#SoloStories: “Broad City”

SoloStories is our feature in which we explore books, films and TV shows that show single women navigating their lives – but romance is not the main component.

“Broad City” is a show that’s painfully funny.

The comedy, which ran from 2014 to 2019, is one of our favorite TV shows about living life on your own.

“Broad City” follows two best friends in their early 20s residing in New York City. Abbi Abrams (played by Abbi Jacobsen) is an aspiring artist who tries to play by the rules, although that doesn’t always work. Ilana Wexler (played by Ilana Glazer) is … well, let’s just call her quirky. She frequently switches up jobs and romances, but she’s never daunted by what people think of her.  (She’s also the character who gave us the line, “In da clerb, we’re all fam.”)

There’s not a situation that they don’t go through – bad dates, annoying “roommates,” perplexing work dilemmas. Ilana makes the best of any situation, and in “Hurricane Wanda,” the show’s best episode, she helps rescue Abbi from an explosive diarrhea attack while her crush is in the next room. (“I’m a doo doo ninja,” Ilana tells Abbi.) They often have to be resourceful, such as finding money when they need it or carrying large objects (like furniture) through the streets of New York. So often, life shoves itself in its face. Even going to the subway is an adventure.

But they have each other. This show is a great example of single women who can handle life on their own, but they also know when to turn to a friend.

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