The History Of GLOW, Your Next Big Obsession

You don’t need to know anything about The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, a cult TV show from the ‘80s, to appreciate the trailer for Netflix’s upcoming original series, GLOW. After a string of failed auditions, a flailing actress (Alison Brie) in L.A. gets a casting call for a mysterious athletic project. Sitting on the bleachers amidst a group of misfits, she learns she's being recruited for the next big thing in entertainment: Women's wrestling.

While GLOW, coming from the creators of Orange is the New Black, can stand on its two feet without an introduction, the show will be more enjoyable if you know a thing or two about the source material. The show looks back to the audition process for what became a very famous show: GLOW: The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, which ran from 1986-1990.

The original GLOW interspersed vicious wrestling matches with sketch comedy, infomercials, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the wrestlers' lives. Looking back, it’s almost hard to believe a show this strange became so famous. What's not hard to believe is that Netflix would want to make a show about the little wrestling show that could.

Here’s what you have to know about GLOW before watching the Netflix original on June 23.