There's a meet-the-parents scene in the new Netflix series "Nobody Wants This" where Noah arrives at his girlfriend Joanne's house (played by wearing a sports coat and carrying an oversized bouquet of sunflowers. Joanne is so appalled by his efforts that she decides they need to break up.
Before she can end things, Noah confronts Joanne and says he's not going to apologize for wanting to make a good impression with her parents.
鈥淵ou can self-sabotage all you want but, honestly I think you should get over it,鈥� Noah says to a shocked Joanne.
Erin Foster, the show's creator and showrunner, says when she met her husband, Simon Tikhman, in 2018, she realized 鈥渇inding the right person can be hard.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e with the wrong person, everything is their fault," said Foster. 鈥淵ou pick someone who鈥檚 cheating and lying and disrespecting you and it鈥檚 like you鈥檙e perfect. When someone shows up who is healthy and accountable, you start to realize all the things that you do that鈥檚 bad in a relationship.鈥�
In 鈥淣obody Wants This,鈥� Joanne is a single woman who hosts a podcast with her sister (Justine Lupe). Their schtick is to talk candidly about their dating and breakup stories. Even a bad date is good fodder for the sisters to discuss.
When Joanne meets Noah, sparks immediately fly between the two. Noah's life goal is to be named head rabbi at his synagogue. He is aware that getting serious with Joanne would be a major issue but ignores it for the time being. In the meantime, Joanne identifies as non-denominational and their religious differences seem like no big deal.
Over time as Noah's family and the synagogue begins to pressure him over his relationship, he asks Joanne if she would be willing to convert.
鈥淓rin Foster has created a dynamic where these characters 鈥� the world does not want them together. And what does that mean if they want to be together,鈥� said Bell, who does not practice religion. 鈥淭here鈥檚 like endless storyline to mine about the interpersonal relationship between two people who probably shouldn鈥檛 be together if the world were to have its say.鈥�
Foster argues that when a couple meets when they鈥檙e more settled in their own lives, sometimes they both need to adjust. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 responsible to show women in 2024 that, 'All you have to do to find your perfect person is to change everything about yourself.' That鈥檚 not the message I want to send. But I also want you to look at the idea that it is OK sometimes to change some things about yourself, to fit a person who鈥檚 also going to change things about themselves."
To write about Judaism accurately, Foster enlisted the help of her own rabbi, who 鈥渞ead every script," she said. "Listen, ... I鈥檓 sure some Reddit forum could find things that we did wrong if they want to. You have to let a few small things go because it's TV.鈥�
Brody, who grew up Jewish but defines himself as agnostic, says it was 鈥渋nteresting and a fun avenue" to explore someone who is different from himself and deeply committed to their religion.
鈥淣oah is a spiritual person who spent the majority of his life studying this subject. That鈥檚 who he is. I got excited about that, actually,鈥� he said.
Foster recalls Brody saying, 鈥�"It鈥檚 important to me if I play a rabbi that he is not like me. He has got to be all in. He is a believer. He is not like, a one foot in, one foot out kind of person...' When he said it, I thought that would be such a great characteristic, because it鈥檚 cool to say to a girl you鈥檙e flirting with who doesn鈥檛 believe in God, 'Yeah, maybe I do, maybe I don鈥檛.' But he doesn鈥檛 do that. He鈥檚 like, 鈥楴o. This is who I am.鈥�"
Production on the series was underway on Oct. 7 when Foster said there was a conscious decision not to write that into the show.
鈥淎fter Oct. 7, there were questions like, 鈥楢re we going to bring this up? Are we going to acknowledge it?鈥� And the truth is, I always felt very confident that this is not the show to try to solve any issues that are happening in the world. I鈥檓 not the right person to tell that story because I don鈥檛 live in Israel and I didn鈥檛 grow up Jewish. It鈥檚 not responsible for me to pretend like I know what that experience would be like.鈥� Instead, she's happy to tell a positive Jewish story especially at a time when people feel overlooked and not seen.
Added Bell, who is also an executive producer, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think we needed to put it in the show because the subject matter could be replaced with any label of people who shouldn鈥檛 be together. The importance of it wasn鈥檛 necessarily their individual labels, but the fact that their labels conflicted.鈥�
Alicia Rancilio, The Associated Press
