Hillary visits “Broad City”: Clinton makes Abbi and Ilana swoon in this wishful-thinking fantasy

www.salon.com|Sonia Saraiya

Weirdly, last night’s “Broad City” was full of public servants: Not just special guest star Hillary Clinton, presidential candidate, but also employees of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, at various stages of disaffection. As Ilana (Ilana Glazer) searched for a new job after being fired two weeks ago, Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) braved the DMV to renew her license. As is always the case with “Broad City,” the everyday events of the 20-something women quickly wandered into the surrealism of sketch comedy. But this week, with a former First Lady and presidential hopeful on set, “Broad City”’s immature aimlessness read all the more poignant.

Abbi and Ilana represent the youthful enthusiasm that Clinton so desperately has tried and failed to capture in her campaign; their haphazard enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton as a feminist icon exists in a mirror universe to our own where Senator Bernie Sanders hasn’t captured the screaming-college-student vote. And yet it is kind of a tantalizing one. The campaign office Ilana walks into is sleek, modern, and colorful, with a “HILLARY” poster on one wall that looks a lot like the famous Shephard Fairey “HOPE” poster of then-candidate Barack Obama. The arrow-H logo of the campaign is rendered in different color palettes around the office, and one is blown up to corporate-logo size, behind front desk. Anyone who has actually worked on a campaign would marvel at the luxe and trendy facilities enjoyed by the Clinton volunteers, as well as the distinct lack of clutter.

But for Ilana, and for “Broad City”’s vision of Hillary Clinton, the world of politics is one of positive energy and possible change, of optimism and acceptance. 

“Broad City” stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson recently went for a stroll through New York’s West Village with Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric, discussing their explosive success, more humble beginnings — and, also, how stupid it is to be praised for having a “strong female friendship.”

Sitting down for a cappuccino at Caffe Reggio, Glazer explained, “Less often we see women with this platform to have their voice, but I think there’s something to being an imperfect role model because it’s like women do things that we can emulate, but also they can mess up.”

With his self-titled, interactive talk-show “The Chris Gethard Show” — which premieres on Fusion May 28 with special guests Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer and musical guest the Front Bottoms — the New York-based comic is building a new kind of talk show in his own image, one that isn’t so much a reaction to the Internet as borne out of it. “TCGS” is a fully immersive experience that severs the boundary between viewer and performer, a show that owes as much to the interactive world of the Web and the absurdist rhythms of improvised comedy as it does to the traditional network talk show. Gethard admits that early Letterman had a huge influence on him, and he shares some of the great man’s subversive, anarchic spirit: a talk-show renegade for the Tumblr generation.

Comedy Central is celebrating 4/20 the right way — with a supercut of all of Broad City’s highest moments. And there are many: That time Abbi got stuck in a ditch at Prospect Park on her way to a dog wedding. That other time the two smoked out a bunch of “college kids” in a dorm room. Kelly. Freakin’. Ripa.

Abbi and Ilana have proven time and again that they have the same sort of wholly dedicated, genuinely pure, romantic-without-actually-being-romantic best friendship that countless viewers aspire to have, or have had in real life. It’s a beautiful thing — and it’s been affirmed over and over through the duo’s many odd adventures and the numerous times they’ve had each other’s backs. Here (in no particular order) are 10 of Abbi and Ilana’s best best friend moments. 

“The peculiarities of my ritual came about because of my paranoia. I kick the cats out and shut the door because of two reasons: I feel uncomfortable when my cat leans over my shoulder to watch whatever depraved film I’m watching, and secondly, because I have a constant terror of accidentally training myself in a Pavlovian way to be aroused by unrelated stimuli, like my cat brushing past my leg, or accidentally catching his vacant gaze as he watches me jill furiously off.”

There’s a “Sex and the City” tour and a “Seinfeld Tour” — heck, there’s even a “Girls” tour — so why not a tour inspired by our newest NYC-centric pop culture obsession, “Broad City”? Recently, we wrote about all the ways you know you live in Abbi and Ilana’s New York. But what about visitors to the city looking for something slightly more authentic than the traditional New York sightseeing trip?  We can help. Here’s our (semi) comprehensive guide to the city, inspired by Abbi and Ilana’s awesome adventures... 

Ilana Glazer and Alia Shawkat look alike. In fact, after she first met Ilana in an improv class, “Broad City” co-creator and co-star Abbi Jacobson mistook her for the “Arrested Development” star (and thought it was weird how bad she was at improv). This likeness is the central premise of last night’s hilarious “Broad City” episode, in which Ilana and Shawkat’s character embark on a romance, in spite of — or perhaps, because of — their physical resemblance to one another. We caught up with the charmingly candid “Arrested Development” alum and prolific indie film actress during her lunch break (and her bathroom break) from a “Funny or Die” video shoot to talk about making out with Ilana Glazer, her love of “Broad City” and why she chooses to take on queer roles.

Wednesday night’s “Broad City” finally gave us something that’s been unclear (but alluded to heavily) since the show’s earliest episodes: A clear definition of Ilana Wexler’s sexuality (sort of). I toss in the “finally” because we live in a world that values labels — where “gay” and “straight” make sense but “bisexual” or (gasp) “pansexual” gets people a little confused. So far, though, the show has avoided giving us a neat little box for Ilana — until this week, when she hooked up with doppelgänger Adele (Alia Shawkat) and talked through the intricacies of her sexuality

The guest segment on Tuesday night’s “The Daily Show” was damn near perfect. Host Jon Stewart absolutely kvelled over “Broad City’s” Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer. And it was flipping adorable. The “Broad City” stars explained how they started their web series, which eventually became the Comedy Central show, and told hilarious stories about manning the phones at “Night of Too Many Stars.”

“Broad City’s” wildly funny co-creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer have blessed our television screens with some excellently raunchy moments — from “pegging” to peeing out condoms to “pussy weed.” At times, it may seem like there’s no place they won’t go to achieve their signature “barebones-honest” brand of comedy. But, in fact, there are a few places. New York magazine’s March 9 cover story on Jacobson and Glazer helps distinguish the creators from their creation. Despite the frenetic tone of the show, the profile is an important reminder that the two are running a business. They’re thinking critically about how every joke comes off. Glazer even says at one point in the interview that smoking a joint in the writers room would be quite irresponsible.

Sleater-Kinney and “Broad City” discuss feminism, music and rules for pooping on tour

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