GLOW – Picture: Netflix
GLOW had been scheduled to return to Netflix for a fourth and final season as confirmed in September 2019. But after a frighteningly chaotic 2020, Netflix has pulled the series from production due to the ongoing global pandemic. In the recent string of cancelations, the end of GLOW may be one of the most shocking yet.
GLOW had been one of the most refreshing shows on Netflix in the past few years, gaining its own fiercely loyal fanbase. Thanks to a phenomenal blend of great drama and comedic moments this made GLOW one of the best Originals available on Netflix.
For season 3, The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling have hit the road and headed to sin city but as the events of the final season suggest, the story wasn’t quite over.
GLOW Season 4 Netflix Renewal Status
Official Netflix Renewal Status: Ended (Last Updated: 06/10/2020)
GLOW was destined to overcome the Netflix “three-season curse,” but just like Hemlock Grove, Santa Clarita Diet, and One Day at a Time, the series has come to an end after season 3.
Netflix released the following statement regarding the cancelation of GLOW season 4:
We’ve made the difficult decision not to do a fourth season of ‘GLOW’ due to COVID, 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
Many fans, such as ourselves, are sad to see the series come to an end.
#Glow has been renewed for a fourth and final season! pic.twitter.com/nI0OjJNjR1
— Netflix Queue (@netflixqueue) September 20, 2019
The initial renewal for GLOW came mere days after the show was once again announced to win an Emmy for Outstanding Stunt Coordination. Its third season was also nominated for a number of 2020 Emmys including:
- Production Design For A Narrative Program (Half-Hour)
- Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
- Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation
Although it’s the end for GLOW, Britney Young who plays Carmen on the show expressed interest in potential future spinoffs. Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch returned as the showrunners for season 4.
What was expected from GLOW season 4 on Netflix?
After Bash and Debbie successfully went behind the back of Tex, they successfully bought a Television network in Los Angeles. Bash pulled all of his money out of Rhapsody and into the deal thus the strip club is closing and GLOW would be without a home. Debbie revealed to Ruth that as the president of the network, she and Bash want to form a new wrestling promotion in Los Angeles with brand new characters.
The last ever show in Las Vegas for GLOW?
After all the rejections from her auditions, it looked like Ruth was going to join Debbie and take up her offer of being a director. Deciding against this, Ruth wants to stay the path and is determined to become an actor no matter how long it takes her.
GLOW is still alive but will have a new roster of characters when it goes live on Bash’s new television network. Carmen is leaving GLOW to join her brother Kurt on the road.
Ruth’s future is unclear but she may join new GLOW and avoid taking the director’s seat as Debbie wanted. As for the other ladies, they have no idea about the television network and not all of them may make the cut for Bash and Debbie’s wrestling promotion.
We should also see more from Sam and Ruth as their relationship ended on rather sticky terms with Ruth failing to get the part in Sam’s new show that he’s scheduled to direct.
Season 3 seems to be the first and last time in Las Vegas, however. The ladies are splitting up with most heading back to their original Los Angeles location.
The co-creator of the show has plenty more to give to. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Carly Mensch has said: “We have a direction we want to go in and some new territory that we’ll say is a bit heavier on wrestling and is new from where we’ve been”.
Rebekkah Johnson who plays Carmen has said we may see segments of her character on the road. She told Metro: “if we get to season 4, I think we’d get to see what Carmen does, where she’s going on the road.”
GLOW season 4 production updates & potential Netflix release date
The third season was the first time GLOW was released outside of June. All of season 3 was added to Netflix on August 9th, 2019.
The original filming for the series was scheduled to take place between February 18th to May 27th, 2020 according to Production Weekly. Although production did start, it was quickly concluded given the global pandemic and it shutting down most productions. It’s been reported that they were two episodes in before closing production.
In both August and September 2020, we got updates that production is not currently expected to restart in 2020 instead that “Production is expected to begin early next year.”.
In an interview in August 2020, Alison Brie (who plays Ruth in the series) said that their show, in particular, would face long delays. She said “When we shut down, I was in a wrestling ring and was in mid-sweat on another person as we were gearing up to shoot a match. We definitely taste each other’s sweat fairly often.”
That certainly ruled out any possibility of GLOW season 4 coming to Netflix in 2020 but had ruled out an early 2021 release too
There was some behind-the-scenes footage from season 4, though. Kate Nash took to Twitter on February 27th to share some of the training taking place. Alison Brie later confirmed that filming begins in March 2020 and also teased a change of location for the final season.
Thanks to the ongoing global pandemic, production has now officially ended for GLOW season 4.
Showrunners and series creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch released a statement regarding the series cancelation:
COVID has killed actual humans. It’s a national tragedy and should be our focus. COVID also apparently took down our show.
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 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. We’ll miss our cast of weirdo clowns and our heroic crew. It was the best job. Register to vote. And please vote
Will GLOW be revived post-pandemic?
Netflix isn’t one to revive a series once it has been canceled. And sadly, it isn’t easy to revive a series with an extensive ensemble and crew.
While we imagine many of the actors and crew involved would love to push the series over the finishing line, by the time Netflix could revive the series we may see scheduling conflicts that could prove to be difficult for production.
It’s not an impossibility we won’t see GLOW eventually conclude, but it would take something monumental for Netflix to change its stance. As proven in the past, petitions are popular, but rarely do they make a difference.
Are you looking forward to watching the final season of GLOW? Let us know in the comments below.
