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TV Club 10: Why GLOW was the ideal tag team of prestige comedy and drama - AV Club

To mark five years since the show ended, let’s dig into the episodes that brilliantly had it both ways.

The pilot of Netflix ’s GLOW ends with soap star Debbie Eagan (Betty Gilpin) storming into an early rehearsal for a women’s professional wrestling league and (both verbally and physically) confronting her best friend, Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie), for sleeping with her husband. The phrase “inspired by” oftendoes a lot of heavy lifting, but in the case of GLOW, the approach made a tremendous amount of sense: As a story initially about jealousy, betrayal, and self-worth, it was only natural to tell it through the backdrop of a world where backstabbing, politicking, and manipulation were the norm, despite the collaborative process. While the training montage in “Live Studio Audience” (and the bits of the match we got before it abruptly ended) promised that “Liberty Belle” Debbie and “Zoya the Destroya” Ruth would tear the roof off the place with their epic battle of good versus evil, “Money’s In The Chase” finally delivered it.

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