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‘Broad City’ returns, in a changed landscape

By Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times
Published: September 1, 2017, 6:02am

NEW YORK — Ilana Glazer summons her “Broad City” creative partner, Abbi Jacobson, via FaceTime from Los Angeles.

The two engage in the enthusiastic banter that is a familiar scene to fans of “Broad City.” The buddy comedy, the fourth season of which returns to Comedy Central on Sept. 13 after an unusually long hiatus, follows the New York misadventures of twentysomething best friends Abbi Abrams and Ilana Wexler — younger, slightly exaggerated versions of co-creators Jacobson, 33, and Glazer, 30.

In a comedy tradition dating back to Lucy and Ethel, the women are a study in contrasts. Ilana is the hypersexual, supremely self-confident free spirit with an outrageous wardrobe and vague professional aspirations, while Abbi is the slightly more reserved one, a struggling illustrator who worships Oprah Winfrey and has a paralyzing crush on her cute neighbor. Both are enthusiastic pot smokers. A recurring motif depicts the friends, whose apartments are separated by an annoyingly long subway ride, discussing the minutiae of their lives via FaceTime.

What’s keeping the two apart in real life isn’t the logistics of New York City public transportation but, rather, their busy professional lives. Jacobson is on the West Coast working on “Disenchantment,” an animated series created by Matt Groening for Netflix. Glazer, who was recently seen in the bachelorette comedy “Rough Night,” is hunkered down in New York prepping a stand-up tour that begins in November.

In the 3 1/2 years since its debut, “Broad City” has become a critical darling, winning praise for its distinctive blend of outrageousness and heart. In a sign of “Broad City’s” importance to Comedy Central, the series was renewed for Seasons 4 and 5 before Season 3 even aired.

It has not only invaded the lexicon (see the sudden ubiquity of Ilana’s catchprase, “Yasss, Queen”) but also attracted a cameo by Hillary Clinton in a bid to impress millennial voters.

Once unknowns who started making “Broad City” as a web series after failing to make the house improv team at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Glazer and Jacobson have since become fixtures on late-night couches and magazine covers alike. And while the characters they play may be maturing at a comically slow pace, Jacobson and Glazer have grown measurably as artists — not only taking over the reins of “Broad City” as showrunners but branching out into directing, producing, books, podcasts, stand-up and other creative pursuits.

More of a creative challenge for Glazer and Jacobson is that while their alter egos are struggling unknowns, they no longer are. Jacobson concedes that coming up with the show’s signature “broke, scheming story lines” is “definitely more difficult” than it once was but says they haven’t exhausted all the down-and-out tales from their 20s — at least not yet.

The friends have committed to at least one more season of “Broad City,” but the future of the series beyond that is an ongoing conversation.

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