'Nobody Wants This' Wows the Critics

         On September 26, 2024, Netflix released 'Nobody Wants This', which has earned predominantly positive reviews from critics, currently holding at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the series, "An agnostic sex podcaster and a newly single rabbi fall in love; discovering if their relationship survive their wildly different lives and meddling families." The ensemble cast includes Adam Brody, Kristen Bell, Emily Arlook, and Sherry Cola. But what did the critics say?

       Alison Herman of Variety says, "If Nobody Wants This can’t make Joanne and Noah a lived-in partnership, it at least gives us Bell, Brody and a pleasant-enough time." Adding, "Yet “Nobody Wants This” is to “Transparent,” “You’re the Worst” and their ilk what the so-called “indie sleaze” revival is to The Strokes and LCD Soundsystem: a faint echo that’s content to echo the aesthetics of its influence without much in the way of substance. (Bring in the heavyweights of TV-as-extended-rom-com, like “Catastrophe” and “Fleabag,” and the comparison is even more unflattering.) I suspect this will be more of a boon than an impediment to its success. Netflix has made megahits of shows as shiny and frictionless as “Nobody Wants This” in the past; after downing 10 episodes in two sittings, I entered a thought-free state of mind I’ve come to think of as “Emily in Paris” Syndrome. The sugar high nonetheless wears off. Despite the name, plenty of people will want to watch “Nobody Wants This.” I just doubt they’ll have lasting memories of it."

       Whitney Friedlander of Paste Magazine was less impressed, stating, "Those projects are also built on the tenet that the central couple is a couple worthy of the fight... But Nobody Wants This hasn’t convinced me that Joanne and Noah are a couple worth the fight."

       Proma Khosla of indieWire notes, "The series asks if a rabbi can date someone who isn’t Jewish, and the answer is pretty straightforward. Everything outside of that question, however, is what makes the series worth watching." Concluding, "Brody and Bell are irresistible together, and the ease of their dynamic quickly forgives the series’ other shortcomings. It’s also the reason that Joanne and Noah together is infinitely more compelling than if they’re not, and Foster’s team recognizes that. The ensemble is endearing even when their characters are inconsistently so (Lupe, and a criminally underused Sherry Cola), and when they’re not-so-secret MVPs (Timothy Simons as Noah’s “loser sibling” gets a particularly charming Girl Dad B story). Unlike most romances, “Nobody Wants This” spares empathy for Rebecca, and for how it feels to watch her ex dive into something new and serious and emphatically in-her-face — and for Sasha’s (Simons) wife Esther (Jackie Tohn) caught in the middle."

Photo by Oscar Vargas on Unsplash

       Joel Keller of Decider praises the series, stating, "Normally, we’re in the tank for Bell, playing her usual smart, quippy, down-to-earth and flawed characters. Joanna is certainly flawed and quippy, but much cooler in temperament than what we’ve seen from Bell in recent years. Brody’s Noah feels like he has the perfect line in response to everything Joanna says. He’s too smooth by half, despite Brody being able to provide the right level of vulnerability as a guy who is trying to open himself up." Continuing, "There wasn’t that instant spark between Bell and Brody that we might have expected in a rom-com like this. However, by the end of the second episode, Bell and Brody had us believing in the two of them being together. It took some slight conflict, with Joanna having her doubts right at the start. Perhaps that’s better, given the fact that we have an entire season — perhaps multiple seasons — to see their relationship go through ups and downs. What we do appreciate is that Foster doesn’t try to weigh Noah or his family down in stereotypes. There are a few nods to American Judaism here and there, especially in the person of Noah’s mom, who is fiercely protective of her younger son. But for the most part, the comedy coming from the Roklovs is more about who they are individually than what their culture or religion is."