Nobody Wants This is one of the most hyped rom-com dramas this year generating buzz among fans. Kirsten Bell and Adam Brody have teamed up in this quirky storyline involving two complete opposites - a wild child podcaster and a soon-to-be Rabbi.
While Joanne, played by Bell, is carefree, nonchalant, and agnostic, Brody’s character, Noah, leans toward finding a kindred spirit like himself. Based on the show creator Erin Foster's love story with husband Simon Tikhman, the drama sees the duo navigate through tough questions, including whether love is truly enough to sustain a relationship.
Nobody Wants This recently concluded season 1 with an epic happy ending. Despite odds and Joanne not confirming a change in her agnostic stance, the duo shared a steamy kiss, cementing their relationship.
However, as the showrunner of Nobody Wants This, Erin Foster mentions, their story is just beginning. Fans of Nobody Wants This are anticipating season 2. While nothing is set in stone, Netflix is yet to confirm the show’s renewal.
Meanwhile, if you loved Nobody Wants This, these binge-worthy shows will make you swoon as the hit series did!
10 rom-com shows similar to Nobody Wants This
1) Fleabag
Where to watch: Netflix, Prime Video.
Starting the list strong is Fleabag, the rom-com of sorts that is closest in similarity to Nobody Wants This. The drama is an amalgamation of quirk personified and forbidden love. The series has gained a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It is primarily based on the protagonist played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, living life without a filter. Grief-struck and often in a rage, she pretty much has her guard up high all the time and rejects any form of vulnerability.
That is until she meets The Priest, played by Andrew Scott, and her idea of romance is completely altered. Despite the witty remarks, obvious sexual tension, and flirtatious glances, followed by deep conversations - this was a tragic love story.
While towards the end of Nobody Wants This, Noah was willing to choose his life with Joanne over a fancy Rabbi job, The Priest wasn’t willing to do the same. After Fleabag’s tear-jerking confession, he simply claimed time would heal her heart and also admitted his feelings for her.
2) Love
Where to watch: Netflix
Another top-ranking score with an RT rating of 94%, is Love, a kind of rom-com where the leads couldn't be more different from each other. The story features a dysfunctional couple with all their quirks deciding to take a shot at a romantic relationship with each other.
Protagonists Micky, played by Jillian Jacobs, and Gus, played by Paul Rust, navigate through having completely different ideas about love, romance, and relationships than usual. Moreover, their personalities play a huge role in their relationship as lovers.
Similar to Joanne from Nobody Wants This, Micky fancies doing the deed whenever possible; a firecracker with a penchant for pot. She’s hardly truthful to others let alone herself making things in their love story rather complicated.
Like his better-half Gus is no expert in matters of the heart neither does he understand the nuances of it. He’s shy, socially awkward, and an introvert who acts out impulsively, adding the contrast seen in Nobody Wants This.
It was a tumultuous 3 seasons for the duo who were perhaps doomed to fail, but they made it in the end. Even though they had every opportunity to part from the other including other influences, they get hitched.
3) Colin from Accounts
Where to watch: Paramount Plus
Colin from Accounts aired on December 1, 2022, and continues to be a hit series with a perfect score on RT cementing claims of it being truly that good. Fate brought these two together in the most unlikely and maybe dark manner: an accident. During a normal day, Gordon accidentally collides with a stray pooch thanks to being distracted by Ashley.
The strangers decide to get the dog medical assistance eventually resulting in them adopting it. Especially, since it needed the extra attention due to the extensive damage done. Set in Australia, the duo are initially at each other's throats about many things including their responsibilities to care for Colin, the dog.
It is during this time they begin getting comfortable and developing feelings for each other. While Patrick Brammall plays Gordon a down-to-earth person who’s a total gentleman, Ashley is a vastly complex person with an enigmatic family, making the contrast very similar to the one in Nobody Wants This.
4) The Bold Type
Where to watch: Hulu
The Bold Type is a binge-worthy series that has many epic rom-com storylines and all 3 protagonists have a unique love story riddled with good and bad experiences. The story features three besties Jane, played by Katie Stevens, Sutton, played by Meghan Fahy, and Kat, played by Aisha Dee, working for the fictional Scarlet Magazine.
All three have different roles - Jane is the writer, Kat is the social media guru, and Sutton is the trusty and loyal assistant. However, when it comes to romance these women don’t have it all figured out. From messy breakups to scandals, they go through everything together, like in Nobody Wants This.
5) The Good Place
Where to watch: Netflix
If you loved Kirsten Bell in Nobody Wants This, you’ll more than be thrilled with her acting chops in The Good Place as Eleanor Shellstrop. While there’s close to no romance, the humor and unconventional storyline will leave you with positive feelings.
The story navigates Eleanor’s journey in the afterlife or ‘The Good Place,’ a community where all the folks who’ve done some good go - a heaven of sorts. However, there’s one big problem: Bell’s character wasn’t exactly good, and lived the life of a deviant salesperson who didn’t have kindness in buckets.
