The ladies of “GLOW” will not get to return for a final season after Netflix pulled the plug on the series due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic…
The ladies of “GLOW” have put on their wrestling shoes for the final time.
On Monday, Netflix reversed an earlier renewal for the critically acclaimed series, which was set to receive a fourth and final season to wrap up the show. Instead, “GLOW” has been cancelled effective immediately, which means the series is already done.
It’s sad news for the show led by Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin and Marc Maron after Netflix had originally given the series one more season to wrap up storylines and give fans a satisfying conclusion. Now unfortunately those plans have been abandoned due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has wreaked havoc with production and filming schedules.
“COVID has killed actual humans. It’s a national tragedy and should be our focus. COVID also apparently took down our show. Netflix has decided not to finish filming the final season of GLOW,” series creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch said in a statement released on Monday.
“We were handed the creative freedom to make a complicated comedy about women and tell their stories. And wrestle. And now that’s gone. There’s a lot of shitty things happening in the world that are much bigger than this right now. But it still sucks that we don’t get to see these 15 women in a frame together again.”
“GLOW” was loosely based in the 1980’s professional wrestling series of the same name — the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling — with the show initially based in Los Angeles before the third season actually moved to Las Vegas.
The series has been nominated for several awards including Best Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards as well as Gilpin recognized for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Debbie Eagan aka Liberty Bell.
Filming on the final season of “GLOW” started back in February and the show reportedly finished the first episode before the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately shut down production. According to an initial report from Deadline, Netflix decided to pull the plug on “GLOW” due to rising costs as well as safety issues considering the physical nature required of the actors performing in a show based around professional wrestling.
The additional delays in filming would have pushed back “GLOW” from returning to Netflix until at least sometime in 2022 and the streaming service decided not to move forward with additional production, although the series regulars for the cast were paid in full.
Brie took to Instagram after the news was announced to lament the conclusion of “GLOW” without a final season actually making it into production.
