Nobody Wants This: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody star in a sweet and sharp romcom
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Romcoms are all about singletons overcoming obstacles to fall and stay in love, but the couple at the core of this show have more to overcome than most. It's there in the title - nobody wants this - and to an extent that 'nobody' even includes the couple themselves.
Kristen Bell stars as Joanne, an emotionally unavailable, irreligious and very funny woman who hosts a podcast about sexual adventures with her even more outrageous sister Morgan (Justine Lupe, Willa from Succession). So, who is the least likely person you can imagine Joanne dating? How about a career-focused and emotionally well-adjusted rabbi? Step forward Noah (The OC's Adam Brody), who meets Joanne at a party when he's just out of a serious relationship, and the rocky road to love begins from there.
Nobody Wants This is a frequently very funny show, with Bell in particular deploying her expert comic timing to great effect, and Brody is a sweet straight man. If you're after sweetness in general this has some of that, too, along with bitter moments of tension that it doesn't overstretch. It also has a particularly sharp eye for the details of friendships between women and, perhaps most impressively, manages to make some jokes about Jewish mothers-in-law that feel fresh.
The latest second series picks up where the first left off and smartly avoids the pitfalls that its ending created. It's a continued delight in short, one that explores new directions for secondary characters that makes you see them in a different light - particularly Noah's brother and his wife - and which finds the humour and the heart in what happens down the line in relationships, not just at the start. Look out for new cast additions Seth Rogen and particularly for Leighton Meester as an old 'friend' of Joanne.
A third series is on the way. (Two series)
