Netflix cancels fourth season of GLOW

The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling will not be returning to the ring after all. After previously getting the go-ahead for a fourth and final season of GLOW, the series' creators have been told that Netflix is reversing course.

Despite some of the upcoming season already being filmed, the popular streaming service has decided not to move forward with the wrestling dramedy due to strains put on by the ongoing pandemic:

“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 statement to Deadline Hollywood. “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."

GLOW was about three weeks into filming when the production was shut down in the middle of March, according to Dateline. Series star Marc Maron has already taken to Twitter with his reaction.

No more GLOW. Sorry. Stinks.

— marc maron (@marcmaron) October 5, 2020

GLOW was heavily promoted ahead of the Season 3 release last year. Series lead Alison Brie even stepped into the ring with "The Man" Becky Lynch for a photo shoot for ESPN the Magazine. This was a milestone for Lynch, as she became the first WWE Superstar to be on the magazine cover.

THE MAN becomes the first @WWE Superstar to grace the cover of @espn The Magazine as @BeckyLynchWWE joins @GlowNetflix's @alisonbrie for the BLOCKBUSTER issue, available this Friday! https://t.co/pzkYpDaLqO

— WWE (@WWE) July 9, 2019

GLOW was nominated for 15 Emmy Awards during it's three-year run. So why not wait to give the series it's conclusion?

Cost and physical demand made GLOW tough to finish

AEW's Awesome Kong in GLOW - Photo Credit TV Guide

It should come as no surprise that a show based on professional wrestling would demand a lot of physical contact. That apparently was one of the contributing factors to it's cancellation. Dateline is reporting that physical requirements of the show made it nearly impossible to film safely, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another issue was the additional cost of providing a safe working environment for the show's large ensemble cast and crew. Netflix has spent the past seven months trying to get the series back into production, but sources told Dateline the cost of doing so finally got too high.

GLOW, the series based off the popular wrestling TV series in the mid 1980's, featured a number of real life pro-wrestlers among the cast, including AEW's Awesome Kong and WWE's John Morrison. All three seasons of GLOW are still available on Netflix.