Orange Is the New Black showrunner Jenji Kohan is keeping her hands full by executive producing GLOW, a new comedy about female wrestling that's just been given a series order by Netflix. Set in Los Angeles, the show will focus on a struggling actress whose last shot at stardom involves working as a wrestler on a weekly series. It's being created and run by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, and Kohan and Orange Is the New Black producer Tara Herrman are serving as co-executive producers.
GLOW stands for Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, and the show is inspired by an earlier wrestling league (and accompanying TV show) of the same name that aired from 1986 to 1990. The original GLOW served as a colorful counterweight for the hyper-macho then-WWF, and its ranks were full of aspiring actresses and performers looking for their big break. Every wrestler had her own personalized, rapped theme song, and matches were broken up by performances and sketches. The opening theme is a sight to behold, mainly because it includes lines like, "We come from the streets, we come from the city / We come from a world where there is no pity!" Truth be told, it looks like something out of a Saturday Night Live sketch, which is exactly why it's serving as fodder for a comedy series.
If GLOW can take an environment this specific and fill it with characters like the ones that make up Orange Is the New Black, Netflix could have yet another winning comedy on its hands. It's too early to say when the show will make it to the streaming service, but Kohan has plenty on her plate in the near future: Orange Is the New Black's fourth season premieres June 17th, and it's running for at least three more seasons.