About:

Title: GLOW (Season #1)
Released: 2017

Fix: The 1980s And Everything That Decade Entails, Including So Much Sexism and Racism Holy Crap, Satire, Wrestling (If You Like That Sort of Thing), Hilaribad Costumes, Women Getting Shit Done, Lady Directors, Writers, and Executive Producers
Platform: Netflix

Netflix Summary:

A look at the personal and professional lives of a group of women who perform for a wrestling organization in Los Angeles.

FYA Summary:

Here is another role in which I can’t decide whether I love Alison Brie or want to gently wrap my hands around her neck and throttle her until she never says anything else in her perfectly clipped Well-Bred Accent with a Raise of Her Perfectly Groomed Eyebrows. (I say this very lovingly. I’m sure she’s a great person, but holy crap, does she ever play Entitled Young White Woman perfectly. TRUDY, I SEE YOU.) ANYWAY.

Ruth is a struggling young white actress who sees an acting cattle call and decides to go for it—the only problems are that a) this is a wrestling show with a sexist, racist director, b) her estranged best friend is competing for a role, and b) she is kind of the worst actress ever. OH WELL.

GLOW, in case you didn’t know, stands for the real-life show Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (which was apparently as one-dimensional as it sounds) and is written/produced by Jenji Kohan (of Weeds and Orange is the New Black fame). Speaking of Kohan, I always start out loving her shows, and am immensely disappointed after a couple of seasons in—here’s hoping she knows when to end it, this time.

Luckily for those of you, like me, who do not particularly love wrestling, the show isn’t about wrestling at all.

Familiar Faces:

Alison Brie as Ruth

Trudy Campbell is in the house—at least if she were born 20 years later, to a much poorer family. Daddy would not like this.

Betty Gilpin as Debbie

You might remember Betty from American GodsMasters of Sex, or Nurse Jackie—and she also wrote this great article about how empowering it was to learn to wrestle for the show.

Kia Stevens as Tamme Dawson

Kia is an actual wrestler!

Rich Sommer as Marc

Another Mad Men alum!

Couch-Sharing Capability: Super Mega Ultra

The ’80s were big, and so is this show—big on gimmicks, big on hair and costumes, big on drama. It’s silly and subversive, which is fun, and the racist and sexist satire is easy enough to pick up on. On the other hand, even though it’s satire, it can be really hard to watch if you’re already exhausted by the news.

Recommended Level of Inebriation: Pour One Out For The Ladies of the Eighties

To fully appreciate this show, I recommend drinking the most disgusting ’80s cocktail you can find. It should taste like eyeshadow applied up to the eyebrows, aquanet, the sweat of ten overworked actresses, perm solution, and candied stonewashed denim jackets.

Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Netflix Original

You’ll have to have a Netflix subscription for this one, so it’s a good use of your account. If you like it, you can binge it–which won’t take long, since there are only 10 half-hour episodes.