60 Fun Facts About Broad City

On which network did the Broad City television series air?

FX bought the pilot script first and passed on it a year later; Comedy Central committed in 2012.

Before it reached cable television, Broad City existed in what form?

Glazer and Jacobson made it themselves on YouTube between 2009 and 2011.

Which comedian mentored the show's creators and became an executive producer when it moved to television?

Poehler had already starred in the finale of the web series and later directed the season one finale.

Which network first bought the Broad City pilot script, then passed on it for being 'too girly'?

Comedy Central picked it up in 2012, with Lucia Aniello directing the pilot.

In the pilot script, what were the characters called before the stars used their own first names?

The surnames Wexler and Abrams survived; the first names Evelyn and Carly did not.

Abbi and Ilana met while taking classes at which New York comedy institution?

They were in a small improv group there called Secret Promise Circle, and met collaborators Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello through the same theatre.

What was the name of Abbi and Ilana's improv group at UCB?

The name gets a nod in the show's DNA: two friends and a private pact.

In which New York City neighbourhood does Abbi Abrams live?

Ilana lives in Gowanus, Brooklyn; the commute between the two is a recurring source of trouble.

The character Ilana Wexler is a graduate of which school?

In 'In Heat' the pair steal an air conditioner from an NYU dorm because it's their old school.

What is the profession of Lincoln Rice, Ilana's on-and-off partner played by Hannibal Buress?

He fits Ilana with a new veneer in 'Pu$$y Weed' and pulls Abbi's wisdom teeth in season two.

What is the name of the gym where Abbi works as a cleaner?

Her boss Trey never notices that she wants to be a trainer rather than a cleaner.

Ilana works, sporadically, at a web company called what?

Her boss Todd struggles to manage an employee who comes and goes as she pleases.

Which recurring character is played by a real-life sibling of one of the two stars?

Eliot Glazer also wrote the season five episode 'Along Came Molly'.

Which comedian plays Bobbi Wexler, Ilana's blunt and confrontational mother?

Essman was nominated for a Critics' Choice award as a guest performer for the role.

Who plays Ilana's father, Arthur Wexler?

Balaban first appears at a shiva in 'Knockoffs' and later celebrates a 35th wedding anniversary in 'Burning Bridges'.

In season four, RuPaul plays Marcel, Ilana's ruthless boss at what kind of business?

The restaurant is Sushi Mambeaux, where the staff and the boss insult customers as policy.

Which comedian plays Dara, the graphic-design boss who employs Abbi as her assistant in season four?

Abbi is fired after accidentally killing Dara's cat during a mushroom trip.

Who plays Lesley, the doctor Abbi dates in the final season?

Lesley ends it by telling Abbi her life is a series of wild shenanigans, which pushes Abbi to apply for an artist residency out west.

Which sitting or former US politician made a guest appearance in the season three episode '2016'?

Ilana signs up at the campaign office thinking it's a paid job and quits when she learns it's volunteer work.

What is the name of the stuffed toy Abbi hallucinates is walking beside her in 'Wisdom Teeth'?

High on a cannabis cocktail, she walks to Whole Foods and spends nearly $1,500.

Roughly how much does Abbi spend at Whole Foods during her wisdom-teeth haze?

Ilana only finds out where she is from an automated call to Abbi's phone.

Whose coat does Abbi accidentally give away while working coat check in season two?

Getting it back leads Abbi to an orgy, an ex-boyfriend's apartment and a disappointingly un-glamorous celebrity.

In 'Coat Check', Ilana falls for a doppelgänger named Adele without noticing the resemblance. Who plays her?

Ilana ends it when she realises Adele looks exactly like her and, worse, doesn't smoke weed.

Which actor plays 'Male Stacy', who falls asleep during sex with Abbi in the season two premiere?

He also accidentally shoves the stolen air conditioner out of the window.

Which NBA player takes Ilana home from a party in the episode 'B&B-NYC'?

That same night Abbi and Trey watch Ratatouille and sleep together for the first time.

Which country singer do Abbi and Trey train together at the gym in season four?

The episode title, 'Twaining Day', tells you who the client is.

Which Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire actor plays the man who mugs Abbi at gunpoint in 'Bedbugs'?

Teenage shopkeeper Massouma sees him off with a pump-action shotgun.

Which Broadway star do Abbi and Ilana follow to a drag brunch in 'Lost and Found'?

While they're chatting to him, 91-year-old Saul quietly boards a bus to IKEA.

Which sitcom star plays Abbi's mother Joanne in season four?

Frasier's Roz Doyle turns up in Abbi's tight dress and ends the night in a sex shop.

Who plays Abbi's divorced father when she goes home to Pennsylvania in the episode 'Philadelphia'?

