GLOW is an American comedy web television series created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. The series revolves around a fictionalization of the characters and gimmicks of the 1980s syndicated women's professional wrestling circuit, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (or GLOW) created by David McLane. The first season consists of 10 episodes and was released via Netflix on June 23, 2017. On August 10, 2017, Netflix renewed the series for a second season of 10 episodes, which premiered on June 29, 2018.
Video GLOW (TV series)
Premise
Set in Los Angeles in 1985, Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress, auditions along with many other women in a fledgling professional wrestling promotion called the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW). She is at odds with GLOW's director Sam Sylvia due to her tendency to overact. When Ruth's former best friend, retired soap opera actress Debbie Eagan, arrives at the ring, their confrontation promises to either make or break the show.
Maps GLOW (TV series)
Cast
Main
- Alison Brie as Ruth "Zoya the Destroya" Wilder
- Betty Gilpin as Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan
- Sydelle Noel as Cherry "Junkchain"/"Black Magic" Bang
- Britney Young as Carmen "Machu Picchu" Wade
- Marc Maron as Sam Sylvia
- Britt Baron as Justine "Scab" Biagi (season 2; recurring season 1)
- Kate Nash as Rhonda "Britannica" Richardson (season 2; recurring season 1)
- Gayle Rankin as Sheila "the She Wolf" (season 2; recurring season 1)
- Kia Stevens as Tammé "The Welfare Queen" Dawson (season 2; recurring season 1)
- Jackie Tohn as Melanie "Melrose" Rosen (season 2; recurring season 1)
Recurring
Introduced in season one
- Chris Lowell as Sebastian "Bash" Howard
- Bashir Salahuddin as Keith Bang
- Rich Sommer as Mark Eagan
- Kimmy Gatewood as Stacey "Ethel Rosenblatt"/"Ozone" Beswick
- Rebekka Johnson as Dawn "Edna Rosenblatt"/"Nuke" Rivecca
- Sunita Mani as Arthie "Beirut the Mad Bomber" Premkumar
- Ellen Wong as Jenny "Fortune Cookie" Chey
- Marianna Palka as Reggie "Vicky the Viking" Walsh
- Alex Rich as Florian (season 1)
- Andrew Friedman as Glen Klitnick
- Casey Johnson as Billy Offal
- Ravil Isyanov as Gregory
- Marc Evan Jackson as Gary
Introduced in season two
- Shakira Barrera as Yolanda "Junkchain" Rivas
- Victor Quinaz as Russell Barroso
- Horatio Sanz as Ray
- Annabella Sciorra as Rosalie Biagi
- Wyatt Nash as Phil
- Patrick Renna as Cupcake
- Phoebe Strole as Susan
- Eli Goree as Earnest Dawson
- Paul Fitzgerald as Tom Grant
Guest
- Elizabeth Perkins as Birdie
In addition to Kia Stevens (who has wrestled as Awesome Kong in TNA, and as Kharma in WWE) in a recurring role, several professional wrestlers made cameos throughout the season. These include John Hennigan as Salty "The Sack" Johnson, a trainer who appeared in the first episode; Tyrus and Carlos Edwin, who played Carmen's wrestler brothers; Joey Ryan as a wrestler known as "Mr. Monopoly", and Ryan's real-life wife and wrestler Laura James played his valet, "Crystal"; Alex Riley played a wrestler known as "Steel Horse"; Brooke Hogan as night club manager Amber Fredrickson; Chavo Guerrero Jr. as Chico Guapo; and Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian as unnamed wrestlers. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Gorgeous George appear in archived video footage in episodes 1 and 4.
Production
The idea for the series came when Flahive and Mensch, who at the time were looking to make a new female-centric show, came across the 2012 documentary GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Before this, neither woman had heard of the GLOW wrestling promotion, and they became intrigued by the premise of producing a fictionalized version of it. Both women found the storyline intriguing as a way of exploring the aftermath of the 1970s Woman's Liberation Movement, with Flahive telling Rolling Stone, "We wanted to look back on the 1970s, coming out of the women's movement, and into the 1980s, and ask the question: Did it work? Did things get better?" To this end, it was important for the series to maintain a tension between whether the league was exploiting women or empowering them.
Ursula Hayden, the owner of the GLOW company, served as a consultant on the series and helped Flahive and Mensch with creating the show. Hayden was also on the original 1980s promotion as Babe, the Farmer's Daughter.
Chavo Guerrero, Jr. of the famous Guerrero wrestling family also served as a consultant on the series and helped train the actresses. His uncle Mando Guerrero had served in the same role for the original series.
Filming
The series was shot on several locations in Los Angeles; mainly in the San Fernando Valley. Chavo's Boxing Gym, which is GLOW's training grounds, was a combination of two locations: the interior was a studio set while the exterior was the rear of the San Fernando Masonic Lodge. The Pink Motel in Sun Valley was used as a stand-in for The Dusty Spur Motel, GLOW's sleeping quarters. Other notable locations include the Mayan Theater and the Hollywood Palladium.
