Broad City: The First Sitcom to Actually Get NYC

Even if it's not immediately apparent, Broad City has two meanings. The first is obvious. It's a show about two young women (broads) who are, to an extent, trying to get their lives together. But there's also the broadness of New York City. Of all the sitcoms that have been set in the Big Apple, this show is one of the few that actually utilizes the city as a character. Even though I haven't seen much of it, I can already tell it's going to be one of the most enjoyable shows I've ever watched.

I'm probably very far behind on this entire phenomenon. They've already made it to a third season, and I'm a measly four episodes into season 1. Maybe everyone already knows what I'm about to lay out, but it's entirely new to me. So I appreciate your indulgence. Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are two very funny young women. Abbi may be slightly more ambitious, while Ilana is more of a slacker, but their similarities far outweigh their differences. They have created a very funny show that's essentially about themselves. Plenty of comedies have accomplished that before, but Broad City has done something none of the ones before it ever did: paint a realistic picture of living in New York City.

Much like the characters on Friends, Ilana and Abbi both have shitty jobs. Unlike the characters on Friends, Ilana and Abbi have shitty living situations that better represent their shitty pay. Gone are the spacious, multi-bathroom West Village apartments with a balcony to boot. In are the cramped, stale, gritty apartments that populate in New York City. Gone are the roommates with whom you build invaluable friendships that last a lifetime. In are the roommates who aren't seen at all, and the roommate's boyfriends who you see, hear, and smell far too much of.

Another leg up on the Seinfeld and Friends and How I Met Your Mother types has to be Broad City's diverse cast. Ilana's roommate Jaime is a gay Hispanic man who emigrated from another country. Her friend with benefits Lincoln is an African-American dentist played brilliantly by Hannibal Buress. I'm probably way behind on this realization too, but that dude is hilarious. Even his voice gets me giggling just a little bit. I don't know if I'd trust him managing my teeth, but Lincoln adds the perfect extra dynamic to Abbi and Ilana's constant shenanigans.

It may seem clear, but it's important to mention how those shenanigans drive the show. In real life, Abbi and Ilana have known each other for a decade (source is Wikipedia don't hold me to that). And you can tell they've injected so much of their friendship into the two characters on screen. I don't know too much about hiding stuff inside a vagina, but I just have a feeling that's something that can only be discussed between best friends. They're the most realistic female characters ever put on a sitcom, because they allow each other to be their true, sometimes gross selves. I haven't watched much Friends, but I'd be stunned if they ever showed Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox looking like this.

But this show's New York City-ness stretches far beyond its characters. It allows the city to be a living, breathing character. And that goes far beyond the stock shots of the city skyline. The characters get around on foot, or by subway. Entire scenes are shot on board a train. They shop at the small businesses and bodegas that give New York its authenticity. They wander around Washington Square Park, looking for weed like everyone else does in Washington Square Park. These characters live and breathe through New York City, and using their setting in this way makes for a better show.

Plenty of sitcoms have been based in New York before. But those shows could have been put anywhere, really. There was nothing about them that explicitly screamed NYC, and that's understandable. A network sitcom trying to reach a widespread audience needs to keep the New York specifics out of it, or risk people in Iowa losing interest (for any Iowans who do enjoy Broad City, thank you for your interest in our hometown, and I promise it's not all that disgusting.)

Broad City is different; it doesn't need a broad audience. By broadening it's horizons to the entire scope of New York City, it has ironically become a tighter, more narrowly-focused show. It may not be for everybody, but for New Yorkers, Broad City has to be considered one of the best sitcoms ever made.