This post originally appeared in the Jan. 23 issue of Festiva. You should check them out.
I’ve yet to experience the magic that is New York City. The closest thing I have to visiting it is through the magic of TV and film.
Movies like the works of Woody Allen or sitcoms such as Friends and Seinfeld have me convinced that New York is some kind of hellhole filled with pathological narcissists that I’d rather stay away from. Comedy Central’s sitcom Broad City, however, has convinced me that all you need to survive this city is a really awesome friend.
After seeing the first season of this series pop up on several top 10 lists last year I decided to check out the pilot and ended up binge-watching the rest of the available episodes in one sitting.
Based on the Web series under the same name, Broad City follows best friends Abbi and Ilana — played by real life comediennes Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer portraying fictionalized versions of themselves — as they navigate life in the Big Apple, often through absurd and jaw-droppingly hilarious episodic adventures.
Ilana is the free-spirited woman in the duo, sometimes pushing Abbi into the wild misadventures they get into but always acting as her shoulder to lean on. As Abbi, Jacobson is supposed to play the “straight man,” the one person in the group who’s so responsible that she’s usually appalled by the other character’s behavior. Abbi however often proves herself to be just as wild and crazy as Ilana, which makes their relationship all the more special.
After a brilliant debut season bursting with confidence and enough gross-out humor that would even make some guys squirm, Broad City returns with a dementedly hilarious second season premiere that shows the girls are fully capable of keeping up with the manic energy of the first season.
Titled “In Heat,” the premiere has Abbi and Illana on a quest to find an air conditioner for Abbi’s apartment. This comes after a heat wave ruined her hot date with her boyfriend (Seth Rogen) who suffers an apparent heat stroke as the two have sex in her AC-less apartment.
Abbi’s and Ilana’s journey for an AC takes them from the oasis of Bed Bath & Beyond all the way to Ilana’s old college dorm, where she’s convinced she can claim the AC there as her own. What’s striking about the entire episode — and the series as a whole — is how despite the fact that the girls are always going through bizarre situations, the chemistry between the two feels so natural that the episodes end up being grounded in a sort of chaotic reality.
Abbi and Ilana are the type of friends who rarely fight, always mutually hate the same people and casually talk out loud about sex tapes in adjoining dressing rooms at public places. Their relationship provides the show with a surprisingly strong amount of heart in a comedy that’s smarter than it looks.
Also, have I mentioned how insanely funny this show is? In the premiere’s stellar cold open that’s reminiscent of last summer’s sci-fi flick Snowpiercer, the girls are riding the subway and must move to the car at the back of the train. Their mini-adventures takes them to cars filled with couples overdoing it with their PDA, doppelgangers and a car occupied by a single turd.
It’s a tiny scene that shows that Broad City isn’t afraid to go there as it pushes our characters to insane comedic heights, but I’ll gladly join the girls in their adventures.
Season two of Broad City airs on Comedy Central Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. Season one is streaming on Amazon Prime and is available for purchase on DVD.
