Deadline is reporting that Netflix's female-led wrestling comedy GLOW has been cancelled after three seasons. The show was renewed over a year ago, and the first episode had already been shot (with work on the second having already begun) when production was closed down due to COVID-19.
The reasons for the cancellation are numerous, but production taking place in Los Angeles, an area it's currently challenging to shoot anything in, is somewhere near the top of the list. Throw in the physical requirements which come with wrestling - the cast certainly can't socially distance - and the cost that comes with making the series, and this news isn't overly surprising.
With shooting delayed, there was likely going to be a two-and-a-half-year gap between season three and four, so Netflix was concerned that there would no longer be much of an interest there.
"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 joint statement. "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."
GLOW earned 15 Emmy nominations during its run, and the cast included Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, and Marc Maron.