Going My Way

A character decides to become a priest, nun, monk, or other religious figure, usually as a way to avoid problems in their life. They always change their mind by the end of the episode.

Mork & Mindy

Appearances

• The Odd Couple: Season 3, episode 5, "The Odd Monks" (1972). Oscar and Felix decide to become monks to get away from the stresses of their daily lives.
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 4, episode 14, "Almost a Nun's Story" (1973). When Georgette catches Ted kissing another woman, she decides to become a nun.
• Welcome Back, Kotter: Season 1, episode 22, "Father Vinnie" (1976). Vinnie's grandmother's dying wish is for him to become a priest, and he decides to do it. He tries to act holy, but he loses it as soon as a pretty girl asks him out.
• Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Season 1, episode 101 (1976). After Cathy finally realizes that Dennis is in love with Mary, she decdies to try to swear off men again by becoming a nun. She visits a priest to ask where the nearest convent is, but the priest ends up talking her out of it, and Cathy being Cathy, she actually falls for the priest.
• Mork & Mindy: Season 2, episode 24, "Clerical Error" (1980). Mork can't seem to keep a job, and he doesn't know what to do. He gets to know a priest and admires what he does, so he decides he wants to become a priest too. He goes to church dressed in a cassock and ends up saving a man who was going to commit suicide.
• ALF: Season 2, episode 4, "Wedding Bell Blues" (1987). While looking through the luggage from his spaceship, Alf discovers that he was born after his parents were married, which is a big faux pas on Melmac. He's so devastated that he runs away to become a monk.
• Newhart: Season 8, episode 19, "Georgie and Grace" (1990). George has been feeling depressed lately, so when a group of priests stay at the Stratford, he decides he wants to join them.
• The Golden Girls: Season 6, episode 8, "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sophia?" (1990). At the funeral for her late friend, who was a nun, Sophia thinks she heard God tell her to become a nun.
• Cheers: Season 10, episode 15, "My Son, the Father" (1992). Carla's son, Gino, announces that he wants to become a priest, and Carla believes this means she can be as nasty as she wants and still go to heaven, but Gino comes back later and announces he now wants to be a model.
• Dream On: Season 4, episode 13, "Silent Night, Holy Cow Part II" (1993). After Toby sees the Virgin Mary in a crack on Martin's office door, she decides God has a higher purpose for her, and tries to become a nun, but when she finds out she can't have pets in the convent, she changes her mind.
• Father Ted: Season 1, episode 5, "And God Created Woman" (1995). Polly Clarke, an author of salacious romance novels, visits the island, and Ted instantly becomes smitten with her. He rushes through mass to be with her, much to the chagrin of a visiting group of nuns, but when Ted finally gets Polly alone, she tells Ted that she's decided to become a nun.