#GLOW: Cancelled by Netflix; Season Four Renewal Reversed Due to COVID-19

(Netflix)

Another TV show won’t be returning due to the ongoing pandemic. In recent months, shows like Stumptown (ABC), The Society (Netflix), and I Am Not Okay With This (Netflix) have all been cancelled due to delays caused by the ongoing pandemic. Now, Netflix has dropped plans for the fourth and final season of GLOW.

A  scripted comedy, GLOW stars Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Sydelle Noel, Jackie Tohn, Britney Young, Kia Stevens, Gayle Rankin, Kate Nash, Britt Baron, Marc Maron, and Chris Lowell. The fictional series is inspired by the 1980s all-female professional wrestling league and the syndicated G.L.O.W.: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling TV show. It follows a group of L.A. women at the center of a low-rated cable wrestling series. The series revels in 1980s fashion and culture.

The series was renewed for a fourth and final season in September 2019 and the cast and crew were about three weeks into filming when COVID-19 shut down production in March.  One episode had been completed and another had been started.

“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 to Deadline. “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. We’ll miss our cast of weirdo clowns and our heroic crew. It was the best job. … Register to vote. And please vote.”

Netflix had been working on ways to resume production on the series which is filmed in Los Angeles. Due to the close physical contact and heavy breathing that are part of wrestling, it became clear that filming wouldn’t be able to resume safely for several months, at the earliest.

The series wouldn’t be able to return until 2022 at the earliest (two and a half years after the end of season three) so the streamer was unsure if a large enough audience would tune in to justify the cost. Because of the long delay and heightened production costs, the budget was too high for Netflix to proceed.

All of the series regulars have been paid for the full season. It’s unclear if Netflix might release the completed fourth season footage at some point.

What do you think? Are you a fan of the GLOW TV series? Were you looking forward to watching the fourth and finals season? Would you like to see the completed footage or, hear how the story would have ended?