Are You One of the Nobodies?

I've been entertained and charmed by Kristen Bell in more TV shows and movies than I can count. So when I heard she was starring in another series, streaming on Netflix, I needed to know literally nothing else about it to want to give it a try.

For the rest of you who may want more info than that, Nobody Wants This is a comedy about new couple Joanne and Noah. Joanne hosts a podcast with her sister about sex and dating. Noah is a rabbi coming off a broken engagement. The two are crazy about each other... but can a fundamentally agnostic and irreverent woman really end up with a devoutly religious man? Can a Jewish family accept a shiksa? Does anybody -- including Joanne and Noah -- actually believe their relationship might last?

If you've seen more than like two rom-com movies, you know the formula of this show like a rabbi knows the Torah. There's the bewitching meet-cute in act one. The misunderstanding that threatens the relationship in act two. The reconciliation and happy ending in act three. After setting up the premise in its opening two episodes ("act one"), Nobody Wants This goes on to repeat act two and three in every subsequent episode.

This show asks "can this couple last," and I increasingly found myself asking "can this show last?" It's kinda the same thing over and over again, and I found myself growing a little tired of the formula by the end of the 10-episode first season. (I find it ironic that it's on Netflix, of all streaming service. It feels like the one streaming television show that would least reward binge-watching.) But then again... we get 90 Hallmark movies every Christmas with exactly the same plot, so maybe there's a large and eager audience out there for exactly this.

I know that so far, it sounds like I hated this show. But the thing is... not at all! I said I was growing tired of the formula, yet I never actually got there. That's because it may not be possible for me to get tired of watching Kristen Bell in anything. All her best television roles showcase her humor and charisma in equal measure, even as they make room for her slightly prickly edge. Nobody Wants This makes room for all of this.

And she's got a great scene partner in Adam Brody as Noah. The character is very much "the cool rabbi," the exact person who could keep up with Joanne... and Brody turns out to be exactly the actor who can keep up with Bell. In this show, the two are funny separately, and funny together. Rarely "laugh out loud" funny, or marvel-at-the-cleverness-of-the-writing funny. But consistently a "warm feeling in the gut, smile on your face" funny. It's fun to watch this show, even if the engine of the plot is always thrumming away in plain view.

There's a nice supporting cast here too, including Justine Lupe (who you may know from a recurring role on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Timothy Simons (a memorable heel on Veep), Stephen Tobolowsky ("Ned Ryerson?! Bing!"), and some fun pop-ins by cast members from Kristen Bell's past. (She has quite the contact list; why not use it?)

In fact, I really do find that I enjoyed Nobody Wants This to about the same degree as other shows I've rated a B+. It just happens to be the show that I enjoyed more whenever I let a week or more pass between episodes. (Will they be able to tweak the formula at all in the now-ordered season two? Would they even want to?) It might be a formula that works for you too.