Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson Reveal How They Balanced Friendship and Work on ‘Broad City’

Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson Reveal How They Balanced Friendship and Work on ‘Broad City’

Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson played best friends on their Comedy Central series Broad City for five seasons, though they recently revealed that they had to set boundaries while filming the show.

Since they were spending so much time together during the show’s production schedule, Glazer and Jacobson explained that they had to make sure to give each other space when needed. “We didn’t, like, hang out. I think when we were doing it, we would be like, ‘See you on Monday,’” Jacobson recalled on Tuesday’s episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast.

“We weren’t like hanging out as friends during Broad City. We couldn’t,” Glazer added.

Jacobson explained that the decision to set boundaries wasn’t personal. “It was just like, after 12, 14 hours of Monday through Friday, we were like, ‘Let’s not do dinner on Saturday,’” she said.

Earlier in the conversation, Glazer and Jacobson told Poehler that they had to be careful about maintaining their friendship during their time on the show. “As incredible as it was to make Broad City, we would always make sure to have a little time up top to connect and catch up, even if it was just from 12 hours ago,” Glazer explained.

The False Positive actress compared their catch ups to an “after-school club,” and she explained that she and Jacobson would spend about 45 minutes talking before they focused on their tasks for the show.

Jacobson chimed in to point out that it was essential that she and Glazer remained aware of each other’s lives when they were filming. “We knew that it’s so derived from us, so we had to kind of like catch up and be like, ‘OK, write that down for this thing,’” she said.

Now that they’re no longer co-stars, Glazer said that her and Jacobson’s time together feels more intentional. “But at the time it was very much slotted in to catch up, and things would always make their way into the comedy, which is cool, but it’s not the same as it being its own, just for the sake of its own beauty, you know?” she said.

Glazer appeared on the comedy show as Ilana Wexler and Jacobson starred as Abbi Abrams. The show, which they also co-created, followed the friends as they navigated life in New York City. Glazer and Jacobson also executive produced the show alongside Poehler.

In 2024, Glazer reflected on her and Jacobson’s decision to end the show in 2019 after five seasons when they originally signed on to do seven. “Broad City was like a big [deal]. We had signed our contract of seven seasons and then, we both came to it, Abbi and I. And Comedy Central was like, ‘Huh?’” she said while appearing on NPR’s “Wild Card with Rachel Martin” podcast. “We were like ambivalent and unsure, but I think that’s something I would say is elegant about me knowing when things are at their end.”

And speaking to The Hollywood Reporter after the Broad City finale in 2019, Glazer and Jacobson both indicated they were proud of how the show wrapped up.

“I really love the way that we ended this show,” Jacobson said. “I’m really proud of it, and I feel really satisfied creatively.”

Glazer added, “It’s such a privilege, especially as young women, to be able to end something while it’s strong and powerful and our choice to end it.”