Danielle Solzman
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody headline the newest Netflix comedy series, Nobody Wants This, about a podcaster falling for a rabbi. More specifically, an outspoken, agnostic non-Jewish podcaster, Joanne (Kristen Bell) falling for an unconventional Reform Rabbi, Noah Roklov (Adam Brody). Erin Foster’s own life story is the starting point for Nobody Wants This. Her real-life husband is not a rabbi.
Foster described the series origin in the production notes and mentions the following:
“To be clear though, the show isn’t making any political statements because I’m not the person to do that. I didn’t grow up Jewish, I converted as an adult. I wanted to tell a Jewish story, but from an outsider’s perspective for someone who chose Judaism.”
When Foster started creating characters, she made them very different from her family and in-laws in real life. As such, Esther Roklov (Tovah Feldshuh) is both overbearing and intense. Despite the stereotype, I can assure you that not all Jewish mothers are overbearing and intense. Much like other films and series, mothers are forcing the on-the-rebound rabbi to meet their daughters. Hollywood needs to get better with Jewish representation and especially needs to shy away from stereotypes. I had to make an edit to my review because I’ve become so immune to Jewish stereotypes that I missed a few of them!
Both Joanne and Noah are on the rebound when they first meet at Ashley’s (Sherry Cola) party. It’s a shock to everyone when they first start going out. While others might or might not approve, both of them know what they want. It’s one thing for opposites to attract but it is easier said than one when one is going out with a rabbi. What happens when Joanne meets the Roklov family for the first time? Even though the series is told through a Reform Jewish perspective, Noah’s parents–Ilan (Paul Ben-Victor) and Esther–have a kosher home. I know, I know–this surprised me although Esther Roklov does come off a bit as the stereotypical overbearing Jewish mother. Joanne’s sister, Morgan (Justin Lupe), and Noah’s brother, Sasha (Timothy Simons), are very involved in their lives.
Since October 7, it’s been really important to take in Jewish joy wherever I can get it. I remember asking about the status of the series when I met Adam Brody during at an event for American Fiction. At the time, filming had not started yet. Anyway, the idea of seeing a rabbi headlining a TV series is exciting, especially when anti-Jewish hate is the worst it has ever been. Could the series do without some of the Jewish stereotypes? Oh, certainly. Believe me, I’ve seen no shortage of complaints about the Jewish representation after the trailer.
Rabbi Steve Leder is a consultant on the series. Leder is a Reform rabbi and the series skews towards that perspective of Judaism. As such, you should not go into Nobody Wants This expecting a Conservative or Orthodox perspective. But for one reason or another, the Rabbinical Assembly’s Siddur Lev Shalem for Shabbat and Festivals makes an appearance around the 21:05 mark. The Rabbinical Assembly is affiliated with United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism. Non-Jewish viewers probably won’t even know the difference between the denominations and siddur preferences. Making it worse, the older Siddur Sim Shalom is right on top. Anyway, we can blame it on location scouting or props but somebody fell asleep at the wheel! The siddur that they need to be using the Union for Reform Judaism’s Mishkan T’filah, published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis Press.
There are definitely moments where Joanne is clearly in over her head. Shortly after they start going out, she brings pork products to a brunch with Noah’s family. Part of me wanted to laugh while the serious Jew in me was going, how could you bring pork into their home?!? Meanwhile, the below photo takes place in the sixth episode and as you can tell by the shelves on the background, it’s probably the biggest WTF moment of the series. Watch the episode for yourself.
Per Erin Foster’s comments in the production notes, Rabbi Leder “read every script and watched every edit and would call out anything that was inconsistent with the truth or how things would go.” Obviously, there are places where they do take creative liberties but this is usual in Hollywood.
For those asking, no, I do not know if Timothy Simons is Jewish. If he is, that’s great for authentic representation. But if he isn’t, well, that’s disappointing. I have nothing against Timothy Simons as an actor but authentic representation is important, especially in 2024. To say that the push for authentic representation needs to apply to Jews is not an understatement. We’re facing the worst levels of antisemitism in my lifetime. It is especially exciting that a number of actors playing Jews are Jewish in real life. This helps give the series an authentic flavor. Even if a performance or the writing comes off like a stereotype, the majority of Jewish roles are being played by Jews and not as a caricature.
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody have solid chemistry in Nobody Wants This and it’s nice to laugh a bit, if only for a little while.
CREATOR: Erin Foster
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Erin Foster, Steven Levitan, Craig DiGregorio, Kristen Bell, Sara Foster, Danielle Stokdyk, Jeff Morton, Oly Obst
DIRECTORS: Greg Mottola (101, 102), Karen Maine (103, 104), Oz Rodriguez (105, 107) Hannah Fidel (106, 108), Lawrence Trilling (109, 110)
WRITERS: Erin Foster, Lindsay Golder, Ryann Werner, Pat Regan, Ron Weiner, Craig DiGregorio, Barbie Adler, Niki Schwartz-Wright, Jane Becker, Noelle Valdvia, Neel Shah, Vali Chandrasekaran
CAST: Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons, Stephanie Faracy, Michael Hitchcock, Tovah Feldshuh, Paul Ben-Victor, Emily Arlook, Jackie Tohn, Sherry Cola, Shiloh Berman
Netflix will release all ten episodes of the first season of Nobody Wants This on September 26, 2024. Grade: 3.5/5
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