Orange Is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan is looking to move from women’s prison into the wrestling ring.
GLOW — aka Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling — is based on the professional women’s wrestling syndicated TV series that existed in the ‘80s. Netflix’s straight-to-series 10-episode comedy is inspired by the real story of the female wrestling league. It’s set in Los Angeles and, like the original, will feature “big hair and body slams” and tell the fictionalized story of an out-of-work actress who finds one last attempt to live her dreams in the form of a weekly series about female wrestlers.
The comedy was co-created by Liz Flahive (Homeland) and Carly Mensch (Orange), who will exec produce alongside Kohan and Orange‘s Tara Herrmann. Flahive and Mensch — who previously collaborated on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie — will serve as showrunners.
The original GLOW was created by Matt Cimber and inspired by a similar concept by David B. McLane. It was born out of Jackie Stallone’s women’s fitness gym, Barbarella’s. Wrestler turned Hollywood stuntman Mando Guerrero served as the trainer. The syndicated show ran for four seasons with 104 total episodes, from 1986 to 1990, and was filmed at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. Watch the opening credits and a match, below.
The news comes three weeks ahead of the season-four debut of Kohan’s Orange Is the New Black, which has become an awards season mainstay. Unlike with Orange, which is produced by Lionsgate Television, Netflix will oversee GLOW. Also unlike Orange, GLOW will be a half-hour comedy.
Flahive is repped by Schreck Rose; Mensch is with WME; Herrmann is with CAA; Kohan is with CAA and Jackoway Tyerman.
GLOW marks the streaming giant’s latest comedy addition and comes as the company has committed to spending $5 billion this year on original programming. Netflix has been on a comedy tear in the past few months, with recent orders for Crazy Face, Dear White People, Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later; Easy, a comedic anthology from mumblecore guru Joe Swanberg; Sophia Amoruso’s #Girlboss; sketch comedy The Characters; and Drew Barrymore-Timothy Olyphant starrer Santa Clarita Diet joining recently renewed The Ranch; Flaked; Aziz Ansari’s Master of None; Judd Apatow’s Love; Fuller House; Grace and Frankie; Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and more.
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