Are you looking for inappropriate, not safe for work comedy that is so steeped in the 80’s you can almost taste the TAB cola? Then look no further than GLOW, the most recent binge worthy Netflix series.

I remember growing up in the 1980’s and loving the then WWF as wrestlers Hulk Hogan, The Macho Man, and Andre the Giant cut ridiculous promos and put their bodies on the line to wow millions of fans in stadiums and arenas across the world. I also loved the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, but for different reasons. The all women wrestling promotion began in 1986, just as an 11 year old boy from Connecticut (yours truly) was quickly discovering that I had a profound attraction to the opposite sex. Watching GLOW was almost akin to watching soft soft soft porn which left plenty of fodder for this pre-teen to fantasize about girl on girl cat fights. When Netflix announced a series based on the formation of the promotion, I knew I would eat it up.

Alison Brie stars as the fictional Ruth Wilder, a down and out actress who came to Los Angeles to make it big in Hollywood. Unfortunately for Ruth, things haven’t gone according to plan as she bombs auditions, gets kicked out of acting classes, and can’t even waitress properly. She lives in a rundown apartment, drives a run down shit box and has no friends except for Debbie (Betty Gilpin), a fellow thespian whose greatest accomplishment has been an actor on a soap opera who was in a year long coma. As self destruction after accompanies underachievment, Ruth ruins that friendship as well as she has been sleeping with Debbie’s husband. Ruth might have finally caught a break when she is called to audition for a new type of show. The burgeoning program is directed by Sam (Marc Maron), a coke head of a soft core B movie director who has zero tact. He is not a fan of Ruth’s, but when Debbie confronts Ruth on set about the affair, Sam feels he has found his muse.

Alison Brie is a vision, conjuring her best Kristen Wiig in every jittery mannerism, and Maron nails the text book definition of a shiftless creep who probably invented the casting couch. Through all of the funny and drama that these ladies go through to create the popular wrestling promotion, there are clear feminism undertones that put a spotlight on the unfairness of Hollywood and the world in general when it comes to equal work for equal pay and the exploitation that women have long endured.

GLOW is a fun ride with very adult themes attached. It hit me right in the childhood and I can’t wait for season 2.

 

4.5 ketchup bottles out of 5