephan" (Season 2, Episode 21): Sister Bertrille’s cousin comes to visit. He’s a bit of a troublemaker. It’s one of the few times we get a glimpse into her "pre-nun" life. It adds a layer of humanity to a character that was often written as a caricature.
- "The Dig-In" (Season 1, Episode 17): Sister Bertrille gets trapped in a cave-in with a convict. It’s surprisingly dark for a show about a flying woman in a hat. It shows the limitations of her "power." She can fly, but she can’t lift rocks.
- "A Star is Born" (Season 3, Episode 14): This is late-series madness. Carlos gets Sister Bertrille involved in a movie production. It’s meta, it’s messy, and it captures the "anything goes" energy of the final season.
The Legacy of the Winged Habit
Why do we care in 2026? Because The Flying Nun represents a transition point in Hollywood. It was the end of the "gimmick sitcom" era. After this, TV started getting "gritty." We moved toward All in the Family and MASH*. The idea of a woman flying because her hat caught a breeze became too silly even for the 70s.
But Sally Field survived it. She didn't just survive it; she conquered. She went from being "the girl who flies" to a two-time Oscar winner. In a way, watching the flying nun episodes is a lesson in career longevity. It shows that you can start in the most ridiculous premise imaginable and still find your way to Norma Rae and Lincoln.
Technical Misconceptions
People often think the show was in black and white. It wasn't. It was filmed in bright, vivid Technicolor, which made the Puerto Rican (Burbank) setting pop. Another common mistake is thinking she flew "magically" like Peter Pan. If you watch closely, she always needs a running start or a high ledge. There's a physicality to it that's actually kind of impressive from a stunt perspective.
Actionable Steps for the Modern Viewer
If you want to dive back into this world, don't just mindlessly stream. Look for the craft.
Watch for the "Jump": In every episode where she takes off, look for the cut between Sally Field and the stunt double (or the dummy). The editing is a masterclass in 1960s "smoke and mirrors."
Check the Backgrounds: Since it was shot on the Columbia Ranch, you can often spot props and sets used in other famous shows. The fountain from Friends? It was on that same ranch. The houses from Bewitched? Right around the corner.
Listen to the Score: Dominic Frontiere's music is quintessential 60s lounge-pop. It’s catchy, upbeat, and perfectly captures the "tropical" vibe they were faking.
Source Your Content: Most of the series is available on DVD or through specialized retro streaming services like Antenna TV or Tubi. Don't settle for low-quality YouTube rips; the color saturation is half the fun.
If you’re looking for a deep dive into 60s camp, skip the usual suspects. Put on some the flying nun episodes. It’s weird. It’s wholesome. It’s a tiny bit hallucinogenic. And honestly, we could all use a little more "lift" these days.