It’s been a bit of a rocky few months for Netflix‘s original shows, with many popular and widely loved series getting the axe. Sure, there’s been a healthy amount of renewals, too, but over the last little while we’ve seen the likes of Altered Carbon, I Am Not Okay With This, The Society and, of course, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, among others, be given their marching orders. And now, we can add one more to the list.
Deadline brings the unfortunate news today that GLOW will not be moving forward with its fourth season. This comes as a particularly big blow as it had actually already been renewed. But due to COVID-19 concerns, Netflix has decided to reverse their decision and won’t be keeping the show around. And what a shame that is.
“COVID has killed actual humans. It’s a national tragedy and should be our focus. COVID also apparently took down our show,” series creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch said in a statement. “Netflix has decided not to finish filming the final season of GLOW. 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 sh*tty 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.”
Added Flahive and Mensch: “We’ll miss our cast of weirdo clowns and our heroic crew. It was the best job.” They ending their note to fans with a plea: “Register to vote. And please vote.”
Of course, GLOW had already begun shooting its fourth season, though production was halted back in March when COVID-19 lockdowns began. While Netflix was hoping to get things going again, this particular series proved more difficult to make than most once restrictions eased, given the physical requirements of all the wrestling, which includes close contact, heavy breathing, etc.
As Deadline notes, GLOW became a project that was seen as “high-risk to produce safely during COVID” and that, coupled with the fact that it was already an expensive production meant that it just became too costly and dangerous to continue filming, leading to this decision. The outlet goes on to explain:
“Additionally, the earliest GLOW would have returned to air would be 2022, at least two and half years after Season 3. With the significant delay and the increased costs of production, Netflix brass didn’t have confidence there would be a big enough audience who would tune in at that point to justify the investment.”
That’s certainly fair, but it doesn’t make this pill any easier to swallow. Indeed, GLOW was a terrific, critically acclaimed and popular show, one that deserves a better ending than this. But these are unprecedented times we’re living in and no doubt a similar fate will soon befall many other productions that may be too difficult to shoot now with all the physical restrictions in place.
Tell us, though, were you a fan of Netflix‘s GLOW? If so, feel free to share your thoughts on this disheartening news in the comments section down below.