Principal production on season 2 commenced in October 2017.
Marketing
For the Spain Market, Netflix España released a series of promo videos featuring singers Marta Sánchez and Vicky Larraz. The first video, titled "No Controles", features Sánchez imitating Ruth's imaginary wrestler scene from the first episode. The second video has Sánchez and Larraz squaring off in the ring.
For the Brazil market, Netflix Brasil released a promo video featuring singers Gretchen and Rita Cadillac auditioning for GLOW.
Funko will release Pop! Vinyl figures of Ruth and Debbie in mid-2018.
Soundtrack
The series features several songs from the 1980s, as well as tracks from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The episode 1 opening theme for Seasons 1-2 is "The Warrior" by Scandal.
- Season 1 songs
- "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester
- "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey
- "Stir It Up" by Patti LaBelle
- "The Look" by Roxette
- "We Don't Get Along" by The Go-Go's
- "4-3-1" by The Jetzons
- "Every Little Bit" by Jackie James
- "Life in a Northern Town" by The Dream Academy
- "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" by Billy Joel
- "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears
- "Make That Money (Scrooge's Song)" by Alice Cooper
- "Rock You Like a Hurricane (2011 Re-recording)" by Scorpions
- "Ready Steady Go" by Generation X
- "Dare" by Stan Bush
- "Theme of Exodus" by Ernest Gold
- "Angel" by The Jetzons
- "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie
- "Car Wash" by Rose Royce
- "Magic Moments" by Perry Como
- "Things Can Only Get Better" by Howard Jones
- "Invincible" by Pat Benatar
- Season 2 songs
- "You May Be Right" by Billy Joel
- "Just Like Honey" by The Jesus and Mary Chain
- "It's Like That" by Run-DMC
- "Sweat" by The System
- "Situation" by Yazoo
- "Baby You Got It" by Brenton Wood
- "You're All I Need to Get By" by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
- "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat
- "I Know What Boys Like" by The Waitresses
- "Far From Over" by Frank Stallone
- "You Make My Dreams" by Hall & Oates
- "Destination Unknown" by Missing Persons
- "Makeover" by the GLOW Girls
- "Don't Kidnap" by the GLOW Girls
- "Kyrie" by Mr. Mister
- "Cross My Heart" by Richard Myhill
- "Can't You See the World Through My Eyes?" by Donnie Barren
- "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League
- "Crazy for You" by Madonna
- "Man on the Corner" by Genesis
- "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups
- "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship
Quiet Riot's cover of "Cum On Feel the Noize" was used for the Season 1 trailer, while "Maniac" by Michael Sembello was used for the Season 2 trailer. Songs covered by the cast include the Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now" and Barbra Streisand's "This Is One of Those Moments".
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2017)
Season 2 (2018)
Reception
GLOW was praised by critics upon its release; with Season 1 receiving a 95% approval rating from review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, the site's consensus being "With spot-on 1980s period detail, knockout writing, and a killer cast, GLOW shines brightly." Season 2 has a 98% approval rating, the site's consensus being " Fearlessly led by its excellent ensemble, GLOW's second season adds a new layer of drama without sacrificing its self-effacing, delightfully silly humor." The series has a Metacritic score of 81 out of 100, based on 37 critics. Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave the first season an A rating, calling it "a silly-smart masterpiece, with an ensemble cast entirely made up of breakout characters". Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic said, "...it's just a blast to watch women having so much fun. GLOW fully owns its campiness and its showy aesthetics, but it's smart and subversive underneath the glitter."
The series received mixed reactions from some of the original GLOW wrestlers. Jeanne Basone, who wrestled in the promotion as "Hollywood", commented that "Some of the training and the gym and the outfits they get correct." Patricia Summerland, who played "Sunny the California Girl" in the promotion, saw Marc Maron's character Sam Sylvia as a stark contrast to original GLOW director Matt Cimber. Eileen O'Hara, who was known as "Melody Trouble Vixen (MTV)", felt that the series did not properly represent the promotion. Lisa Moretti, who competed as "Tina Ferrari" and would go on to the greatest fame among GLOW alumni as Ivory in the WWF/WWE as a three-time WWF Women's Champion during the Attitude Era, said that she was relieved that the series isn't a documentary because it was more entertaining to have a mix between fact and fiction.
More positive reception came from mainstream wrestling figures including Kurt Angle. Ethan Sapienza of Slate noted accurate comparisons between the series and WWE as well as the various regional promotions that made up the National Wrestling Alliance during its heyday.
Accolades
References
External links
- Official website
- GLOW on IMDb
Source of article : Wikipedia
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