Ilana finds a valuable JonBenét Ramsey Beanie Baby while cleaning out Abbi's childhood bedroom.

Which Mrs. Doubtfire child star cameos in 'Burning Bridges', an episode that pays homage to that film?

Abbi spends the evening sprinting between a date with Trey and the Wexlers' 35th-anniversary dinner.

In 'Getting There' / 'Jews on a Plane', what celebration are the girls flying to Israel for?

They're interrogated on landing and deported without leaving the airport.

Which Sliding Doors-style device does the season four premiere use to tell Abbi and Ilana's origin story?

In one timeline they board the subway together; in the other they miss it and spend the day apart.

Which real dating app does Abbi join in 'Rat Pack', not realising she can swipe left?

Every match shows up to Ilana and Jaimé's rent party, which turns out to be exactly what the party needed.

Which retailer hires Abbi as a security guard, not a window designer, in season four?

She eventually dresses a window without permission and is banned from every branch of the chain.

How much money does Ilana collect from her forgotten bitcoin in season five?

She'd bought the coins years earlier with a then-lover, who hands over her share.

At the end of the series, Abbi leaves New York for an artist residency in which state?

She tells Ilana during an immersive performance of Sleep No More; Ilana's freak-out gets them thrown out.

Ilana's new roommate in the final episodes arrives with two Great Danes named after which couple?

The dogs move in the same day Abbi accepts the residency.

In the series finale, what does Ilana find on the street and wheel home on a skateboard?

They stop on the Brooklyn Bridge to say goodbye; when Ilana leaves it for Abbi, someone takes it.

Which food do Abbi and Ilana hunt for, unsuccessfully, on Abbi's last morning in New York?

They miss the 11 a.m. cutoff when bodegas stop selling them.

Which Portlandia star plays David, who hires the pair to clean his apartment in lingerie?

He doesn't pay, so they each walk out with a hat, a coat and a bottle of alcohol.

Whose concert are Abbi and Ilana trying to raise $200 for in the very first episode?

The same rapper's show bookends the series: they try to sneak into another of his concerts in the penultimate episode.

Who directed the season one finale, 'The Last Supper'?

The Writers Guild Foundation later listed the episode's script among the best of the 2010s.

Which Primetime Emmy did the show win in 2018?

Animation director Mike Perry's psychedelic title sequence took the prize.

Abbi Jacobson later voiced Princess Bean in which animated series?

Matt Groening's Netflix fantasy ran from 2018 to 2023.

Ilana Glazer grew up in St. James, in which part of New York?

The character's Long Island parents, Bobbi and Arthur, aren't far from the truth.

Which art school did Abbi Jacobson graduate from in 2006?

She studied fine arts and video production, and spent a term at Emerson College studying acting.

Abbi Jacobson co-created and starred in which 2022 Amazon series based on a 1992 film?

She plays catcher Carson Shaw on a World War II-era women's baseball team.

Who plays Trey Pucker, Abbi's oblivious boss at the gym?

Downs was also a writer and producer on the show, having met Jacobson in improv class.

Who plays Matt Bevers, the mooching boyfriend of Abbi's absent roommate?

The roommate herself, Melody, is never around, leaving Bevers as a permanent unwelcome fixture in the apartment.

Which experienced showrunner was paired with Glazer and Jacobson for season one?

The pair parted ways with Sagher after the first season and became showrunners themselves.

Who directed the Broad City television pilot?

Aniello had met the pair at UCB and directed an episode of the original web series.

In which year did the original Broad City web series launch on YouTube?

It ran for two seasons online, with Amy Poehler starring in the finale.

How was the final season's opening episode structured?

The last season also took the pair to MoMA and to a drag brunch.

Roughly how many viewers per episode did Broad City's first season average?

It was Comedy Central's highest-rated first season since 2012 among 18–34-year-olds, though ratings later fell under 600,000.

Which classic sitcom have critics compared Broad City to, citing the characters' lack of personal growth?

The Wall Street Journal instead dubbed the show 'Sneak Attack Feminism'.

Which mobile game based on the show was released in April 2018?

It was developed and published by Built Games.

Where did Vanity Fair rank Broad City on its list of the best TV shows of the 2010s?

Rolling Stone placed it 28th and The Guardian ranked it 96th best of the 21st century.

In which Pennsylvania town was Abbi Jacobson born in 1984?

Her father was a graphic designer and her mother an artist; she published a book of essays, I Might Regret This, in 2018.

Ilana Glazer wrote, produced and starred in which 2021 horror film?

Glazer's 2024 comedy Babes followed, along with the stand-up specials The Planet Is Burning and Human Magic.