Broad City creator-star Abbi Jacobson and executive producer Amy Poehler reunited after saying goodbye to the Comedy Central hit on March 28. At Deadline’s The Contenders Emmys on Sunday, the duo discussed the importance of featuring a strong female friendship at the heart center of the series.
“It was such an extremely beautiful exploration of female friendship,” Poehler said during her panel. “I know that the people that relate to that show feel the same way, like they own a part of the friendship. And so, a lot of the journey has been friendship and discovery.
“Broad City was the first show I ever produced outside of working on Parks and Recreation,” she added. “It’s been a wonderful 10-year journey for us from beginning to end.”
Jacobson and fellow creator-star Ilana Glazer knew how the story would end, but there were a few details that needed to be ironed out. At the top of their list was whether or not they’d unmask Abbi’s former roommate Melody.
“Melody was originally an homage to Maris on Frasier, who was Niles wife that you never saw,” Jacobson explained. “Then, the more we leaned into it, it was about Abbi and Bevers, Melody’s boyfriend. It was more about that relationship growing and that felt more important than ever revealing Melody.
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“At the end, it was just hilarious that Abbi kind of forgot about Melody,” she added. “Did she ever live there? What’s going on? So we decided that it was better without ever revealing her.”
Jacobson and Glazer also debated whether their characters would remain together in the same city and how their friendship would be challenged if one did move away.
“We knew that we wanted my character to get into this artist residency program and that she needed to go try something new outside of New York before she turned 30,” Jacobson said. “It felt like someone had to leave New York because New York is such a big part of the show.
“Originally, when we first wrote it,” she continued, “there was going to be a FaceTime at the end between the girls and Ilana was going to show up in Abbi’s FaceTime announcing she’d transferred schools to Boulder. Then one day, Ilana said, ‘This is crazy, but I think Ilana should stay in New York.’ Then we both laughed and said how the girls can’t split up.
“The more we let that sink in,” she said, “the more we knew that that was really right. Even though it’s sad for the audience and for us, it’s reality.”
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