Television series

The Flying Nun

Name: The Flying Nun
Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy
Released: 1967
Cast: Marge Redmond, Sally Field, Madeleine Sherwood, Alejandro Rey, Shelley Morrison

Comedy
Magical realism
Light-hearted

A cheerful absurdist sitcom where a nun's cornette-shaped wimple lets her fly, turning a Puerto Rican convent into the setting for pratfalls, romance, and impossibly wholesome chaos. It's genuinely silly without meanness, a show that commits fully to its own logic. Perfect if you love sixties pop-art absurdity played completely straight.

TVMaze rating

3.9

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Bewitched1964

A woman with secret powers navigates domestic life and workplace troubles while concealing her abilities. Like Flying Nun, it's a high-concept sitcom that uses magic to explore gender and social constraint with real warmth beneath the gags.

But The husband's treatment of the wife can feel dated and unsettling; the show sometimes resents her for having powers rather than celebrating them.

I Dream of Jeannie1965

A genie in a bottle, a military officer, and the collision between fantasy and military bureaucracy. Shares Flying Nun's commitment to absurdist premise, rapid-fire comedy, and a genuinely likeable lead who radiates charm through chaos.

But The gender dynamics are rocky even by sixties standards; Jeannie exists largely to serve and pursue the male lead, which reads as uncomfortable now.

Gilligan's Island1964

Seven people in an impossible situation, resourceful and ridiculous in equal measure. Both shows treat their absurd setups as real worlds with their own logic, mining comedy from character rather than winking at the audience.

But The pacing can drag in longer stretches; three seasons of the same seven people on the same island tests patience.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Flying Nun

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Barbarella1968

Both are sixties fantasies that treat absurdity as reality, using bright colors and an impossible premise to examine what the era wanted from women—one through purity, one through sexuality.

A psychedelic space-age romp with the same pop-art sensibility, camp earnestness, and refusal to apologize for its own silliness. It's color and movement and commitment to an impossible world, just with more skin and less faith.

But It's deeply weird and often nonsensical; if you need plot coherence, you'll be frustrated. Also sexualized in ways Flying Nun deliberately avoids.

The Munsters1964

A family of monsters living in suburbia, played with complete sincerity. It has Flying Nun's gift for finding humor in contrast—the weird thing treated as normal—and the same warm, inclusive tone.

But The monster makeup effects are very dated; some episodes rely on slapstick that lands better in short bursts than sustained.

My Favorite Martian1963

An alien hiding among humans, his earthling friend covering for him, misunderstandings blooming from the premise itself. The comedy comes from character and situation, not from mocking the characters for being strange.

But It's gentler and slower-paced than modern comedy; if you want quick cuts and snappy dialogue, this will feel slack.

Petticoat Junction1963

Three sisters running a rural railroad station hotel, full of physical comedy and warmth. Like Flying Nun, it's rooted in a specific place with recurring characters you genuinely like, where the absurdity is cozy rather than manic.

But The rural setting and pastoral humor may feel quaint; if you're looking for edge or sophistication, this isn't it.

The Addams Family1964

A macabre family treated with genuine affection and respect. Both shows balance the impossible premise with real character development; the weirdness serves the warmth, not the reverse.

But It's more deadpan and less energetic than Flying Nun; if you want constant activity, this moves at a measured pace.

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis1959

A high school and college boy navigating crushes, family, and adulthood. Lighter and more straightforward than Flying Nun, but shares its affection for oddball characters and its refusal to make comedy mean-spirited.

But It's earnest in a way that can feel sappy; the emotional beats are unironic, which doesn't work for everyone.

Mister Ed1961

A man and a talking horse. If you want the purest expression of a high-concept sitcom played dead straight, this is it—the same commitment to impossible premise as Flying Nun, minus the warmth.

But The talking horse device wears thin; once you've seen the gimmick, many episodes feel repetitive and thin on actual story.

Dead of Summer2016

Both use a contained setting (convent/camp) and episodic structure to explore how genre (sitcom/horror) can remake the same space into something entirely different.

A horror series set at a summer camp in the 1980s, all mood and dread. It's structured like an episode of a sixties sitcom—clear acts, recurring characters in a fixed location—but with genuine scares underneath the formula.

But It has one season and ends on unresolved threads; if you want closure, you won't get it. Also genuinely frightening, which is the opposite of Flying Nun's tone.

Moonlight2016

Both see their outsider characters with complete dignity and tenderness, never asking the audience to laugh at them for being different or difficult. Both believe in the humanity of people the world wants to diminish.

A quiet, luminous film about a Black man across three moments in his life, told with poetry and precision. It's the inverse of Flying Nun's noise and color—intimate rather than antic—but shares its refusal to mock its characters or treat their world as anything but real.

But It's slow and interior; if you want plot momentum or comedy, there's none here. Also deals with poverty, sexuality, and violence in ways that are never resolved neatly.