By: Nomi Kaltmann as seen in ABC Australia

7 November 2025

I don’t really watch television. Between my five kids, my work and the general chaos of daily life, there’s not a lot of spare time in my week. If I do find a quiet moment, I usually prefer to curl up with a good book. But this weekend, I’m clearing my schedule for one reason — to catch up on season two of Nobody Wants This.

If you somehow missed the swooniest on-screen kiss of the year between Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, let me bring you up to speed. 

Nobody Wants This follows the unlikely romance between Joanne (Kristen Bell), an outspoken, agnostic sex podcaster, and Noah (Adam Brody), a newly single rabbi navigating love and faith. The series was created by Erin Foster, an American actress and podcaster who loosely based the series on her own real-life relationship with her now Jewish husband.

There are plenty of reasons why I’m a superfan of the show, but the biggest one is simple: it depicts Jews as normal people with normal relationships, desires and dilemmas. That might not sound radical, but to me it really is. Jewish people make up a tiny fraction of the world’s population — approximately 14 million Jews dispersed among 7 billion people — and for many viewers, what they see on screen might be their only exposure to Jewish life. Too often, those depictions are extreme or caricatured.

In pop culture, Jews are frequently portrayed through narrow lenses: the ultra-Orthodox who flee their communities in search of “freedom” (see, for example, Unorthodox and My Unorthodox Life), or the victims of unimaginable horror (as in Schindler’s List and The Pianist). While those stories have value, they don’t reflect the everyday reality of most Jews. Then there are the depictions that are just plain off, where rituals are done wrong or our customs are portrayed as strange and weird for shock factor.

I find myself craving portrayals of Jewish life that feel authentic and nuanced. I don’t agree with every creative choice in Nobody Wants This. There are definitely moments that make me raise an eyebrow (like lighting Shabbat candles over non-kosher wine in a bar), but I appreciate that the show tries. More importantly, it gives us a Jewish character who’s charming and layered. And let’s be honest: for millennials, Adam Brody as a rabbi is basically a smouldering thirst trap with a tallit.

What I also love about Nobody Wants This is that it gives us a break from the heaviness that so often surrounds being Jewish. For the past two years, with the war between Israel and Hamas, antisemitism has surged globally, and even here in Australia we’ve seen a rise in antisemitic incidents. I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t made me more conscious of my visibility as a Jew. There are moments when walking down the street with my husband or children, who wear skullcaps, feels a little nerve-racking.

In that context, it feels genuinely refreshing to see something positive and Jewish in mainstream pop culture that isn’t about trauma, politics or conflict. Something light, and funny, something romantic and human. Nobody Wants This doesn’t demand that its audience understand geopolitics or theology. It simply invites viewers to enjoy a love story that happens to include a rabbi, and that feels great.

Not all my friends love the show. Some found the depiction of American Judaism a bit shallow or flat. I understand that. Some of the Judaism in the show isn’t particularly deep, but that’s okay. The point isn’t that it’s a perfect depiction; it’s that it exists at all. The fact that millions of viewers around the world are watching a series where a rabbi is portrayed as a relatable and emotionally intelligent man, and not a punchline, feels like progress.

What’s also refreshing is that Nobody Wants This treats faith as something interesting and alive, rather than outdated or irrelevant. Religion here isn’t mocked or moralised. It’s part of who Noah is, just as Joanne’s agnosticism is part of her. Their relationship doesn’t erase their differences — rather, it plays with them. The show suggests that belief, doubt, love and identity can all co-exist. Sure, that might be a little messy, but so is life.

For me, that’s what makes Nobody Wants This so special. It invites audiences to see rabbis as people, not symbols or stereotypes. It also allows viewers to laugh, swoon and maybe even reflect a little on how faith and intimacy can intersect. And hopefully it also helps some people realise that Jews are just like everyone else — trying to live meaningful, joyful lives.

So this weekend, I’ll be on the couch, snacks in hand, bingeing all ten new episodes. Because, clearly, despite its name, Nobody Wants This proves that everybody does. Plus, if Adam Brody’s the rabbi, I’ll happily tune in to the sermon.

Nomi Kaltmann is an Australian lawyer and journalist who often writes about Judaism.