By Sharanya Gopinathan
Netflix’s new series, called GLOW, promises to be a comedy-drama about women wrestlers in the 1980s. Which sounds kind of fantastical and awesome in itself, but even more so when you find out that it’s inspired by an actual show from the 80s, called Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling ran from 1986 to 1990, and primarily saw women wrestling, although they also sometimes rapped and performed comedy sketches. Unlike other wrestling entertainment shows, like the WWE, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling ran in seasons, with wrestlers being picked up and dropped before new seasons would begin. Jackie Stallone, the mother of Sylvester Stallone, was also involved with Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, as a manager.
Netflix promises that the new series, GLOW, will be “witty, irreverent and off-beat”, and I don’t really see how it cannot be. It features a motley crew of out-of-work actors and 12 Hollywood misfits who are on the rough road to wrestling stardom. It’s created by Liz Flahive (of Nurse Jackie and Homeland) and Carly Mensch (of Weeds, Orange is the New Black and Nurse Jackie). They just released the first photos from the show, and it all looks very exciting. It releases on June 23rd, so mark your calendars, because this sounds like the perfect fuel for some major binge-watching.