Broad Fucking City
January 14, 2015 11:58 AM Subscribe
“I think what we are doing differently is we never try to force emotional turns or aim to shock anyone. If you feel for Abbi and Ilana, it’s because they remind you of people you know.” - Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson talk about Broad City, which returns tonight with a new season.
I tried the first episode of this when it first came out, mainly because of the Poehler connection, and couldn't quite get into it. Now everyone who I like and respect is totally in love with the show, so I'm going to have to make a second, more sincere effort, I think.
posted by ominous_paws at 12:03 PM on January 14, 2015
posted by ominous_paws at 12:03 PM on January 14, 2015
Can't wait. I love this show so much.
I want Lincoln to have his own spin-off show.
CRUSHED IT!
posted by bondcliff at 12:05 PM on January 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
I want Lincoln to have his own spin-off show.
CRUSHED IT!
posted by bondcliff at 12:05 PM on January 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
I'M NOT A MOM!! *dropkicks cardboard dude*
posted by sallybrown at 12:05 PM on January 14, 2015 [14 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 12:05 PM on January 14, 2015 [14 favorites]
I'M NOT A MOM!! *dropkicks cardboard dude*
YOU'RE GARBAGE PEOPLE LIVING ON GARBAGE ISLAND!
posted by dialetheia at 12:07 PM on January 14, 2015 [11 favorites]
YOU'RE GARBAGE PEOPLE LIVING ON GARBAGE ISLAND!
posted by dialetheia at 12:07 PM on January 14, 2015 [11 favorites]
I still haven't watched this because I was afraid, like so many other things, it would not live up to the excellence implied by the gifsets I have seen, but now I'm trying to figure out if I have enough time to watch the entire first season before s2e1.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:19 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:19 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Broad City is so far the only TV show about 20 somethings in NYC that actually feels and looks like what being a 20 something in NYC is like
FTFY
I mean, yeah, it takes place in NYC but the experience is pretty universal, and captures being a woman in her 20s way more accurately than any other show I've seen.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 12:27 PM on January 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
FTFY
I mean, yeah, it takes place in NYC but the experience is pretty universal, and captures being a woman in her 20s way more accurately than any other show I've seen.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 12:27 PM on January 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
It's so, so fucking good. I've never seen another TV show where the characters seem so much like 100% real, awesome friends I'd spend time with.
posted by naju at 12:28 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by naju at 12:28 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
hannibal though
posted by poffin boffin at 12:29 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:29 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just in: Broad City Renewed for Season 3
posted by colossal at 12:32 PM on January 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by colossal at 12:32 PM on January 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
Definitely no other show has as accurately captured the horror and rage of coming home before the delivery window to find that UPS got there early and you weren't home to sign.
posted by sallybrown at 12:38 PM on January 14, 2015 [14 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 12:38 PM on January 14, 2015 [14 favorites]
I struggle to put into words just how much I love this show. I watched the first season in a few days and then watched it all again the next weekend. I love them. LOOOVE them. The show is like a warm hug. It's smart, fucking funny, real, surreal and so clever.
I just love their friendship. I'm so glad that we have a new wave of comedy shows that rely on people being friends instead of snarky acquaintances.
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 12:42 PM on January 14, 2015 [10 favorites]
I just love their friendship. I'm so glad that we have a new wave of comedy shows that rely on people being friends instead of snarky acquaintances.
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 12:42 PM on January 14, 2015 [10 favorites]
I would pay so much money to sit around and get high with them
posted by the phlegmatic king at 12:47 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by the phlegmatic king at 12:47 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ilana Glazer is my spirit animal.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 12:52 PM on January 14, 2015
posted by evidenceofabsence at 12:52 PM on January 14, 2015
Ilana the character earns my love for her gleeful and continued sabotage of her shitty temp job.
posted by Artw at 12:56 PM on January 14, 2015
posted by Artw at 12:56 PM on January 14, 2015
Phlegmatic King- closest we'll ever get. :(
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 1:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 1:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is the best news of 2015, with the exception of Polly Harvey and Bjork releasing new albums.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 1:10 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 1:10 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
with the exception of Polly Harvey and Bjork releasing new albums
And Sleater-Kinney!
