“Nobody Wants This” Season 2 arrives on Netflix on Thursday, October 23, 2025, expanding the Kristen Bell–Adam Brody rom-com that spent six weeks on Netflix’s Global English Top 10 TV list and drew 57 million views in three months during its first season. Kristen Bell calls the show’s surge “winning the lottery,” adding, “I think we just kind of won the lottery with how ready people were for this kind of story.” Adam Brody stresses that “one show or group of characters can’t stand in for a whole civilization.” Those comments frame what Season 2 sets out to do: deepen the characters, widen the ensemble, and sharpen the show’s exploration of love, Judaism, and family without turning the series into a lecture.
Netflix positions the sophomore run as a continuation of the couple we met in 2024’s binge-magnet: an agnostic sex-and-relationships podcaster named Joanne (Bell) and a laid-back Reform rabbi named Noah (Brody). The streamer also released a sneak peek that recaps the Season 1 cliffhanger and pivots to the new stakes. As Bell puts it early in the preview, the pair are “at the point in their relationship where things get really interesting.” Brody tees up the emotional arc: “If the end of Season 1 left you with some questions, they have similar questions of each other.” Netflix also confirms the date: “Watch the new season of Nobody Wants This on Netflix Oct. 23.”
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Release date and where to watch
Release date: Thursday, October 23, 2025.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Season 2 begins after Noah was passed over for head rabbi because Joanne wasn’t ready to convert, and it follows both the personal fallout and the couple’s next choices. The show continues to treat Jewish practice as the world these characters inhabit rather than a sermon, with creator Erin Foster reiterating that the religious content should feel like atmosphere: “There is no intention for it to feel heavy-handed. I think that people really grabbed onto the right amounts of religion in the show.”
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New leadership in the writers’ room
Two veterans of Girls—Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan—take over as showrunners in Season 2, while Erin Foster remains an executive producer. Konner says, “We love the show. It’s Erin’s voice. It’s Erin story. Our job is literally to protect her voice and to show her stuff she may not know because she hasn’t done this job before.” She also explains why the series feels deeper now: “No one was developed who weren’t the four main characters… These shows are 21 to 22 minutes each.” Her approach reframes Noah’s mother Bina (Tovah Feldshuh) and sister-in-law Esther (Jackie Tohn): she sees Bina as “Tony Soprano without the charm,” and emphasizes that Season 2 no longer needs Esther as a foil, asking instead, “What’s the story of Esther?”
Konner also flags a writers’-room emphasis on relatability over likability, a mindset honed on Girls. This season, Rabbi Sarah Bassin consulted throughout development, a choice made before public critique of Season 1 surfaced.
How Season 2 answers last year’s criticism
The first season’s breakout success came with backlash to certain depictions of Jewish women. Rabbi Elan Babchuck, a critic of early episodes, found parts of Season 1 presented Judaism like a “test to pass rather than a tradition to pass on,” and noted the frequent use of “shiksa”—a term absent in Season 2. After watching the entire season, he revised his take: “I celebrate the show. I think representation matters across the board, even when it’s in flawed form.”
Foster acknowledges the sensitivity: “If you are a Jewish woman who has felt like you didn’t like how you’re portrayed in the world or how people view you and this sort of reaffirmed that, I can understand the sensitivity… I think that the characters evolve in Season 2 in a way that they always naturally were going to.” Tohn adds that the so-called “orderly” Jewish women aren’t the outliers: “The two craziest characters on this show are undoubtedly Joanne and Morgan.” And Brody’s boundary line is clear: “Obviously, one show or group of characters can’t stand in for a whole civilization.”
On the production side, Season 2 continues a long-running practice of rabbinic review: Foster notes they have “a rabbi consultant who read every script” and sat in the room. At Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, Rabbi Nicole Guzik recalls coaching Brody’s Hebrew for both seasons: “It was so sweet and so authentic that he cared very much about playing the role accurately.”
Cast and character guide
- Kristen Bell as Joanne — agnostic sex-and-relationships podcaster; executive producer.
- Adam Brody as Noah — hip but devout Reform rabbi.
- Justine Lupe as Morgan — Joanne’s sister.
- Jackie Tohn as Esther — Noah’s sister-in-law.
- Timothy Simons as Sasha — Noah’s brother; married to Esther.
- Tovah Feldshuh as Bina — Noah and Sasha’s mother.
- Leighton Meester as Abby — a pivotal figure in a baby-naming storyline.
- Arian Moayed as Andy.
- Alex Karpovsky joins the ensemble in Season 2.
- Seth Rogen and Kate Berlant — buzzy guest stars.
- Showrunners: Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan; Erin Foster remains executive producer.
Storylines we can confirm for Season 2
Romantically, the series shifts from honeymoon highs to the “work” of partnership. Netflix’s preview spells it out: “Once the honeymoon period has dissipated, you start to look for patterns of why they’re gonna break your heart or things they’re doing wrong,” Bell says, while Brody notes that the pair “have similar questions of each other.” Family-wise, Esther’s arc broadens beyond being an obstacle. Konner frames the season’s Esther questions—“Why did she marry Sasha? Why did he marry her?”—as the key to humanizing the character.
The series continues to use Jewish life as a narrative stage rather than a finish line. Foster describes that balance as intentional: the goal is to avoid heaviness while keeping the story specific and affectionate.
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How Netflix and the creators prepared for Thursday’s premiere
Season 2’s public-facing rollout combined two messages: first, the proof of extraordinary demand (six Top-10 weeks; 57 million views in three months); second, a clear explanation of what’s changed. That includes a stronger ensemble focus, rabbinic consultation, and a rethink of Bina and Esther. The date is firm—October 23, 2025—and Netflix’s own preview content centers on Bell and Brody’s evolving dynamic, plus guest turns by Leighton Meester, Arian Moayed, Alex Karpovsky, Seth Rogen, and Kate Berlant.
What to expect if you loved Season 1
If Season 1 hooked you with Los Angeles vibes, needle-drop romance, and a “hot rabbi,” Season 2 promises the same chemistry with more complexity. Netflix teases that “they’re at the point in their relationship where things get really interesting,” and Konner says change flows from having more episodes to give the ensemble interiority—not from chasing criticism.
The numbers and the tone of quotes suggest the series is settling into the sort of modern rom-com that sustains week-to-week conversation: a couple people root for, a family you can argue about, and a faith context that invites curiosity. The show’s approach to conversion and career is likely to keep driving debate, while the addition of Seth Rogen and Kate Berlant hints at more comedic texture without sacrificing the core relationship.
Nobody Wants This Season 2: The essentials
- Premiere: Thursday, October 23, 2025, on Netflix.
- New leadership: Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan as co-showrunners; Erin Foster remains EP.
- Scope: More screen time for Esther and Bina; a deeper, post-honeymoon look at Joanne and Noah.
- Season 1 impact: 6 weeks in Netflix Global English Top 10; 57 million views in 3 months.
Bottom line: “Nobody Wants This Season 2” arrives Thursday with bigger ambitions, a richer ensemble, and a promise—backed by the showrunners and Netflix preview—that Joanne and Noah’s dilemmas will feel as personal as ever.
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