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    GLOW

    GLOW - 2017
    Netflix
    ****

    A mix of a skid row Charlie's Angels with Boogie Nights with the "fuck-it" kind of hope that can come out of hopelessness of Dirty Dozen, GLOW is the fictionalized account of the batshit insano Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling that aired in the 1980s.

    Why the show works it's comedy rooted firmly in tragedy. These actresses have nowhere to go, with a future of nothing other than secretary roles in Steve Guttenberg movies. At the time, I would watch an episode here or there, but wasn't into it because it was the peak of the Dusty Rhodes vs the Four Horsemen era and the Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage era. But it is quite amazing that one of the Guerrero clan would really make these Hollywood actresses into very good pro wrestlers. They grasp their chance and take their body slams and monkey flips.

    The Charlie part is Marc Maron, a stand up comedian I've never heard of. He's a dimestore Hollywood director, making movies like Blood Disco. He has no idea how the wrestling business works. His script for the show is a post-apocalyptic wasteland where women fight over the last man. His producer tells him to watch some Iron Shiek. They don't want shlock, they want stereotypes.

    With Claws and now GLOW, we see the effect of the success of Orange is the New Black. As bad as our political climate is especially for women, at least tv continues to offer a beautiful vision for the future.

    #2
    The Charlie part is Marc Maron, a stand up comedian I've never heard of.
    Really? He's the host of one of the biggest podcasts around (famously interviewed Obama), and had a Louie style TV show, Maron.

    Comment


      #3
      He also hosted a show on Comedy Central way back in the early/mid 90s when Comedy Central was only stand-up and Monty Python repeats, and he was kind of big in the NYC alternative comedy scene back then.

      I haven't watched this, but I'm interested in it. Does the Hollywood Tropicana make an appearance, JV? When I was a kid, I'd always see ads for mud wrestling there, and I didn't really have any idea why mud wrestling would be attractive to people, but I heard it was women in bikinis doing it, and that it was seen as a dirty place, so I knew that it must have been hot and sexy. We didn't drive up to LA all that often, my parents hated the traffic on the freeways and we really could stay around Long Beach for mostly everything, but on the occasions that we would venture up that way and had to take the 101 through Hollywood, I got a little bit of a thrill seeing the Hollywood Tropicana.

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        #4
        ...and he's from NJ of all places. I figured JV grew up with him.

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          #5
          He was born in NJ, but raised in Albuquerque. He's played a couple of benefits in ABQ over the last few years and puts on a good show. I got to talk to him after a gig and we were talking rock concerts and we checked off all the same shows we saw at Tingley Coliseum in the 70s and early 80s. He was extremely personable and the same guy you hear on the podcast. His podcast w/ Mike Judge, fellow Burqueño, is one of my favorites.

          Re: GLOW - The station I used to work at (KGMC TV Channel 34 Gives You More!) showed the original program back in the late 80s. We had a blast making promos for it. It was perfectly ludicrous.

          Netflix has a GLOW documentary that wasn't bad - just like male wrestling, there were some wrestlers who weren't doing too bad, but there were some who were in seriously bad shape.
          Last edited by Cal Alamein; 29-06-2017, 14:57.

          Comment


            #6
            Mea Culpa, never heard of him.

            He's from Jersey City. That's kind of like saying someone from Birmingham should know someone from Newcastle.

            I'm not much into comedy. I only saw George Carlin live, and only saw maybe 8-10 performances in my life. And Chris Rock was 3 of them.

            Whatever the case, he will be in many things to follow.

            No Tropicana yet, Inca. Just crappy warehouses in the Valley.

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              #7
              Anyway, I'm finally onto this. We binged seasons 1 and 2 on the weekend and just started 3. They've signed for a 4th and final season, which I assume is out sometime this year. Netflix are cunts and all that, but honestly 4 seasons is probably all the gas this thing needs in order to say what it needs to say.

              It's flawed and uneven and funny and lovely. It's not among the greats, but it's worth your time.

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                #8
                I mean, I think the original GLOW only lasted 2 years.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by WOM View Post
                  They've signed for a 4th and final season, which I assume is out sometime this year.
                  Cancelled - grappled to the canvas by Covid.

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                    #10
                    Aw poop. Maron's girlfriend died this past spring, too, so it's been a rough year for him.

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                      #11
                      Yeah it's a bummer (and I'm not a fan of how cut-throat TV companies are being about productions at the moment and I think it's going to come back to bite them a few years down the line), but I was already wondering where they could go in a fourth season. It certainly got the chance to tell the story it wanted to tell.

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                        #12
                        Yeah, sometimes three is all you need to make your point.

                        We just finished the 'Northern Ireland' season of Sons of Anarchy and my wife remarked "well, that was the docks season of The Wire".

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