Before Netflix, G.L.O.W. was an '80s fever dream starring Sylvester Stallone's mom
LOS ANGELES -- Before they were comic fodder for Orange is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling -- G.L.O.W. to those of us old enough to remember it -- were unintentional comic fodder for another TV mastermind, who just happens to be Sylvester Stallone's mom.
That's right: Just about the time her boy Sly was off making Cobra, Over the Top and Rambo III, Jacqueline Stallone was part of the producing team that launched G.L.O.W., the inspiration behind Netflix's new comedy of the same name.
Jacqueline Stallone also played the manager in the hypnotically bizarre free-association improv exercise that was part women's-pro-wrestling show, part spicy-food dream of the mid 1980s.
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To a 13-year-old boy, all of it was pretty glorious.
Netflix announced the new comedy series Tuesday, but hasn't pinned down a premiere or even production start date. (You can always stream the documentary G.L.O.W.: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling in the meantime.)
Kohan is going to have a blast with this material, which is so post-ironic in its poor quality and lack of narrative that you just know it's going to get mind-bendingly weird.
The original 1986 opener was a really long, very terrible, shockingly problematic three-minute rap, and there's just no topping it:
So that can't change.
G.L.O.W. made it four seasons in its initial run, starting out in what is now the now very sad, very smoky Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. But each season was 26 episodes long, so they left behind 104 episodes worth of this beautiful madness, which surely few humans have ever endeavored to take in entirely.
Whatever Kohan has in mind for G.L.O.W. will be must-check-out-streaming-TV, but there is almost no way it could ever be as truly out there as the original.
There was some wrestling, and by all accounts it wasn't pleasant
Late Show host Ross Shafer dropped by one time, so you know it was legit.
There might have been some ... cheerleading? At some point?
But hey, that's good. Keeping it positive. Rooting for each other. Supporting and applauding one another ...
... some of it for the wrestling ...
... and some just for that amazing athletic wear.
You won't find that at Ivy Park.
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Topics Netflix
Josh Dickey is Mashable's Entertainment Editor, leading Mashable's TV, music, gaming and sports reporters as well as writing movie features and reviews.Josh has been the Film Editor at Variety, Entertainment Editor at The Associated Press and Managing Editor at TheWrap.com.A finalist for the Los Angeles Press Club's Best Entertainment Feature in 2015 for "Everyone is Altered: The Secret Hollywood Procedure that Fooled Us for Years," Josh received his BA in Journalism from The University of Minnesota.In between screenings, he can be found skating longboards, shredding guitar and wandering the streets of his beloved downtown Los Angeles.