posted by evidenceofabsence at 1:13 PM on January 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
And Sleater-Kinney!
posted by evidenceofabsence at 1:13 PM on January 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
Artw, On Friday, PJ Harvey begins recording her new album in public view in a cube in Somerset House in London.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 1:18 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 1:18 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM NOW WE HERE
posted by gwint at 1:34 PM on January 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by gwint at 1:34 PM on January 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
I like to think of Broad City as the American incarnation of Peep Show, gender-swapped and minus the POV gimmick. Two young friends in huge city, constantly fucking up and being humiliated. Love it.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:38 PM on January 14, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:38 PM on January 14, 2015 [10 favorites]
Guys, this is a thread about Broad City. I know y'all are excited n stuff but I am also excited that there is a good thread for Broad City fans and when I see '1 comment added' and the comment about PJ Harvey it makes me so sad I want to bake a whole cake and then eat a whole cake.
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 1:39 PM on January 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 1:39 PM on January 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
Honestly, whenever I need a little pick me up, I go right here.
posted by gwint at 1:39 PM on January 14, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by gwint at 1:39 PM on January 14, 2015 [9 favorites]
We can get all intellectual about why representation matters in the media, but nothing brought the point home to me like watching that show and seeing me and my best friend. These girls are saying things we actually have said in real life. Rare and precious. I'm gonna skype-smoke her up right now.
posted by Freyja at 1:54 PM on January 14, 2015 [15 favorites]
posted by Freyja at 1:54 PM on January 14, 2015 [15 favorites]
It's interesting to me that all of my internet friends love Broad City as much as I do (which is a shit-ton), but when I try to sell my physical-world friends* on it, they all look at me like I'm a crazy person describing something terrible.
*with the exception of my wife, who's also a big fan.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 2:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
*with the exception of my wife, who's also a big fan.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 2:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
A-Fucking-Men
posted by lumpenprole at 2:04 PM on January 14, 2015
posted by lumpenprole at 2:04 PM on January 14, 2015
The fucking best. I've put so many people on to this show and they thank me to this day. If I may wax sentimental I think the secret is how much heart the show has, 20 something slacker ladies in the big city and not a touch of cynicism.
posted by Divine_Wino at 2:17 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Divine_Wino at 2:17 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
I loved the first season and can't wait for this.
For the life of me, though, I cannot remember how I watched it. Netflix? Amazon? I'm pretty sure I didn't watch it on the Comedy Central site. I've never touched Hulu. I need to figure out how I'm going to watch this.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:16 PM on January 14, 2015
For the life of me, though, I cannot remember how I watched it. Netflix? Amazon? I'm pretty sure I didn't watch it on the Comedy Central site. I've never touched Hulu. I need to figure out how I'm going to watch this.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:16 PM on January 14, 2015
I did not know this thing even existed and now I do, and now maybe I will become a fan! Thank you!
posted by rtha at 3:19 PM on January 14, 2015
posted by rtha at 3:19 PM on January 14, 2015
This is great. I'm working my way through S1 on Amazon and catching up with the web series on YT.
The two of them are great at physical comedy, using their bodies, and they're fearless oversharers, overexposers, self-embarrassers, all that stuff that leads to superb comedy. I love the way they interact with each other and have all these adventures despite living aimlessly and going through their days without apparent structure.
The parcel-service one certainly captures the way in which the city is a character, so I would have to reiterate it is a story about people in NYC, even if that achieves a universality, because there is just something about the way the city places necessary, utilitarian functions in the most inaccessible places, often in the vast swathes of the city that are the least like Manhattan in terms of having public transportation or even sane pedestrian access.
They also show you some of the smallest apartments you've ever seen. No Central Perk anywhere.
Here's Amy Poehler's Smart Girls interview with Abbi and Ilana (I guess this is at UCB?). And I'm not sure where this fits in the canon, so to speak, but this is I Heart New York, in which Amy also appears.
posted by dhartung at 3:30 PM on January 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
The two of them are great at physical comedy, using their bodies, and they're fearless oversharers, overexposers, self-embarrassers, all that stuff that leads to superb comedy. I love the way they interact with each other and have all these adventures despite living aimlessly and going through their days without apparent structure.
