Like the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling themselves, Jenji Kohan is kicking ass. News has broken that the Kohan-executive produced Netflix series “GLOW” will be back for a second season, and that Lifetime has given a straight-to-series order to Kohan’s next project, “American Princess.”
Netflix gave “GLOW” the official go-ahead for Season 2 on Thursday, Variety confirms. Created by “Nurse Jackie” producers Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, “GLOW” follows Ruth (Alison Brie, “Community”), a struggling actress who gets the opportunity to be a Gorgeous Lady of Wrestling and finds it is the role she was born to play. The fact that Ruth’s former best friend (Betty Gilpin, “Nurse Jackie”) is also part of the show adds to the drama behind the scenes.
Kohan exec produces the series alongside frequent collaborator Tara Herrmann, Flahive, and Mensch. Marc Maron (“Maron”), Sydelle Noel (“Extant”), and Britney Young (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”) also star.
Kohan will also be an EP on “American Princess,” which comes from “Orange Is the New Black” actress Jamie Denbo. According to Deadline, the show will center on Amanda, whose “storybook wedding plans are dramatically derailed when she discovers her fiancé is cheating on her, just hours before they are to be wed. Outraged, Amanda reacts violently to the indiscretions and runs away from her own dream wedding in the countryside, only to find herself stranded in the middle of a Renaissance Faire with no phone and no way home. She soon discovers her outburst has made tabloid headlines and experiences a nervous breakdown, leading her to re-evaluate her life. The unexpected awakening leads Amanda to leave everything she thought she cared about behind, to become the Faire’s newest wench-in-waiting.”
Denbo serves as creator and writer on the hourlong series. She will exec produce alongside Kohan and Herrmann.
“Jenji has always taken interesting and unconventional worlds and given them heart and humor,” Lifetime head of programming Liz Gateley said in a statement. “From the get-go, ‘American Princess’ was a concept we loved as it’s incredibly relatable to want to parachute from one’s life in difficult times. In Jenji, Jamie, and Tara’s hands, we know this will be hilarious and special.”
Kohan is the creator and showrunner of Netflix’s flagship series “Orange Is the New Black,” a dramedy set in a women’s minimum security prison that premiered in summer 2013. Before that she served as showrunner and the main creative voice on Showtime’s “Weeds” from 2005 to 2012. The long-running comedy followed Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker), a woman who decides to sell pot in order to preserve her comfortable, suburban lifestyle after her husband’s death.
“Mad About You,” “Sex and the City,” “Tracey Takes On…” and “Gilmore Girls” are credits on Kohan’s stacked resume. Among her many award nominations and wins, Kohan has nabbed an Emmy for “Tracey Takes On…” a WGA Award for “Weeds,” a PGA Award for “Orange,” and a Global Women’s Rights Award.
