How the New Co-Showrunner of Nobody Wants This Helped Change My Mind About the Netflix Hit

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Jenni Konner, a seasoned TV writer, is used to dealing with negative reviews. As the co-showrunner of HBO’s Girls for six seasons, she faced a lot of criticism alongside the praise the show received. “Working on Girls for so long really prepared us to handle criticism,” she explains.

Look, I’ve followed Hannah Konner’s work for a while now, and I know she’s used to getting feedback – good and bad. But that didn’t make our Zoom chat particularly easy! I’ll admit, I was pretty critical of the first season of her new Netflix show, Nobody Wants This, and she definitely knew it going in, especially since the second season was about to drop on October 23rd. It was a bit awkward, honestly, knowing she was aware of my less-than-stellar review.

I noticed some negative portrayals of Jewish women in certain episodes, which Konner wasn’t involved with. I previously described these characters as “nags, harpies, and the ultimate villains” in an article about the show’s first season. Konner became a showrunner with Bruce Eric Kaplan, a former colleague from Girls, after the first season. The series is a romantic comedy inspired by creator Erin Foster’s relationship with her husband, and it centers on Joanne (Kristen Bell), a podcaster who resembles Foster, and her relationship with her boyfriend, Noah (Adam Brody), who is a rabbi.

Konner immediately wanted to know my opinion of the latest season, asking, “Did you enjoy it?” right at the beginning of our hour-long chat.

The truth is: I did.

With Konner and Kaplan now leading the show, Nobody Wants This feels more mature and explores deeper themes. The focus has shifted from Joanne learning about Judaism to the complexities of relationships at different stages – including Joanne and Noah’s connection beyond initial attraction, and the marriage of Noah’s brother Sasha and his wife Esther. This is particularly welcome, as the first season’s portrayal of Esther felt flat and unnecessarily antagonistic, hindering Joanne and Noah’s happiness. The show now offers a more nuanced look at her character.

Konner prefers not to discuss decisions made before she joined the show (Foster co-ran that season with Craig DiGregorio), but she’s always been a fan. When Nobody Wants This premiered just over a year ago, it generally received positive reviews for its fresh, contemporary take on romantic comedies. However, some critics, including myself, found its depiction of Jewish women problematic. Foster, who is Jewish by choice, explained to the Los Angeles Times that she finds it curious when people criticize the show for stereotypes, given that the main character is a rabbi – a young, attractive, and unconventional one who smokes marijuana. She argues this challenges typical perceptions of Jewish rabbis.

Despite what many people thought, creator Amy Seimetz says Netflix and 20th Television contacted her for help before any reviews came out. She then asked Stephanie Kaplan to join the team, and they brought in Rabbi Sarah Bassin as a consultant for the entire season.

I was immediately impressed by Erin’s humor, originality, and overall talent, so I focused on helping her develop the other skills needed for the job,” Konner explains. “She’s a gifted writer with a fantastic understanding of the show’s core identity.”

Konner, growing up as the daughter of television writers, has often found herself guiding new talent. Throughout her career, she’s helped inexperienced creators develop their ideas and bring projects to fruition, though that wasn’t her original plan. She had intended to pursue solo work after a split with her writing partner, but then she met Lena Dunham. “Everything changed when I met Lena,” she explains.

Konner has become known for her ability to champion emerging talent. She’s previously served as an executive producer on shows like Single Drunk Female (created by Simone Finch), Deli Boys (created by Abdullah Saeed), and now Nobody Wants This. “I’m confident in my ability to identify promising creators,” Konner explains, “and I’m really proud of that.” She believes the television industry doesn’t currently offer enough support for new voices, and she’s dedicated to changing that.

She believes the role of showrunner is too much for one person, really requiring a team of four. The current system overlooks talented writers because it doesn’t prioritize skills like communicating with executives or understanding finances – qualities that are crucial for success but aren’t naturally encouraged or assessed.

Konner enjoys collaborating closely with her team and managing several projects at once. When she started working on Nobody Wants This, she brought in Kaplan to help her stay on top of Deli Boys and other projects she was developing. She and Kaplan also enlisted other people who had worked on Girls, like writer Sarah Heyward and directors Jesse Peretz, Jamie Babbit, and Richard Shepard – who also happens to be Konner’s husband.

Konner explains that any differences viewers notice in Nobody Wants This aren’t due to deliberate changes in direction. Instead, he says the show simply had more time to delve into the main characters as the episode count increased. He points out that the first season only had ten episodes, each around 21-22 minutes long, and only focused on developing the four central characters.

The show Girls also allowed its characters to grow. Elijah (Andrew Rannells), Hannah’s former college boyfriend who came out as gay, and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet), initially known for being talkative and inexperienced, both became more complex as the series went on.

According to Konner, Esther’s significant development in Season 2 of Nobody Wants This happened because the show no longer needed her to contrast with Joanne and Noah. After overcoming the challenges in Season 1, the focus shifted to Joanne’s potential conversion to Judaism and how that might affect Noah’s career.

She didn’t want to repeat the tired trope of Esther interfering with the couple’s relationship, so they started exploring Esther’s own story. Without giving away too much, Konner explained that the character is now grappling with questions about her marriage to Sasha – why they got together in the first place, and what their relationship has become, especially now that they’re raising a teenager. It’s that feeling of wondering if this is all there is to their life together.

Esther is still the strong, sarcastic character we met last season, but the storyline now gives her a chance to connect with Joanne as a friend, rather than just being unkind to her.

According to Konner, Esther’s strength lies in her helpfulness, humor, and overall capability, but sometimes her delivery can be a bit much. A good example is when she takes Joanne’s phone to email Noah’s mother, Bina, who is known for being difficult.

Bina remains a difficult character, but Konner notes she never seemed to approve of any of her sons’ Jewish ex-girlfriends either. Konner describes Bina as a powerful, almost intimidating figure – like a less charismatic version of Tony Soprano – and finds it helps to remember that everything Bina does is motivated by her family. A scene where Bina cautiously connects with Joanne’s sister, Morgan, shows that Bina isn’t purely manipulative, even if she’s not particularly warm. The same could be said for Morgan, who Konner describes as equally strong-willed.

People often criticize female characters based on whether they’re ‘likable,’ and Lena Konner, having worked on the show Girls, is familiar with this criticism. She explains that with Girls, the goal wasn’t to create a ‘likable’ character, but one that viewers could relate to, and she feels the same is true for the characters in her current work.

Konner describes how, during writing sessions, Foster often shares stories about her husband—who is Jewish but not a religious leader. She notes that some writers on the team connect with Foster’s experiences, while others identify with her husband. Konner realized this meant the stories would likely resonate with a wider audience, either through recognition or even through strong dislike, as some viewers might see someone they dislike reflected in the characters.

I shared with Konner how a particular storyline this season really resonated with me. It turns out Joanne accompanies Noah to a baby-naming event for an influencer she used to know. This influencer is played by Leighton Meester, who is actually Brody’s wife. The reason Joanne is hesitant is because this woman, back when they were kids, cut off the hair of Joanne’s favorite American Girl doll, Felicity, and she’s never forgotten it. I related to this, telling Konner that someone did the same thing to one of my dolls when I was young, and I’ve been holding onto that grudge ever since.

Konner shared that this occurred with their script supervisor, and surprisingly, the person involved still claims it didn’t happen. I admitted I’ve never actually spoken to the person about it. Konner then suggested it was time I did.

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2025-10-21 16:07