The parcel-service one certainly captures the way in which the city is a character, so I would have to reiterate it is a story about people in NYC, even if that achieves a universality, because there is just something about the way the city places necessary, utilitarian functions in the most inaccessible places, often in the vast swathes of the city that are the least like Manhattan in terms of having public transportation or even sane pedestrian access.
They also show you some of the smallest apartments you've ever seen. No Central Perk anywhere.
Here's Amy Poehler's Smart Girls interview with Abbi and Ilana (I guess this is at UCB?). And I'm not sure where this fits in the canon, so to speak, but this is I Heart New York, in which Amy also appears.
posted by dhartung at 3:30 PM on January 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
Didn't see it mentioned on a quick scan on the thread, but Broad City had two seasons as a Youtube show before it got on to the television machine, so if you love it (and why wouldn't you?) and didn't know, there's more to watch!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:37 PM on January 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:37 PM on January 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
poffin boffin: you def don't need to watch all of the episodes before the new series, they're pretty much one-offs, so go for it!
posted by capnsue at 4:19 PM on January 14, 2015
posted by capnsue at 4:19 PM on January 14, 2015
I actually just watched the first two episodes on Sunday, and then all the remaining eight Monday night. I was turned on to it by its inclusion on some "most underrated 2014 TV shows" list (which is how I ended up watching the first season of Broen/Bron, too).
It's a really, really good show. I'm extremely picky about television comedies and almost never watch any. Abbi seems so much like a real person to me, like people I've actually known, that it's very satsifying just to see her there on TV. I mean, that "Abbi" is a character and a caricature, but even so.
I thought the show got even weirder toward the end of the season, but in a very good way. And in a way that involved character development.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:26 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's a really, really good show. I'm extremely picky about television comedies and almost never watch any. Abbi seems so much like a real person to me, like people I've actually known, that it's very satsifying just to see her there on TV. I mean, that "Abbi" is a character and a caricature, but even so.
I thought the show got even weirder toward the end of the season, but in a very good way. And in a way that involved character development.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:26 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I saw Hannibal Burress this summer at some outdoor film screening ("Duck Soup," if I remember correctly) and kept scream-whispering, "It's Lincoln! It's Lincoln!" whenever he passed by. Ilana has got to give that man some love - he missed a wedding, for chrissakes! He's great at weddings!
(and ominous_paws, I wasn't overwhelmed by the first episode either, but it is one of my absolute favorite shows now. Definitely give it another try.)
posted by queensissy at 5:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
(and ominous_paws, I wasn't overwhelmed by the first episode either, but it is one of my absolute favorite shows now. Definitely give it another try.)
posted by queensissy at 5:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
"I can't inflict upon a dog the crazy life of a dentist!" still makes me smile whenever I think of it. Y'all are making me want to carve out some time to rebingewatch in preparation...
posted by ifjuly at 6:19 PM on January 14, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by ifjuly at 6:19 PM on January 14, 2015 [9 favorites]
This show is amazing. Definitely some of the most relatable characters I've ever seen in comedy.
posted by threeants at 6:31 PM on January 14, 2015
posted by threeants at 6:31 PM on January 14, 2015
GAROL.
I saw them live and while the show was basically a commercial for the next season, they seemed genuinely nice, friendly, cheerful, and cute. My dad didn't know who they were, then he read about them in the New Yorker and decided he liked the description that they were an update on Laverne and Shirley.
posted by kat518 at 8:37 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
I saw them live and while the show was basically a commercial for the next season, they seemed genuinely nice, friendly, cheerful, and cute. My dad didn't know who they were, then he read about them in the New Yorker and decided he liked the description that they were an update on Laverne and Shirley.
posted by kat518 at 8:37 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
'Who would leave weed in a wall? A WEED GENIUS, and she'd leave it there indefinitely in case of emergency.'
It's not nearly as funny without her physical comedy.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [7 favorites]
It's not nearly as funny without her physical comedy.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:00 PM on January 14, 2015 [7 favorites]
Every line in the show is a gift, even the weirdos...
"I was still just doing butt stuff!"
posted by aydeejones at 4:38 AM on January 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
"I was still just doing butt stuff!"
posted by aydeejones at 4:38 AM on January 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
And my gift to anyone who didn't catch them on @midnight...
