NOW ENTERTAINMENT Oct. 19 Month 00- -25, 00,2025 2023
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“Nobody Wants This” is back for its second season, premiering 10 brand-new episodes Thursday, Oct. 23. Kristen Bell (“The Good Place”) and Adam Brody (“The Kid Detective,” 2020) star. Kristen Bell and Adam Brody star in “Nobody Wants This”
Cover Story Fall in love: Autumn brings new ‘Nobody Wants This’ By Sarah Passingham Yet again, it’s that time of the year. Leaves are crisp and colorful, wardrobes are stuffed with chunky knits and hearty meals for two are set at the dining table. It’s cuffing season, and what better way to spend cozy nights in with a special someone than to press play on a returning rom-com for our times. “Nobody Wants This” is back for its second season, premiering 10 brand-new episodes Thursday, Oct. 23, on Netflix. Kristen Bell (“The Good Place”) and Adam Brody (“The Kid Detective,” 2020) return as the unlikely couple in love: relationship podcaster Joanne Williams and rabbi Noah Roklov. The first season saw them stumble through getting to know each other, weighing their very different backgrounds against their palpable chemistry, hitting several road blocks on the way to commitment. Joanne, an agnostic podcast co-host on the rise, unexpect-
edly fell for Noah, a faithful rabbi whose dedication to the synagogue and its congregants was unfamiliar to her. With the culture clash between Noah’s Jewish family and community, and Joanne’s circle of majority unbelievers being the main hurdle in the lovebirds’ fledgling relationship, another was Joanne’s career. The podcast that Joanne co-hosts with her sister, Morgan (Justine Lupe, “Succession”), centered around the two oversharing about their love lives and giving out advice, became a controversial subject at the meeting-his-parents stage for the way the siblings candidly discuss the realities of dating. Together with her borderline embarrassing lack of knowledge of Jewish culture and customs, Joanne fails to make a positive first impression with Noah’s family. A few knee-jerk overcorrections don’t land her much closer to the Roklovs’ good side, either.
At the same time, Morgan had grown frustrated with Joanne over her lack of commitment to their show and single-minded focus on Noah as the podcast started to gain traction. A sort of balance was struck in the first season’s finale when the sisters buried the hatchet and Joanne admitted she was not ready to convert to Judaism, returning to herself again. The upcoming season sees Joanne’s rivalry with Noah’s mother, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh, “Harlan Coben’s Shelter”), deepen, the pair staring daggers at each other from opposite ends of the stands of Noah’s Matzah Ballers basketball game in the official trailer. While Joanne keeps one eye on Bina, more relationship challenges start forming in every other direction. Now that Joanne and Noah have established themselves as an official couple, it is time for everyone in their lives to start asking them what’s next.
Marriage, babies and faith compromises are all on the table for dinner party conversation as the new couple merge their individual lives over dinner parties and family events. Never one to mince words, Morgan warns Joanne in the trailer while the podcast mics are hot, “the relationship isn’t solid until you’re out of the honeymoon phase.” It’s all fun and games until you’re wondering what your partner is really thinking at a friend’s baby shower. Also returning this season are Timothy Simons (“Veep”) as Noah’s brother Sasha; Jackie Tohn (“GLOW”) as Sasha’s wife, Esther; Michael Hitchcock (“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” 2021) and Stephanie Faracy (“Sneaky Pete”) as Joanne and Morgan’s parents, Henry and Lynne; Paul Ben-Victor (“The Wire”) as Noah’s father, Ilan; and Sherry Cola (“Good Trouble”) and D’Arcy Carden (“A League of Their Own”) as Joanne’s friends Ashley and Ryann.