‘Broad City’ Alumni Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz on Returning to the Heart of ’90s and 2000s Comedies for ‘Babes’

Put Ilana Glazer in a comedy set in New York City and we’ll be sat, no questions asked. For “Babes,” Glazer teamed up to co-write, produce, and star in Pamela Adlon‘s feature directorial debut, a laugh-out-loud coming-of-age buddy comedy following life-long best friends (Glazer and Michelle Buteau) as they navigate different phases of adulthood through the lens of pregnancy. IndieWire caught up with the team and stars behind the film at its New York City premiere on Tuesday, May 14.

Glazer, who co-wrote the film with “Broad City” alum Josh Rabinowitz, reflected on how their creative relationship has evolved since Glazer started comedy at 19 years old and Rabinowitz was just getting out of college. “Growing in comedy with Josh has been such a privilege,” Glazer told IndieWire. “I [was] a few years in and we were just knuckleheads together, like absolute knuckleheads. Just trying our best being on stage and crafting a skill set and growing up together in this way has been such a privilege.”

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“I feel this way about my comedy brothers and sisters, Michelle [Buteau] too, The Lucas Brothers too,” Glazer continued. “There’s this thing in comedy where you’re like my comedy friends when you first start out, and then suddenly they become your real friends. It feels like you went to school with them. We’re just becoming old friends and want to grow old together and keep in company.”

“There’s not one thing; that’s like choosing your favorite Prince song,” Buteau said of what her favorite part about working with Glazer is. “She is kind, she’s empathetic. She’s hilarious. She’s hard-working, no matter how tired she is.”

Rabinowitz, who is credited with producing ten episodes of Glazer’s hysterical NYC-set sitcom, was elated to reunite with her for “Babes.” “Ilana is such a collaborative performer and writer and, even in the ‘Broad City’ room, it was always so amazing to watch her and Abbi [Jacobson] just start like ripping out a scene,” Rabinowitz told IndieWire. “Then they’re performing as they’re ripping it out and it’s the same thing here. It’s just so intrinsic to the way that she performs and it’s super-collaborative. If you have a good idea, she goes with it or makes it her own, she’s just so awesome.”

“We just both wanted to do something like, hard funny. We were both just feeling like there are these movies of the ’90s and 2000’s that we love, these hard comedies that also had heart. We connected on that,” Rabinowitz continued. “We missed that heart. Things being super blue and funny and hard funny, [they] don’t have to be mutually exclusive things. ‘Broad City’ had tons of emotions in it, also.”

Of the era of comedies Rabinowitz spoke about, he touted some movies as touchstones: “Even like movies as silly as ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ you cared emotionally about these characters. Ilana would bring up ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ a lot.”

With “Babes,” Emmy-winning actress, writer, and director Pamela Adlon makes her feature directorial debut. “I’m so grateful and honored that the film is done and that people are gonna be able to see it and that it’s coming out in theaters,” Adlon told IndieWire. “I think it’s just going to show it’s not really for me, it’s for pretty much the entertainment industry — that they would give another women a chance. I just hope that more women are, instead of passing us over, [the industry is] going to kind of tap us on the shoulder. I would like somebody to watch this movie and say it’s time for more women to get behind the camera.”

Glazer, who has directed several episodes of “Broad City,” tells IndieWire that she would “love to direct” her own feature some day. “Abbi Jacobson and I directed some episodes of ‘Broad City’ and it almost became easier, because we already have a thing in our head and just did it ourselves,” she sad.

And to no one’s surprise, Glazer told us that she absolutely sees herself working with Jacobson in the future: “I love working with Abbi!”

Also at the premiere, John Carroll Lynch, who plays a doctor to Glazer and Buteau’s characters in the film, reflected on his role as Norm Gunderson in “Fargo,” ahead of the near-30 year anniversary in 2026. “‘Fargo’ was the film that actually made me a legitimate film actor. I will always cherish it,” he told IndieWire. “I think it’s a masterpiece and it was such a humbling honor to be in such an incredible film.”

As for if he’s watched any of the FX limited series based on the film, he noted, “I have watched some of the TV series and I think it’s terrific, but sometimes they quote scenes from the first movie, which is what they’re [supposed to be] doing, and it feels a little bit uncomfortable.”

He added with a laugh, “I saw in the pilot, like, those are scenes I actually shot!”

A Neon release, “Babes” hits limited theaters on May 17, expands on May 24, and has a wide release on June 7. Check out the film’s trailer here.

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