Broad City: Millennial Women Surviving the Neoliberal Gig Economy in Comedy Television

Broad City developed out of a creative friendship between Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, who met and developed their work at the Upright Citizens Brigade improvisational sketch comedy group. They began posting their YouTube web series in 2010, then connected with Amy Poehler, who was instrumental in bringing the show to network television. After being rejected by FX for its female-focused content, it was purchased by Comedy Central, where the show ran from 2014–19 (Montecillo). While the show is rich for analysis on many topics, such as identity politics, feminism, women’s sexual agency, and deviant leisure practices, this article focuses specifically on how the main characters survive the neoliberal economy of New York City—the backdrop to their humorous misadventures. Employment and financial survival provide the plot driver for many of the episodes. Ilana and Abbi represent downwardly mobile, white, Jewish, overeducated twenty-something women, unable to encounter a full-time job that does not denigrate them and pays a living wage. This article contextualizes their struggles within the context of millennials in the United States. Despite being the most college-educated generation to exist, millennials are slated to achieve a less financially secure status than that of their parents’ generation. Millennials entered the economy after the Great Recession, which has been slow to recover gainful employment. This article contextualizes the world of Broad City within this neoliberal context and gig economy as encountered by millennials entering the workforce.