Despite previously claiming that GLOW would be receiving a fourth season, streaming juggernaut Netflix has announced that its show about female wrestling in the ’80s and ’90s has been canceled before filming could wrap up. With concerns growing over how to safely film a show about a full-contact sport during the coronavirus pandemic, the company erred on the side of caution for the cast and crew. It will not be going ahead with the fourth season anytime in the future.
“We’ve made the difficult decision not to do a fourth season of GLOW due to COVID,” said a Netflix spokesperson to Deadline, “which makes shooting this physically intimate show with its large ensemble cast especially challenging. We are so grateful to creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, Jenji Kohan, and all the writers, cast, and crew for sharing this story about the incredible women of GLOW with us and the world.”
What makes the news so disappointing is that a single episode had completed filming earlier in the year. Production had already begun on the second episode when COVID lockdown restrictions were put in place. Since GLOW is a more physically involved show than other productions, Netflix would have had to continue delaying production until possibly 2022, which spurred the decision to simply cut its loses with this one.
Show creators Flahive and Mensch added, “COVID has killed actual humans. It’s a national tragedy and should be our focus…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.”
Not everything here is gloom and doom. Netflix has confirmed that all series regulars will be paid in full for the fourth season, meaning their time wasn’t completely wasted. There’s also no bad blood between any of the cast and crew, so some kind of special could always be on the cards for the future. It’s just disappointing that this series won’t see a proper conclusion for at least another two years, if at all.
Source: Deadline
