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Two Broke Girls: The Income-Inequality Comedy of Broad City

Comedy Central's new sitcom finds the funny in being young, female, and strapped for cash.

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Season 1 - Episode 2

Broad City: P*$$y Weed (Season 1 - Episode 2)

January 29th, 10:30pm

Comedy Central

This episode opened with the two main characters Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) and Ilana (Ilana Glazer) skyping in the morning while Ilana is vaporizing weed.

Originally Aired January 29, 2014
© Comedy Channel

While Abbi is waiting for Ilana to come over she is looking for her Bed Bath & Beyond coupons. Annoyed she asks her roommates boyfriend if he moved them, she’s upset to find he has thrown them all out because they had expired, she then let him know that they in fact never expire and the expiration date was to throw off the “idiots”.

Once Ilana arrives Abbi reevaluates how she’s always bumming off Ilana for weed, and comes to the conclusion that “I’m an adult, I should be buying my own pot".  Having relied on friends weed to get her high, Abbi decides to finally buy for herself, but soon discovers it is actually harder to find “pizza” (“it’s what the kids are calling it”) than she thought. 

Ilana, inspired by Abbi's grown up endeavor, decided that instead of continuing to depend on her parents to deal with her finances, she is going to file her own taxes, even though she is not sure what that means. 

As they go to complete their separate goals, Abbi starts by composing a list of potential pot hookups from her old college friends. To her dismay her phone call to her old friend “Cheese” resulted in a response full of surprise, judgment, and a little bit of pity.

“Your still smoking pot? Oh hunny..."  Abbi quickly blurted “This is a prank call!!” 

It then shows the house mother on the other line taking pills with a glass of wine as her children screamed impatiently in the background.

Meanwhile, Ilana has hit a roadblock when she can’t find the missing forms W-3 through W-8 while working on her tax return, and seeks the help of Killian the accountant, only to get kicked out of his office.

While Ilana is proud of Abbi for wanting to become responsible for her own stash, she seems oblivious to the fact that Abbi seems to be moving from one breakdown to another.  The irrational response to the roommates boyfriend throwing out expired coupons, to finding herself rolling around on the floor of the dentist waiting room terrifying the other occupants are just a couple of examples of Abbi's response to not necessarily what is going on at the moment, but her frustrations at where she is at this point in her life.

This week’s Broad City was all about growing up and taking responsibility for your life, the standards for which are admittedly pretty low in 2014. This series has a lot to say about the realities of the American economy today, and whether you like it or not, it is far more realistic than what you are hearing about on the news or the steps of capital hill. 

 It shows the type of struggle that this generation of American college students is faced with when they enter the real world and todays job market. The false promise that by achieving your required degree would mean your dream job would be waiting for you, allowing you to move out of crappy college housing, eat something other than ramen, have plenty of money, all while allowing you to pay off your student loans. 

When in reality you are lucky to get a job unplugging toilets and cleaning up after others at the health club... Behind all the humor and shenanigans Abbi and Ilana show what it is truly like for a generation that is starting out in the hole and just looking for an escape from the real world.

The series is filmed on location in New York City, which you can definitely tell as almost every scene is filmed on location, whether it be walking down the street or at a coffee shop in the Bronx, you can feel the city playing a large roll in the girls story’s of self discovery. The girls keep their wardrobe very simple and “low-income” friendly, if its not ripped sweatshirts and boxer shorts, than its jeans and a T-shirt. Staying away from bright elaborate ensembles help the girls to blend in with the city as they’re hitting the streets, a quality that has been lacking in past shows based in New York such as “Sex in the City”.  

Abbi, Ilana and Amy Poehler on location in New York City

Abbi and Ilana claim the show is an exaggeration of their friendship, which is believable while watching how natural and fluid things are between the two girls on the show. They really have the ability to pull you into their dynamic (and slightly dysfunctional) friendship, while watching the show I couldn't help but relate to Abbi, always being pulled into some crazy situations by my best friends adventures side. The largest demographic for this show is females between the ages 16 to 26, currently attending school or in a low income situation. This demographic also relates to the many drug references that are made during the show glorifying marijuana use, especially with the growing legalization debate going on in the US today.

The premiss of Broad City is one that has become very popular the last few years, showcasing young women in their 20s who are working dead end jobs living pay check to pay check.  Many similar shows such as “Two Broke Girls” on CBS, “Don’t trust the B in Apt 23" on ABC, and “Girls” on HBO, show the struggle that many college grads are facing leaving school and entering a unpredictable and competitive job market.   Unlike your cookie cutter perfect housewife, these shows have raw women characters who may lack the guidance and grace Lucille Ball had while playing Lucy in “I Love Lucy” but instead bring a realness that the audience can relate too. 

Whats different about this show from similar shows such as “Girls” is that the characters in “Broad City” don’t define themselves by their seemingly failed job endeavors and lack of cash flow, if anything they embrace it.  Instead of having a mental breakdown like Lena Dunham’s character Hannah in “Girls”, in an attempt to procure concert tickets Ilana and Abbie play drums on the street, return old office equipment, and clean questionable mens apartments for cash.  These girls also show the very real reality that when faced with some pretty bleak options many young adults turn to drug use as recreational fun and a way to escape.  As shown in this last episode when Abbie is trying to locate someone to buy a bag of weed from she touched on the comical side of an adult out of college trying to awkwardly look for a drug dealer in the park.

Unlike their previous web platform, they are now on television where shows and networks rely on advertisers and with their home network of Comedy Central, which is known for giving a platform for shows that push the envelope (Reno 911, Workaholics, South Park, etc.) is in a position to allow Broad City to have access to companies that do not shy away from controversy or threats of boycotts.  The commercials during this episode were from companies such as Hershey's, KIA, Superbowl Coverage, Cadillac, the Oregon Lottery, Kindle Fire, Longhorn Steak House, Fridays, Xfinity, Winters Tail movie, Geico, Mazda 6, Google Play, Ginger Ale, Hertz and Jolly Ranchers.  The majority of these ads were geared towards the 20-26 year old demographic that both the show and the network claim the majority of their viewers from.  The KIA ad shows an affordable, hip car that has all the extras that this demographic wants, the audio sync to your iPod or phone, the handsfree bluetooth, the LCD interactive panel are all are geared towards the tech generation.   The Friday's ad for 1/2 priced appetizers after work and late night was perfectly placed for the 20-something generation that lives on cheap bar food.

And a show about young female stoners - and Hershey's commercials peppered throughout - brilliant ad placement!

Broad City: Smart Girls with Amy Poehler

What began as a series of 4 minute webisodes created by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, became the new comedy series that debuted on Comedy Central in January 2014.  Staying true to the web series has allowed them to keep their fan base from the web and pick up new fans, who discovered the duo and tuned in after Amy Poehler signed on as an executive co-producer alongside Ilana and Abbi.

The show follows the main characters, Ilana and Abbi, as they meander and stumble their way through life as 20-somethings in New York City.  On top of starring in the show, the girls have also written, directed and produced the series from the very beginning, using their personal experiences coming of age to inspire the "fictional series" that is Broad City.