When is GLOW season 4's Netflix release date? Latest updates and what you need to know
Everything you need to know about the final season of the 1980s wrestling comedy - and whether it's still happening.
Netflix's Emmy-winning series GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) was previously renewed for a fourth and unfortunately final season.
Fans of the Gorgeous Ladies were delighted the wrestlers would be back for one last match, with promise of more outrageous '80s hairstyles, award-winning stunt-work and female-focused friendship, and with a cast boasting the likes of Community's Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, and Sydelle Noel.
However, while it seemed at first that GLOW had narrowly survived the Netflix three-season-curse, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in huge delays for production due to lockdown and filming restrictions.
But while the crew managed to get season four's opening episode finished before lockdown, it now looks like viewers may not get to see it.
Here's everything you need to know about GLOW season four.
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Why was GLOW Season 4 cancelled by Netflix?
GLOW season four was cancelled in October 2020 due to the COVID-19 industry shutdown, according to Deadline.
GLOW co-creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch told the publication: “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.
"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 s***ty 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.”
Flahive and Mensch added: “We’ll miss our cast of weirdo clowns and our heroic crew. It was the best job.”
A fourth season was originally announced in September 2019, when cast and crew also revealed that the show's fourth outing would be its last.
Production was originally due to star in February 2020 and end in May 2020, according to reports. In February, we also got a shot of a wrestling training ring, featured on Alison Brie's Instagram account.
The first episode was reportedly completed, and the second started, by the time that the COVID-19 pandemic halted production.
Going by previous years, GLOW season four was likely earmarked for a summer 2020 release, but that was before lockdown, and the show's cancellation.
GLOW seasons one to three are available to stream on Netflix now.
What was going to happen in GLOW season 4?
GLOW follows the personal and professional lives of a group of women who reinvent themselves as the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling in 1980s Los Angeles.
Season three left the GLOW gang fractured: Carmen has left the group, Sam is now making films with his daughter, and Ruth seemingly rejected close friend Debbie's offer of a directing job to pursue acting.
Season four, therefore, was due to have a very different feel, seeing the girls return to Los Angeles to appear in Debbie's new wrestling show now that she and Bash own a TV network. The wrestlers were likely set to take on new personas as part of GLOW's TV reinvention, as well as facing a slew of personal issues.
Show creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch were (previously) delighted to have season four commissioned, having ended season three on a cliffhanger:
“We have a full story to tell and whether or not we’re idiots for not giving ourselves an ending this season remains to be seen,” Flahive told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’ve played it this way every season, where we’ve sort of left it all on the field. This show has a big heart and a big cast and big story to tell, and other people are not going to set that limit for us. We can’t do that, because it wouldn’t be fair to what we’re trying to do. We’d love to have the opportunity to give the show a satisfying ending.”
Unfortunately, it now looks like we might never get to see that "satisfying ending" after all.
Who was in the cast of GLOW season 4?
Alison Brie was set to lead the cast as Ruth 'Zoya the Destroya' Wilder, with Betty Gilpin as her former close friend Debbie 'Liberty Belle' Eagan. Arrow's Sydelle Noel was going to reprise her role as Cherry 'Black Magic' Bang and singer Kate Nash as Rhonda 'Britannica' Richardson.
Marc Maron (Sam Sylvia), Britt Baron (Justine 'Scab' Biagi), Gayle Rankin (Sheila 'the She Wolf') and Kia Stevens (Tammé 'The Welfare Queen') were also set to return.
Is there a trailer for GLOW season 4?
There was a brief teaser, released prior to the season's cancellation.
Check out our lists of the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix, or see what else is on with our TV Guide.