Yaaay
posted by aydeejones at 4:40 AM on January 15, 2015
Yaaay
posted by aydeejones at 4:40 AM on January 15, 2015
I relate to Broad City because I'm 99% sure I have also shouted "stop running I'm sweating off my concealer!" In a tux in grand central and have had sex with someone because the trains to Manhattan weren't running.
posted by The Whelk at 6:49 AM on January 15, 2015
posted by The Whelk at 6:49 AM on January 15, 2015
There's currently a big kerfuffle starting among my social media contacts over the rape joke with the guy passing out, the whole "i'm raping rape culture!" thing, and her joking about being a child molester.
I kinda think the child molester part is being overplayed, but they DID play off her raping the guy as pretty much "hahaha yea whatever" and i really get why some of my friends were REALLY uncomfortable with that(one lady actually said she was done with the show).
It just seems like a really really weird direction for them to have taken it. My comment was pretty much, do they even understand who their fanbase is? Especially since it was like, practically pantomiming and playing straight the whole MRA "women are like THIS and think male rape is a joke!" sort of crap. This isn't always sunny, the joke isn't that they're terrible people. It's just a really weird place for them to take the show.
posted by emptythought at 2:45 PM on January 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I kinda think the child molester part is being overplayed, but they DID play off her raping the guy as pretty much "hahaha yea whatever" and i really get why some of my friends were REALLY uncomfortable with that(one lady actually said she was done with the show).
It just seems like a really really weird direction for them to have taken it. My comment was pretty much, do they even understand who their fanbase is? Especially since it was like, practically pantomiming and playing straight the whole MRA "women are like THIS and think male rape is a joke!" sort of crap. This isn't always sunny, the joke isn't that they're terrible people. It's just a really weird place for them to take the show.
posted by emptythought at 2:45 PM on January 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
A couple of the writers at TPM (in a new section of the site) wrote about the episodes and especially about the sexual assault stuff and both are ambivalent about it, but both think that given a lot of other evidence about Glazer and Jacobson there's reason to think they were doing something more subtle there.
I think a key element of this theory is that this repeats the scene from Observe and Report where Rogen does the same.
It did bother me quite a bit and I've been ruminating on it for days. I'm about halfway convinced they knew what they were doing and they are saying something more subtle, but I have a problem with it even if this is true because if basically none of the audience even sees the subtlety, then the it ends up just being offensive, anyway. I have a strong intuition that this was self-aware, but in the end not a good creative decision.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:22 AM on January 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
I think a key element of this theory is that this repeats the scene from Observe and Report where Rogen does the same.
It did bother me quite a bit and I've been ruminating on it for days. I'm about halfway convinced they knew what they were doing and they are saying something more subtle, but I have a problem with it even if this is true because if basically none of the audience even sees the subtlety, then the it ends up just being offensive, anyway. I have a strong intuition that this was self-aware, but in the end not a good creative decision.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:22 AM on January 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
emptythought -- while I know what you mean, I think my take away of it was that it WAS a fucked up joke, but one we've seen played out as genderswapped as a similar joke thing. Sort of to make you think "Ha ha! This show is edgy and hilarious! Abbi straight up raped that dude! Ha ha... wait... that's... fucked up." Like they did something fucked up to SHOW how fucked up it is.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 1:24 PM on January 16, 2015
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 1:24 PM on January 16, 2015
Like, I think of it less as a joke, and more as a calling-out of that particular type of joke.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 1:42 PM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 1:42 PM on January 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
At the risk of outing myself as having the sophistication of an 8-year-old, I can't think of a TV episode where I laughed as loud or as long as the one where Abbi had to call in Ilana for her poop ninja skills to dispose of Abbi's unflushable dump.
posted by The Gooch at 4:24 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Gooch at 4:24 PM on January 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's missing the garbage bag of day old bagels and ziploc of Kiehl's lotion, but yay Broad City paper dolls!
posted by ifjuly at 1:09 PM on February 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ifjuly at 1:09 PM on February 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by The Whelk at 12:01 PM on January 14, 2015 [15 favorites]