GLOW Review: 7 Ups And 2 Downs

3. The Mix Of Comedy And Drama

GLOW Alison Brie
Netflix

GLOW is, ostensibly, a comedy series. It sticks to the half-hour format (the longest episode is 35 minutes), and it looks for the comedy in most of its heightened situations.

The show does have a lot of humour in its arsenal. With the wrestling, it's able to use a lot of physical comedy, but there are also a number of cutting put-downs, over-the-top scenes, and all manner of weirdness that lends to the hilarity of the series.

At the same time, though, it manages to find real drama in the lives of these women and the director, Sam (Marc Maron). They face real struggles, have issues in their own lives and with each other, and even amongst the ridiculousness the show finds room for shocking twists and a surprising amount of poignancy.

It doesn't neatly fit into one box, but instead is a real mish-mash of tones and genres, which keeps viewers on their toes and makes the show fresh to watch through all 10 episodes.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.