By Sasha Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: April 2, 2014
Broad City began as a web series in 2009. The four or so minute clips of hilarity were almost more than I could take. Racy and openhearted, filled with sex, weed, and those awkward minutiae life is made of, the Broad City web series made me fall in love with the two leading ladies, Abbi (Jacobson) and Ilana (Glazer).
So when I heard that Broad City was transitioning to a show in a half hour slot on Comedy Central — backed up by none other than Amy Poehler as executive producer — I was thrilled.
Abbi and Ilana are two 20-somethings living in New York. Like so many comedies set in New York — Seinfeld, Girls, Louie, 30 Rock, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine to name a few — the city is an important character. Because so many other shows use the city, the typical sitcom events of NYC, such as grungy apartment hunting, cultural clashes, and muggings, are a bit tired.
Broad City takes NYC not at a completely new angle, but at least they stay away from familiar sitcom coffee shops and diners. Ilana and Abbi do street performances together, ride the subway, get harassed on the streets, and go to loud bars.
While Broad City doesn’t go as far in the opposite direction of cliché that I’d like, they do show the other sides of the city. A show like Girls often says their characters are poor, but rarely show it. Broad City is guilty of the same crime, though not to the same extent. Ilana works at a temp agency, and Abbi as a janitor at a classy gym, yet they each have decent apartments and fairly nice clothes. And on top of it all, they have money to drop on weed. However, they do resort to various money-making schemes and put up with unbearable roommates, so it’s almost believable.
The two leads have great chemistry, probably due to the fact that they are best friends on and off screen.
Ilana does things her way, with zero sense of shame. She’s like a very sexual, very joyful April from Parks and Rec. Abbi, on the other hand, brings in the awkward humour. Far more insecure than her partner-in-crime, Abbi is literally the girl next door. (She has an undying secret love for her sexy neighbour).
Together they face the world, and the combination of the two is a lighthearted friendship that captures the essentials of what this generation deals with. Ilana and Abbi chat on Skype instead of the Friends-esque coffee shop. They hate their jobs, get locked out of their apartments, lose their phones, get way too high, and find condoms in the strangest places. And so it goes.
Broad City is like Louie crossed with Girls crossed with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. With the first season (eight episodes) under the belt and high ratings, Broad City is a shoo-in for another season on Comedy Central, which I’m already dying for. It’s something new and fresh, and definitely lighthearted enough to be a perfect study break.