Bell understands if she’s discovered, she’ll face dire consequences. Afraid to be sent to her version of hell, she puts up a goody-two-shoes facade for as long as possible to remain undiscovered.
The ending however reveals her temporary happy abode wasn’t the final destination, instead to truly go to heaven as such, she needed to get through the Last Door. By that time, Bell’s character had grown by leaps and bounds and was finally in tranquility.
6) Never Have I Ever
Where to watch: Netflix
This iconic series will go down in history as one of the greats due to its wholesome plot and savage burns throughout. While this was Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s major work, her character Devi knocked it out of the park in the story.
The drama series is about the diva-nerd Devi who is pretty much exceptional but makes all the wrong choices and her almost undying love for Paxton, played by Darren Barnett. While it is a teen drama set in high school, the show in no way disappoints in delivering entertainment and romance galore.
Initially, Devi is caught up in her relentless crush on Paxton only to realize relationships are messy. Especially since she also catches feelings for her rival and frenemy whom Devi roasts frequently, Ben, played by Jaren Lewison.
The epic saga concludes with Devi confronting the aftermath of her relationship decisions and deducing Ben to be the one she wanted to have a genuine relationship with. While several shippers wanted her to be with Paxton, her heart wanted what it wanted, making it similar to Nobody Wants This.
7) You're The Worst
Where to watch: Netflix
Like Nobody Wants This, You’re The Worst is one of Netflix’s most atypical love stories. The story features two perfect strangers Jimmy, played by Chris Geere, and Gretchen, played by Aya Cash. The duo meet at a wedding where sparks fly, and the next thing you know, they’re dating.
Little did they know they’d grow to hate each other and fall in love simultaneously. Both of them are self-centered meaning there’s pretty much no room for compromise. Jimmy is a writer while Gretchen works as a PR Executive. They do this all while doing life with their friends Edgar and Lindsay.
The end was an unexpected plot twist with Jimmy calling off the wedding to Gretchen the day of their marriage - the best decision he made. The duo wanted to life live on their timeline and instead chose to stay romantically involved. The season finale of season 5 (the last season in 2019) saw the duo happy in love and with a daughter.
8) Younger
The comedy-drama series’ ethos isn’t romance, but it does build up to an epic love story. The primary plot revolves around a single parent, Liza Miller in her 30s desperately looking for a job. When she lands her dream one, she notices the strict age bar and decides to lie about her age to land it.
Making it similar to the themes explored in Nobody Wants This, Liza now has to navigate doing things like the younger generation and ensuring no one finds out her secret.
There was one tiny detail she didn’t factor in was the possibility of falling in love, an office romance. Liza falls hard for her boss Charles Brook, played by Peter Hermann, and is living in guilt about telling him the truth, which eventually comes out.
Once the cat was fully out of the bag, she had a whole other debacle to deal with including losing the man she loved and a job she cherished. As a result, the end of Younger saw Liza landing her dream job but not her dream man, making the love story rather similar to the one in Nobody Wants This.
9) Gilmore Girls
Where to watch: Netflix
Almost concluding the list is an OG show Gilmore Girls that has been appreciated over time by people of all ages. This epic saga is not just a binge-worthy sitcom but a wholesome experience that makes viewers deeply empathetic of the characters. It's a rabbit hole triggering a reminiscent emotion from transitioning from childhood to adulthood.
This comedy-drama series is an age-old favorite and is also about a single mom, Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham, and her daughter Rory. This mother-daughter duo live their lives vicariously through each other sometimes switching roles.
While Lorelai is free-spirited, encouraging her daughter to be slightly wilder like she was, Rory is a bookworm who prefers to live life on the down low.
The series ran for a total of 7 seasons filled with golden memories of one of television's favorite mom-daughter duos.
One of the best parts about the show is how the entire community including Suki and Luke - Lorelai’s friends pitch in to raise Rory. The duo also navigates through some tough relationships along with adulthood and growing up, making it very similar to Netflix's Nobody Wants This.
10) The O.C.
Where to watch: Hulu
Like Nobody Wants This, another OG series starring Adam Brody is The O.C., set in a quaint community of Orange County. There’s plenty of drama brewing in this show when a rebel teen gets in cahoots with an ultra-rich group of peers. Ryan Atwood has a checkered past and lived with his adopted family The Cohens.
While Brody plays the protagonist’s brother, Seth, the duo often gets along well and primarily bonds over their romantic interests Summer Roberts and Marissa Cooper respectively. This melodramatic show explores how differently Ryan was treated for his past by a band of uptight teens living off their parents' money.
Nevertheless, both Ryan and Seth had an epic conclusion to their stories: Seth and Ryan were off to college chasing new adventures and dreams while the Cohens decided to relocate to their previous home in Berkeley.
The above are shows that bear the most similarities to Nobody Wants This.
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