A version of this story on “Broad City” first appeared in the print edition of TheWrap Magazine’s Comedy/Drama/Actors Emmy Issue.
“Broad City” is, well, broad.
It’s a collection of absurd and bawdy scenarios, a tour-de-force depiction of female friendship and a shareable, excessively replayable commentary on digital and millennial culture. The only uniform identifier we’d be comfortable giving it is the one it’s already boasted for three seasons — a fantastic comedy.
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Photographed by Benjo Arwas for TheWrap
The Comedy Central series is the brainchild of creative partners Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, who adapted their own web series for TV with executive producer Amy Poehler.
As the showrunners and stars approach a fourth year portraying heightened versions of themselves — stunt-prone upstarts chasing dream jobs and relationships and bong hits — their work still carries an aspirational quality removed from the adoration and recognition the real-life women have received.
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Photographed by Benjo Arwas for TheWrap
“I feel like ‘Broad City’ is an idea–there’s something there that is beyond our socioeconomic status,” Glazer told TheWrap. “I find myself in ‘Broad City’ situations. I hope it’s a voice beyond what we’re experiencing in any moment.”
Glazer said the most transformative experience has not been with photo shoots or fan art, but in taking control behind the camera. “We create it and write it and produce it — we weren’t discovered as two actors,” she said. “It’s the running of the show that changes the way I think about it.”
Photographed by Benjo Arwas for TheWrap
Jacobson admitted her perception has changed “a tiny bit. We’ve shifted our observing of the world because we’re not as anonymous. Like riding the subway.”
“Broad City” has more subway gags than you would suspect, and all pay off perfectly. “Finding those stories is easy almost always,” she said, admitting that one new difficulty does occur: “Occasionally there’s someone who watches the show and it pulls you out of it.”
Photographed by Benjo Arwas for TheWrap
But enough people are watching to enable the the duo to land significant guest stars like Whoopi Goldberg, Seth Rogen, Melissa Leo and Patricia Clarkson over its run. And then there’s the biggest “get” of this past season — Hillary Clinton. The cameo was, naturally, a huge social media moment, with an assist from Cynthia Nixon playing a fictional Clinton fundraiser for the current election.
“We didn’t spend a ton of time with Hillary, which is good,” said Jacobson with a laugh. “She shouldn’t spend the whole day shooting our show.” Glazer said that what surprised her most about the presumptive Democratic nominee was “just her human quality. She is a historical icon, and then to meet her in person was like, ‘Whoa.’ Whether she wins the election or not, she’s someone who is in textbooks.”
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Photographed by Benjo Arwas for TheWrap
Taking a page from her own impish character, Glazer said she sneaked a peek at Clinton while she was getting wired with a microphone before shooting began. “I saw a glimpse of her body when she opened her jacket — she looks good,” Glazer said.
Staying relevant to the web space where “Broad City” was born is as crucial to the pair as the TV production. Take the ubiquitous catchphrase deployed to show enthusiasm: “Yaaassss, Queen!” The line is a riff from a beloved viral video created by user Johnny Versayce, who waited outside pop star Lady Gaga‘s New York hotel and gave his fawning approval of her look.
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Photographed by Benjo Arwas for TheWrap
“You really say it now in real life,” Jacobson remarked to Glazer. “The other day, a really cool Polaroid came out and you said it automatically: ‘Yaaasss, Gaga.'”
“Sometimes I’ll say it just to drink her in,” Glazer sad. “[Show writer] Lucia Aniello brought that into the room, hearing it around the streets of New York. Amazing. We love being relevant on the Internet. It’s so important to us. If you’re not there, where are you? It’s the conversation the world is having.”
Photographed by Benjo Arwas for TheWrap
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