Netflix comedy-drama series “Glow,” created by Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive tells the story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, characters originally created by David McLane. The first season of the wrestling comedy drama consists of 10 episodes which were released on June 23 on Netflix.
Storyline and Casts
Set in Los Angeles in 1985, “GLOW” follows the story of Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie), an aspiring and struggling actress who receives an invitation for an audition along with other 12 women for a professional wrestling promotion called the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW).
The promotion was created by David McLane and Matt Cimber who chose the competitors, mostly aspiring actresses and models, based on other attributes other than their wrestling ability.
“Women who are very different but the thing they have in common is that they’re kind of at a breaking point,” Alison Brie’s co-star Betty Gilpin, who plays the role of Debby “Liberty Belle” Eagen stated, according to People. “If something doesn’t change, something insane is going to happen.”
The show stars Alison Brie (Ruth "Zoya the Destroyer" Wilder), Betty Gilpin ( Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan), Sydelle Noel (Cherry "Junk Chain" Bang), Britney Young (Carmen "Machu Pichu" Wade), Marc Maron (Sam Sylvia), Britt Baron (Justine "Scab" Biagi),Jackie Tohn (Melanie "Melrose" Rosen) , Kimmy Gatewood (Stacey Beswick), Rebekka Johnson (Dawn Rivecca), Kate Nash (Rhonda "Britannica" Richardson), Sunita Mani (Arthie "Beirut the Mad Bomber" Premkumar), Kia Stevens ( Tammé "the Welfare Queen" Dawson), Gayle Rankin (Sheila "the She Wolf), Ellen Wong ( Jenny "Fortune Cookie" Chey), Marianna Palka (Reggie Walsh), Chris Lowell (Sebastian “Bash” Howard), Rich Sommer (Mark Eagan), and Alex Rich (Florian).
According to the creators of the new Netfllix series, Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive shared with NewsWeek that the idea about the show started when they were watching the 2014 documentary of “The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.” Their idea and story was then snapped up by the streaming service network in May 2016.
Nostalgic and women empowerment
The show runners said that they needed their casts to learn how to wrestle. Mensch said they did not want stunt doubles and so what they have shown was done by the women themselves. Brie also added that the series has been totally female-forward from producers to creators up to the 14 cast members.
So far, the “GLOW” received positive responses from critics. It has received 97 percent approval ratings from Rotten Tomatoes. Several news media also praised the nostalgic, intimate and empowerment message expressed on the show. Watch the trailer below:
Meanwhile, Brie already teased what fans can expect if ever the show gets green light for another season and said: “‘What if we go to secret wrestling camp and learn some crazy moves and bring them back for season two?’”
