10 Striking Similarities Between GLOW And Orange Is The New Black
3. The High School Atmosphere
Here's a clever device, used to familiarize and endear the characters to the viewer very quickly: group them in one place and give them enough screen time to present their distinguishing features. Later on these features are expanded upon and after one season the viewer is already hooked, treating the people on screen as good friends.
This device is the basis of OITNB, while in GLOW the women are grouped in a hotel five weeks before taping the show. They are ordered to do so to work on their material. They have a strict curfew, aren't allowed to do drugs or drink. Yes, they are not inmates, but remember that the ladies of Litchfield, like the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, also have certain freedoms. It's a minimum security prison after all.
That's why the show feels more like a series about high school more than a prison. Having a character that has a crush on a pizza delivery boy or another one that draws in order to escape to a different place doesn't hurt either.