Broad city and me

I’m feeling a bit sad and discombobulated. Broad City is done.

Yes, I know. It finished production four years ago but I am the world’s worst TV show binger and I take my time with things.

Back to the sadness. I don’t recall feeling so gutted when a TV series finished since The Americans. Or when I ran out of episodes of Line of Duty, Fauda, Peaky Blinders and The Bureau. (All of these shows are still running) But Broad City? I’m hardly in the intended viewer demographic and the adventures of two very young women in New York should not interest me.  I’m a generation or two ahead of Ilana and Abbi so their world was not mine. Oftentimes during episodes, I would have to google pop culture references. Ilana and Abbi would infuriate me and I would dramatically throw down the remote control and declare “I’m done with this.”

Yet after a hiatus, I would always come back and watch another episode.  It all reminded me of living in another city in my late twenties, not really grown up and still feeling inadequate. Like them, I had felt that I should be settled down, but it wasn’t for me – not yet.

I loved their kooky co-dependent friendship. I loved Abbi’s hesitancy and Ilana’s certainty about everything. I loved their humour. And I adore the city they live in. Anyone who knows me well fully understands that I would move to New York in a heartbeat.

Interestingly, I have had a similar experience with another New York show Girls. I’ve still got two seasons to watch and I don’t know if I can do it. Maybe I don’t get the characters, their lives and their choices. It’s fun but there’s not the sass and joy that I get from Broad City. I know there are lots of people who would disagree with me about this. What can I say? TV is such a subjective thing.

Plus, I feel that if I had moved to New York in my 20s I’d probably be more like Abbi and Ilana, rather than Hannah and her pals in Girls or Carrie and Co on endless brunches. I’d aspire to be Carrie or Shoshanna, but in reality, I’d be someone like Abbi, a bit uncertain and a bit sassy.

My daughter started watching Broad City as she was told at a concert that she looked a lot like Ilana Glazer. It’s true- she does. Watching Glazer on screen it felt like I am watching my daughter. At first, it was a novelty then I became drawn to the characters and their entourage. Bevers the creepy roommate, Lincoln – Illana’s on-again/off-again boyfriend and dear sweet Jaime. There were the ones on the periphery too; Ilana’s mother, the sleazy gym guy and the bodega owner who has a shotgun. All of them infuriating, lovable and so very human.

Some tv shows just grab you from the get-go. For others, it’s a slow burn. I’m glad in a way that Broad City has been my slow burn as I’ve been able to drag it out and not say goodbye to Ilana and Abbi too soon. 

So, dear readers, what are the shows that you mourn? The ones that finished too soon, the ones that jumped the shark a bit (but you loved them anyway) and the ones that consume you and that leave you devastated when they are over.

P.S. My latest obsession is Sex Education on Netflix. It deserves an entire blog post for itself. I’ll just say watch it.