Broad City

About

Broad City is a 30 minute sitcom from Comedy Central, created by and starring two young women, actors Abbi Jacobsen and Ilana Glazer, as they have various comedic misadventures. The show is popular for its portrayal of modern feminism and twenty-first century urban living.

History

Glazer and Jacobsen met as students at the Upright Citizen's Brigade in 2009, where they began Broad City as a short web series, which they produced from 2009 to 2011. As of April 2015, the Broad City YouTube^[1] account had over 43,000 subscribers and more than 7,000,000 views. The web series featured short scenes with the two main characters, named Abbi Abrams and Ilana Wexler.

The web series was seen by Amy Poehler, star and executive producer of NBC show Parks and Recreation, who approached the women with the idea to develop it into a Pilot. In early 2013, the show was purchased by Comedy Central. As of March 2016, the show is airing its third season.

Hillary Clinton Appearance

On March 16th, 2016, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made an acclaimed cameo appearance on the show, in which she meets Ilana and Abbi at her campaign headquarters, where Ilana has been calling people and asking them to vote for Clinton. The appearance, which was negotiated by Poehler, was considered to be part of an effort on behalf of the Clinton campaign to appeal to younger voters.^[5]

The appearance was critically acclaimed; critics acclaimed its take on the sexism that Clinton generally has to face as a female candidate. At an appearance at SXSW, Glazer said that the appearance of Clinton on the show was not necessarily meant to be taken as an endorsement, but rather that the job was something that was likely to happen to the character of Ilana.^[6]

Plot

Broad City follows Ilana and Abbi as they go through their daily lives. Ilana is a slacker and a partier, intent on ever greater acts of hedonism, while Abbi is the more dreamy type, hoping to become well-known for her illustrations. Both of them currently work at jobs they hate, and they both pursue relationships and dating. They are also both stoners.

Several recurring characters round out the cast, including Ilana's friend-with-benefits Lincoln, played by Hannibal Buress; Abbi's mysterious roommate's boyfriend, Matt Bevers (John Gemberling); Ilana's boss Todd, played by New York City public access television talk show host Chris Gethard; and Abbi's boss Trey (Paul W. Downs), an oblivious fitness trainer.

Online Presence

Since Broad City began as a web series, it has always enjoyed a large online fan-base. The subreddit /r/broadcity^[2] has 4,156 followers, and at least ten different Tumblrs^[3] are devoted to posting GIFs and other updates about the show.

Related Memes

Due to the character's frequent funny catchphrases and their exaggerated physical comedy, GIFs are especially popular.

Yas Queen

Ilana often exclaims "Yas Queen!"^[4] when she is praising someone or excited about what they are doing. The phrase is an excited form of yes, adapted from drag culture. The phrase has become popular as a response, usually in .GIF form.

Search Interest

External References