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Broad City and High Maintenance – both web series turned TV comedies – bring a new level of realism to audiences across various platforms, making them progressive and celebrated frontrunners of modern day television. While both pertain a somewhat acquired humour, their obscure and at times confrontational plot lines differ them from programs intended for, and already existing on, broadcast television.
Broad City, the web series, was created by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, and was later discovered and produced for television by popular comedian, Amy Poehler, of Saturday Night Live fame. The show’s organic and atypical conception, and subsequent platform migration, is a clear signifier of the impact of the audience and their ability to act as ‘produsers’ in determining what is to be broadcast on television (Bruns, 2008). The week three lecture, in which programs such as Broad City and High Maintenance were referenced, acknowledged the ever increasing focus on audience desires by the television industry. The concept of ‘narrowcasting’ was introduced, which, ironically, is a fitting way to describe Broad City in relation to the conventions of what is typically known as broadcasting (Donnar, 2015). Unlike traditional programs produced by networks to appeal to the masses and attract a founding audience, Broad City – a female-centric, honest to the point of excess, raw comedy – brought their existing niche audience and more to the Comedy Central network. Consequently, it is imperative for the network to understand that the transfer from web to television means that existing fans will be coming from a background of hyperactive engagement and consumption. Broad City, in some ways, is a step onward from Lena Dunham’s Girls, attracting a relatively new niche audience with feministic values.
The concept of ‘realness’ is of high value when talking about shows like Broad City and High Maintenance (Blair, 2014). Unlike the dominant percentage of TV comedies, these two portray a realness that has previously been unmatched. Repeated outfits, imperfect hair and makeup, ‘potty talk’ from women and the open expression of female sexual desire are consistently present across Broad City episodes. Rather than creating unrealistically perfect characters audiences aspire to be more like, producers encourage audiences to just ‘be’ rather than to ‘become’. This sets such modern programs apart from traditional content intentionally made for television.
The New York City setting of Broad City and High Maintenance are not new to television comedy, which has previously been dominated by gag-reel sitcoms Friends and How I Met Your Mother. While Broad City, much like Friends and How I Met Your Mother, focus on the family-like friendships formed in the city, the way by which they utilize the existing culture of the city is slightly different. Broad City highlights the grungy, imperfect, day-to-day lifestyle of being in your 20s in New York, and doesn’t gloss over the bad jobs, strange personalities and misfortune this may entail. It provides a stark difference to the more shallow culture, humour and superficiality that would be portrayed had the program been set in, for example Hollywood, Los Angeles. The evolution of the portrayal of location in TV comedies, specifically New York, implies the changes in audience desires, and what particular aspect or culture of the city they wish to vicariously explore.
References:
Blair, E. (2014). ‘Broad City,’ TV’s Best Comedy, Is a Post-Feminist Barrage of Bathroom Humor and Romantic Flubs. [Blog] New Republic. Available at: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117702/broad-citys-post-feminist-sensibility-tvs-best-comedy [Accessed 8 Aug. 2015].
Bruns, A. (2008). The Key Characteristics of Produsage in Blogs, Wikipedia, Second life, and Beyond. New York: Peter Lang. pp 9-28
Donnar, G. (2015). From Broadcast to Post-Broadcast Television, Part 2.
