56 pages • 1 hour read
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness.
Gidget was Field’s first TV show, which aired from 1965 to 1966. She starred as the main character, Frances Lawrence, whose nickname was “Gidget.” This show marked a turning point in Field’s life: Despite her lack of professional experience, she suddenly became the star of a show and was well known among young audiences.
Field’s discussions about Gidget emphasize her surprise at this life-changing opportunity and how it marked the end of her childhood and the beginning of her career: “All at once, I took both feet out of my childhood and stepped onto that new path” (190). In addition, she contrasts Gidget’s idyllic family life with her own more troubled relationships, revealing that she enjoyed escaping from her worries and disappearing into her role as the cheerful Gidget: “[H]ow I loved the girl on that side of the glass, loved her ease around people, her trust in them. She was pure and untarnished. […] For thirty-two episodes—and many more weeks than that—her house, her friends, her family, and her pink-and-yellow bedroom were mine” (195).
Field’s second TV show, The Flying Nun, aired from 1967 to 1970. In this situational comedy, Fields starred as Sister Bertrille, a nun who could fly.