Warning: Nobody Wants This spoilers ahead!
Netflix's newest rom-com series, Nobody Wants This, was inspired by creator and producer Erin Foster's real-life love story.
The 10-episode series, which began streaming on Sept. 26, follows a budding romance between newly single rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) and sex podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell) and a slew of naysayers who claim their relationship won't work.
The show's concept was born in 2019 when Foster, who is the daughter of Grammy-winning producer David Foster, was in the midst of converting to Judaism after meeting her now-husband Simon Tikhman. The couple first met at a Los Angeles gym in 2018 and got engaged the following year.
During the conversion process, Foster's producing partner and manager suggested she write a show about her experience titled Shiksha (a term generally used by Jewish people to describe a gentile woman), and the concept "clicked," she explained on an episode of her and sister Sara Foster's podcast, The World's First Podcast.
Foster and her husband, Tikhman, went on to wed during a New Year's Eve celebration in 2019 and welcomed their first child, a daughter, in May. And while Tikhman isn't a rabbi and the boatload of conflict main characters Noah and Joanne encounter in the show wasn't true for Foster and her husband, Foster has still described the series as a "love letter" to her marriage.
From all the ways Tikhman is like the charming Noah to the "ick" that really did turn Foster off for a moment, here's how Erin Foster's real life inspired the new show.
In Nobody Wants This, Joanne and Noah meet at a dinner party. Foster and Tikhman's meet-cute, however, happened at a Los Angeles gym. And although Tikhman isn't a rabbi (he is a record label owner and talent manager), he was still very much Foster's muse when developing Noah.
Using her husband as inspiration, Foster set out to create a character who was "emotionally available, chivalrous, old-fashioned ... but also really funny and confident," she explained on an episode of her and her sister Sara Foster's podcast, The World's First Podcast. Most importantly, she said, Noah needed to have "rizz."
Noah's family history also mirrors Tikhman's own upbringing, who is the son of Jewish Russian immigrants. "We didn't come from similar backgrounds," Foster added. "He came from a much more traditional place. I came from a more unconventional place. When we got together we were like, 'How's this gonna work?' "
Like Joanne and Noah, Foster and Tikhman found a way, with the Favorite Daughter founder converting to Judaism ahead of their New Year's Eve wedding in 2019. However, while Noah and Joanne encounter many naysayers about their love — particularly Noah's overbearing mother — that wasn't true for the real-life couple.
Foster explained on her podcast, "You have to have conflict for a TV show so you have to create people pushing back against the relationship."
In episode 6, aptly titled "The Ick," an unprepared Noah meets Joanne's parents for the first time. In an attempt to make a good impression, he shows up wearing a sport coat over his gym attire and a giant bunch of sunflowers in hand. The situation immediately gives Joanne the ick — meaning, her attraction to Noah turns into disgust — and she's ready to call it quits right there.
The scene, with Noah's "giant flower-holding hands and all," was plucked from Foster and her husband's own history. When the two started dating in 2018, Tikhman brought an oversized bouquet of sunflowers to meet Foster's mother, Rebecca, for the first time, which subsequently freaked Foster out.
"The flowers were so long, and they kept falling over,” Foster recalled to New York Magazine. “Sitting there, I was like, 'Well, if someone cares this much, then that feels like a weakness.' ”
“I personally don’t remember the sunflowers being that big,” Tikhman added. “But I do remember driving home and thinking, 'It’s not about the flowers.' ”
Aside from Foster's true romance with her husband, other aspects of her life trickled into the series.
In one episode, Joanne and her sister Morgan (Justine Lupe) discuss the many things a potential romantic partner can do that give them an immediate "ick," including running with a backpack on and chasing after a ping pong ball.
Both comments were drawn from the Foster sisters' real-life icks. The sisters discussed the subject and offered the same visuals during a live taping of their podcast in February 2024 with guest Tinx.
Other easter eggs come through Joanne's wardrobe, which includes pieces from the Fosters' clothing brand Favorite Daughter, and Morgan's "Fatigue Sisters" comment — a nickname Foster and sister Sara have given themselves as well as the title of a 2021 podcast episode.
In Nobody Wants This, the juxtaposition between Noah and Joanne's families is stark. While Joanne's family isn't an exact match of Foster's there are parallels. Foster's parents divorced when she was young, and have since moved on to different relationships. (Foster is currently married to American Idol star Katharine McPhee, with whom he shares a son, Rennie.)
Then there's Morgan, Joanne's younger sister, podcast co-host and best friend. Yet, Morgan is not based on Foster's real sister, podcast co-host and business partner Sara. "Morgan is definitely not me, but she is such a fun character," Sara shared on The World's First Podcast.
"The sister character is not like Sara at all," Erin reiterated on the podcast. "That was intentional, too. I wanted to create a fun sister dynamic."
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