I remember when Nobody Wants This premiered last fall, and even though I had some criticism about the way Jewish women were portrayed, it was the show that I couldn’t get enough of, and neither could anybody else. The Netflix series ended 2024 as the top new original comedy in streaming, according to Nielsen, pulling in 4.9 billion viewing minutes after its debut last September.
Whether I was in L.A., New York, or the Midwest, it seemed as though everyone was talking about it. We finally had a smart rom-com that was funny, sexy, and culturally relevant. And it was about love!
Tracey Pakosta, vice president, comedy series, at Netflix, says that part of the reason for Nobody Wants This’s success is that “Jessica Radloff Erin Foster’s story spares audiences from the ‘will they, won’t they’ angst, giving fans hope and inspiring conversations about the obstacles they’ve had to overcome in their own love lives.” In fact, Pakosta counts her father and her son—as well as her girlfriends—for being fans of the show’s must-watch hilarious romance.
“There is a power of relatability with comedy that makes life a little lighter,” she says. “Laughter helps us navigate life’s challenges, big and small, so we try to find the sweet spot between funny, authentic, and meaningful for our comedy offerings.”
So then why does it seem like the anxiety-producing shows outnumber the more uplifting ones? And is there anything we can do to make the playing field more even?
Ryan says two things give her hope on this front, starting with “there’s still a ton of good TV being made, which is heartening.”
As for the second thing? Ryan points to shows like Max’s The Pitt. “It made me cry so, so many times! [But I kept watching] the show wasn’t uniformly grimdark or nihilistic—modes of TV I generally find deeply immature and unsatisfying. There were lots of different kinds of stories and they were all non-manipulative and executed at such a high level that I kept going because it was rewarding to do so. Plus—and this is big—these characters cared about each other, cared about their patients, and were good at their jobs. They work hard to do the right thing, and even when things are hard, there’s a lot to engage with.”
But even if a medical drama is not your thing—and right now, I’m steering a bit clear of those—Netflix’s Pakosta says the streamer is committed to giving us more light-hearted stories. “We’ve seen the fruits of our labour with Nobody Wants This, A Man on the Inside and Running Point, and we are not slowing down,” she says, pointing to the renewal of all three of those series, as well as upcoming offerings like Michelle Buteau’s Survival of the Thickest, Tina Fey’s Four Seasons, and Leanne Morgan’s Leanne.
It’s a sentiment that Simran Sethi, President, Scripted Programming, Hulu Originals, ABC Entertainment and Freeform, agrees with as well, with prestige, but light-hearted shows like Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building, and more under her purview.