In my yearlong bid to actually keep my New Year's resolution to watch more television, I've turned to Netflix to add two more series to my list of viewing options.
During the week of my beach trip, I started watching GLOW. I've since finished season 1 and I'm now halfway through season 2.
'
GLOW is the fictionalized telling of the very real 1980's show, The Glorious Ladies Of Wrestling. Yes, it was a thing that really existed with hot babes in Spandex and Lycra mixing it up in the wrestling ring with more bulked up warrior women in a spectacle of garish costumes and absurd characters.
The Netflix series follows Ruth Wilder, a wannabe serious actress who can only get auditions for secretaries perkily informing male bosses their wives are on line 2. Frustrated creatively and financially, Ruth takes a chance on a very unusual audition.
Led by Sam Sylvia, an irascible burned out, coked up director of Z-grade horror films, is looking to set up an all women's wrestling show. Ruth is far from anyone's idea of a wrestler but with zero other options in sight, Ruth throws herself into trying to make it work, despite repeated efforts by Sam to cut her from the company.
To make things even more complicated, Ruth's best friend Debbie Egan, a former soap opera actress, is enraged at Ruth for sleeping with Debbie's husband. The confrontation between the two women inspires Sam to get Debbie for his show and use this animosity towards a rivalry in the ring.
Since GLOW is ostensibly a comedy, the show clocks in at a relatively lean (for Netflix) average of 35 minutes per episode. And the show really does have some good laughs as we get to know the quirks of this motley crew gathered to make this strange TV show.
Still there are moments of drama. In season 1, Ruth, still feeling guilty for having sex with her best friend's husband and destroying their marriage, discovers she's pregnant. Ruth makes the decision to have an abortion but has absolutely no one she can turn to. Until she calls Sam who takes her to the appointment. Sam is surprisingly supportive and kind to Ruth.
But that kindness towards Ruth evaporates by season 2. Sam is resentful that Ruth winds up directing the pilot and is really pissed that she took the initiative to film a credits sequence with the girls at the mall. It is the 1980s so it could be chalked up to resentment of a woman trying to horn in on a "man's world". But more specifically, Sam is, despite his bravado, very insecure in his position as the director of the show.
While Alison Brie as Ruth and Mark Maron as Sam are very vital parts of GLOW, the show has a very strong ensemble to draw our attention.
The other show I started watching on Netflix is Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt which stars Ellie Kemper as a young woman rescued from a doomsday cult's underground bunker. Kimmy is filled with unbridled enthusiasm to catch up on life after 15 years underground.
So far, I'm only halfway through season 1. I'll likely push forward more once I finish season 2 of GLOW.
Also on Netflix, I finished up season 2 of Santa Clarita Diet. Shiela Hammond, dead but not dead wife, mother, realtor and devourer of human flesh, ends the season with... a religious follower? Now that's I've caught up the two season of this show, I now have to wait a whole year to see wha happens next in season 3.
After watching season 2 of Jessica Jones, then watching season 1, my wife Andrea and I have now taken up watching Defenders, the Marvel series that teams up Jessica with the other Marvel Netflix shows: Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
Moving away from Netflix, my daughter Randie and I continue to catch up on Brooklyn Nine Nine episodes we're recording on DVR from TBS.
And as a family, we're following Duck Tales and we're re-watching Series 10 of Doctor Who on Blu-Ray.
And I'm still a sucker for a MASH episode on TVLand or a classic Law & Order on TNT.
For anyone who is familiar with the tropes of Law & order, give a listen to John Mulraney's take on the show.
No comments:
Post a Comment