You know when you get into a band way before anyone else, read a book that doesn’t become popular for a year or two, are a fan of a show no one else seems to watch until its third season, etc? You never lose that connection to the band/book/show, like you were somehow a part of its success. I was lucky enough to be turned on to Broad City recently, and I can tell I’m watching something now that I will undoubtedly take claim for “totally knowing they were gonna be huge” after they become huge. The threesome that makes up Broad City is smart, witty, fun, and uber-talented. Continue reading for a little discussion I had with the group, and to get in on the soon to be out of the bag secret that is Broad City.

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Serial Optimist: How did the collaboration start with the three of you?

Broad City: We (Abbi and Ilana) met in 2007 as the only women in a long-dead improv group, Secret Promise Circle. We became good friends and had a distinct dynamic that made us laugh all the time. We realized our friendship was very love/hate and sort of ran with that. We’re both pretty tomboyish but also very girly in ways, and it’s been entertaining to see how similar and very different we are, which is really where the show came about. Rob came into the mix as our director/editor sort of randomly and very luckily on our part! We knew him from UCB, and he hopped on almost right away as the 3rd member. The three of us now have a really solid process; from writing meetings, collaborating with other NYC-based artists, post-production to launching each episode and even outreach.

SO: What is the general theme of Broad City?

BC: The general theme is that we’re funny bitches, for real. It’s easiest to describe the show as Curb Your Enthusiasm crossed with Sex and the City, where Abbi and Ilana explore their 20s — career, interpersonal skills, friendship, identity — in a stoner-chick way. But it’s also all of those things in a very realistic way. A lot of shows exaggerate or romanticize the lifestyles of New Yorkers–we specifically don’t do that and find the way things really, truly are, is always the funniest.

SO: Web series have become a huge influence on television. From a series getting put on TV to writers being hired to develop something or write for something, etc. What opportunities has Broad City given you all so far, and where do you hope/seeing it take you?

BC: Besides getting laid a lot more and being asked out on some dates finally, we’ve been approached by a production company about shopping around our impending pilot. We were in The New York Times, which was absolutely crazy for us and the perfect opportunity to legitimize our comedy aspirations to friends and family! Overall it’s enabled us to work with some extremely talented people and gain exposure as writers, producers, and performers. We want to take it as far as we can–really create an entire world for these characters and let them just live in it.

SO: Tell me about the competition you are entering and what it’s all about.

BC: We stumbled upon this competition online, but it’s kinda perfect for us!  It’s through NexTV Entertainment and it’s focused on web series and short films that could be adapted to television.  That would be the ultimate goal right now (as we’re about to embark on writing and producing a 22-minute pilot for Broad City), so it’s falling at a really great time. There’s a Viewer’s Choice portion where the series with the most votes goes right to the Finalist round-and that’s obviously where we want to be.  The Judges are all big movers and shakers in the industry, and even to get the opportunity to have Broad City seen by them would be HUGE.

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SO Note: Follow Broad City on Twitter @broadcity, go to www.broadcitytheshow.com and watch all the Broad City episodes, (seriously do this, it is well worth the time and a good quick ab workout from laughing so much), and most importantly go here and follow the below instructions to vote and make sure we help Broad City win this bitch.

-Click on the big blue tab at the bottom left of the page that says: Shortcut to the Finals.

-Type in Broad City in the search bar on the right just above the list of submissions.

-Click on watch.

-Vote.

Easy breeeeeezy.

*Photo Credit: Eric Michael Pearson