GLOW

What’s it about?

GLOW follows a struggling actress who auditions for a brand new, over-the-top women’s wrestling promotion in 1980s Hollywood.

Starring

Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Sydelle Noel, Britney Young, Marc Maron

An Introduction to GLOW

The place is Hollywood in the mid-1980s, and Ruth Wilder (Community and Mad Men‘s Alison Brie) is an actress who is finding it increasingly hard to land a role and consequently pay the bills. Not only is the market flooded with aspiring actresses, but the available roles are puny and poorly paid.

Ruth still hopes to find a role that will allow her to flex her acting muscles, but those seem to be the exclusive realm of her male counterparts and seasoned veterans. Finally, out of desparation, she asks her long-suffering agent, Mallory (Amy Farrington) to keep a look-out for ANY available roles.

Mercifully, Ruth soon receives notification of a casting call – “unconventional women” required. What on earth could that mean? On attending the casting at an out-of-town warehouse, she finds herself among a large collection of fellow thespians seated around what looks like a wrestling ring. Enter, grumpy-looking director Sam Silvia (Marc Maron)…

Sam explains what the casting is for: “This is not a movie. This is GLOW.” Cue blank looks from the assembled women. He explains that he is creating a new kind of TV show called Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, and anyone who doesn’t fancy participating in this venture is welcome to leave right away.

Will Ruth stick around to learn more? It’s not exactly Arthur Miller, but it would probably pay the bills for now if she got cast… and what would happen then?!

Summary

GLOW is a joyous blast of kitsch and comedy drama, with Orange Is The New Black creator, Jenji Kohan serving as executive producer. Its subject matter, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, was a real TV show created in the ‘decade of excess’ by businessman David B. McLane. At the time, women’s wrestling was considered of limited appeal to most, but McLane took note of fan reaction and decided that this was an untapped market.

1980s settings have seen some great shows lately, such as Halt And Catch Fire and Black Mirror’s San Junipero tale (season 3, episode 4). GLOW joins the party with an affectionate depiction of the era that taste forgot, with big hair and nose candy in abundance set to a soundtrack of power pop and hair rock anthems.

You don’t need to know anything about wrestling before watching this show. In fact, it’s assumed that you probably know as much as Ruth does – pretty much nuthin’. So, as we accompany Ruth on her journey into this brave new world, we learn the ropes alongside her. First up, “the victim does all the work” – mind blown!

Dive into GLOW – it’s good fun with an ’80s flavor and a fabulous, flamboyant cast. Popcorn at the ready!

Check out the Season 1 Trailer here: