‘Glow’ Canceled As Netflix Reverses Season 4 Renewal Amid Covid Production Concerns

This is a bit of a body slam shocker and a huge blow for fans of this beloved show. Netflix has reversed its decision on the season four renewal of the female wrestling drama “GLOW” and has decided to cancel the show instead. The series, starring Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, and Marc Maron, has become the latest casualty of production shutdowns in the difficult era of COVID-19 delays and production halts. Netflix originally made their renewal decision back in August of 2019, over a year ago.

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“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,” series creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch said in a statement to Deadline. “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.”

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Flahive and Mensch added, “We’ll miss our cast of weirdo clowns and our heroic crew. It was the best job,” ending their note to fans with a plea: “Register to vote. And please vote.”

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“GLOW” was actually filming its fourth season earlier this year and was forced to shut down production three weeks into shooting in March during the height of the pandemic. According to Deadline, at the time of the shutdown, “GLOW” had completed one episode and had started on a second.

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There’s also a physical component and challenge to “GLOW” that can’t be avoided like you can on another drama, shooting actors one at a time, distanced, but using different lenses to make them appear if they are standing close by (shows and movies with sex scenes are going to face the same challenges). Apparently, those risk factors, heavy breathing from physical exertion, and the fact the show was already expensive with a big ensemble cast put it into Netflix’s crosshairs.

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“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,” a Netflix spokesperson told Deadline in their statement. “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.”

“GLOW” earned 15 Emmy nominations and three wins during its run which started in 2017 and now ends prematurely. It’s unclear if Netflix will allow the producers and showrunners to take the series elsewhere, which already could prove extremely complicated given the contract negotiations that would have to be redone for a cast that includes around 20 regular players.

In related Netflix news, the streamer also canceled “Teenage Bounty Hunters“ after only one season. Earlier this year, Netflix also canceled “The Society” and “I Am Not Okay With This “due to circumstances related to COVID.”