Rarely are employees told they’re working too much, but that’s the first observation Jenni Konner made when she and Bruce Eric Kaplan joined season two of Nobody Wants This as co-showrunners and put the writers room on a strict five-hours-per-day schedule.
“It gave me an opportunity to actually focus on what I care about, which is writing and the tone of the show, the music, all the creative stuff, because that’s my specialty,” says series creator Erin Foster.
That focus earned the Netflix rom-com an Emmy nod for best comedy series and music supervision for the season two finale in which Noah (Adam Brody) and Joanne (Kristen Bell) recommit to each other, despite the ever-looming question of her conversion to Judaism, as the romantic pairs around them crumble.
Esther’s (Jackie Tohn) arc this season was unexpected. Is that how you always saw things unfolding with that character?
There was a lot of criticism about Esther’s character after season one. And I found it surprising because you have to have conflict in a show and the conflict is baked in with Esther and Bina (Tovah Feldshuh). They are resistant to Joanne joining the family. Esther is best friends with the ex-girlfriend, Rebecca (Emily Arlook), so obviously she’s going to be resistant to Joanne. There were no stereotypes in that built-in conflict. It’s more a stereotype of sisters-in-law than of Jewish women. Every character is going to grow and get fleshed out if you’re lucky enough to have another season. So I was always excited because in my real life, which this is based on, my sister-in-law did resist letting me in, and we were like, “OK, I guess we hate each other.” It took a year or two for us to let our guard down, fight it out, scream at each other and then become sisters. She ended up being the person that I wanted with me when I was giving birth to my daughter instead of my own sisters. We had this huge arc, and I always wanted to tell that story.
How did you feel about the reaction to season two overall?
Season one, to have a show have that kind of success was a really wild experience. I could never have anticipated it. I was so not prepared for that; I felt like I had millions of people on my side ready to support the show and these characters. And I felt sort of like they wouldn’t turn on me. … And then season two, I was like, “Wait, you guys don’t like it as much?” I’m human, so I attached to the negative comments because that’s your worst fear realized. And then you just have to remember that it all flows and people are going to have feelings about things and change their feelings and people get attached to the characters and what they see for them or what they want to have happen. I do that as an audience member, too, so I understand. I just don’t want to let people down. I want people to like where the show goes.
You’ve already wrapped season three. Do you foresee a season four, maybe even five?
I want it to continue. I like having a job, for sure. (Laughs.) I have more stories to tell with the couple. If we do a season four, we might feel like, “OK, this is it. The characters have done what they need to do.” I don’t want to force it if the people don’t want it, but if the people want it, I want to do it.
This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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