Two weeks after Nobody Wants This first premiered, Netflix renewed the show for season two, and announced that Girls executive producers Jenni Konner (also co-showrunner) and Bruce Eric Kaplan would be joining the series as the new co-showrunners and executive producers. In a press release Foster said, “I’m so lucky to be able to continue this story, and to do it alongside Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan, who I’ve been such a fan of since Girls.… Justice for healthy relationships being the most romantic!”
When I caught up with Konner over Zoom last week, she told Glamour she and Kaplan were huge fans of the show before they even came aboard. While Konner knew Erin Foster socially (“I knew [her sister] Sara much better,” she says), “I always really liked Erin. You never know until you work with someone how collaborative they’re going to be, or how kind they are. And it was a gamble for her and it was a gamble for us. It just really paid off. It’s been just a wonderful collaboration.”
Konner also stresses that in no way was she or Kaplan coming in to alter the foundation that made Nobody Wants This a success, but instead, take Foster’s voice and protect it. “She had an unbelievably clear, hilarious, heartwarming, sometimes cynical voice. She really knows romance and has a hilarious way to tell those stories, so we weren’t trying to change anything. We were saying, ‘More of the same, but let us just make it easy for you.’”
The result on screen is seamless. While Joanne and Noah are more established heading into this season, the romance is still there, and the supporting characters get their chance to shine even more. There are classic episodes you’ll be talking about long after you’ve finished binging, and a finale that will have everyone asking, “What’s next?”
So, ahead of the Nobody Wants This season-two premiere, Konner previews more of what’s to come, opens up about the criticism from season one, and discusses why we need “the magic of Judaism” more than ever.
