As audiences embrace the charming love story at the center of “Nobody Wants This” to the tune of various TikToks and memes obsessing over Adam Brody and Kristen Bell’s characters, the rom-com series has also received some backlash regarding its portrayal of Jewish women. Specifically, TV critics have pointed to Noah’s sister-in-law, Esther (Jackie Tohn), as a stereotype of Jewish women nagging and mothering their husbands — which creator Erin Foster admits she is also guilty of.
“That’s like how I am as a wife … I nag my husband a lot, too — I’m the queen of micromanaging my husband, and it annoys him to no end,” Erin Foster, who is Jewish, told TheWrap when asked about her response to criticism about the show’s female Jewish characters. “Look at her husband (Timothy Simons’ Sasha) — He’s a man child. I think any woman married to that guy is gonna probably act a little bit like his mom.”
Foster added that Tohn, who is Jewish, loves playing Esther, and pointed to the comedy at the heart of the Netflix series. “A lot of it is in performance, because she’s so funny,” Erin said. “Everyone’s gonna have opinions, and that’s OK, and I accept it.”
“Walk outside. I mean, wives are annoying,” added Erin’s sister and podcasting partner Sara Foster, who serves as an EP on the series. “Let’s just stop making something out of nothing.”
“Nobody Wants This” follows the unexpected relationship between Joanne (Bell), an agnostic and sex positive podcaster, and Noah (Brody), a rabbi, whose respective communities struggle to view the couple as a viable match. Noah’s mom first labels Joanne as a “shiksa,” and initially hesitates to accept her into the family, which Glamour editor Jessica Radloff wrote reflects “the exact opposite of what we Jews are taught to do — welcome thy neighbor.”
“It’s about a girl who is an outsider coming into a Jewish family, and they can’t accept her right away — There’s no story if they accept her right away,” Erin said, revealing the title of the series was originally “Shiksa.” “Someone can think that’s a stereotype, but it does happen in real life a lot. It’s based on a lot of true events that I’ve witnessed.”
Feeling like an outsider rang true “in a different way” for Erin as she converted to Judaism while dating her now-husband, Simon Tikhman (who is a music executive, not a rabbi). “When I got together with my husband, I felt like I was looked at as someone who came from this family of divorce and an entertainment family, and was the age that I was, and I wasn’t sort of the ideal person that was in their mind for their son,” she said, noting Tikhman’s family “didn’t push back and … were really welcoming.”
Beyond Erin’s own experience, the writers’ room for “Nobody Wants This” was “filled the Jewish people” and the series employed Rabbi Steve Leder, who read and approved all the scripts and stories.
“We had a writers’ room filled with Jewish people, people who converted to Judaism, people who grew up with immigrant … Jewish parents, American Jewish parents, married people who married into Jewish families,” Foster said. “You’re not seeing the writing of one person who didn’t grow up Jewish — you’re seeing the writing of a lot of Jewish people and their experiences.”
While Season 1 sees Esther and Noah’s mom, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh), slowly open their hearts and minds up to Joanne, Erin notes each character has a reason to be hesitant, including Esther, who is “being fiercely protective of her best friend,” Rebecca, after her recent breakup with Noah. “You want … those characters, to start to be humanized in different ways, but they have to welcome her really slowly,” she explained.
Though the series has not officially been renewed for a second season by Netflix – but it’s looking likely after it debuted with 10.3 million views in its opening weekend — Erin noted the team would “continue to show more and more layers of every character” in a potential Season 2.
“I’m so proud to be Jewish,” Erin said. “I love being Jewish, and I have dedicated a huge part of my life to protecting Jewish people and highlighting Jewish stories and really putting a lot of risks on Sara and I’s businesses and careers to speak out for Jewish people. And so I hope that those people can focus on that and not look for ways that I’ve maybe let them down.”
“The only messages I’ve received are from people saying, ‘thank you so much. … Thank your sister,’” Sara added. “It’s a story about love, and it’s giving women hope.”
All episodes of “Nobody Wants This” are now streaming on Netflix.
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