Adam Brody in ‘Nobody Wants This’ Is the Ultimate TV Crush

Everything we can’t stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. [Manage newsletters]( [View in browser]( [The logo for Daily Beast's Obsessed]( Everything we can’t stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. with Kevin Fallon Everything we can’t stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. with Kevin Fallon     This Week - Falling in love with Nobody Wants This on Netflix. - Being shocked at [how bad Joker 2 is](. - Still grieving over [Broadway great Gavin Creel](. - One of the year’s best TV episodes. - M*gyn K*lly gets trolled by TV fans.     Shalom to Adam Brody I am always in the market for a new crush. I wouldn’t consider myself a person of many passions or hobbies. (What am I going to do in my free time, whittle wood?) But harboring crushes on fictional characters, people online I will never meet, and/or Hollywood actors? I am somewhat of an expert in the field. A savant, you might say. I am also, apparently, enough of a veteran in the area that, decades later, old crushes have come back into my life, inducing swoons more intense than before. That whole thing about getting better with age? Couldn’t be me, but it definitely is some people. Specifically, “people” is Adam Brody, the former star of [The OC]( who is now asserting himself as one of the industry’s most charming romantic leads in the Netflix hit [Nobody Wants This](. Those of us who are proud members of the [Seth Cohen Generation]( have been waiting for this moment. I’m glad it’s finally here. Why more Hollywood projects don’t mine former teen crushes to be romantic leads now that they’re handsome, self-assured, less chaotic, full-grown men is beyond me. Once again, I am asking Mr. and Mrs. Show Business why they haven’t hired me to run the town. Nobody Wants This ricocheted from a soft launch on [Netflix]( last Thursday to a rocket launch this week, as more and more people spread the holy word of its sweet, adorable watchability, counteracting what were confusingly [tepid reviews](. (It’s currently even besting the much buzzier [Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story]( on Netflix’s ranking of most-watched series.) My skeptical sampling of the show, dipping a toe into the pilot out of curiosity, quickly escalated to a swan dive into a warm lake of millennial nostalgia, thanks to the casting of Brody and [Kristen Bell](, tempered with just the right amount of modern commentary to make things relatable at my [redacted] age. Brody plays Noah, a progressive, dedicated rabbi who has perfected the art of wearing a crew neck sweater, and Bell is Joanne, a digital-age Carrie Bradshaw who chronicles her sex and dating escapades on a podcast with her sister Morgan (Justine Lupe). Noah recently broke up with his girlfriend, who everyone in his family and congregation, including himself, thought he was going to marry. At a dinner party soon after at a friend’s house, he encounters Joanne, whose rascally confidence is irresistible. They have a meet-cute while struggling to open a bottle of wine that—trust me on this—manages to be one of the sexiest, flirtiest scenes I’ve seen in a while. It’s midway through the evening when Joanne finds out what he does for a living. “You’re a real life rabbi?” she says, incredulous. “It’s hot, right?” he responds. Yes. Yes, it is. What follows is exactly what you’d expect from watching a million of these things, differentiated by the fact that it is never-better Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, almost impossibly irresistible, hopscotching through the standard hijinks. He walks her to her car, and sparks fly as if as if a ghost was following them shooting off a flare gun the entire time. They have a perfect first date. When they have their first kiss, he cradles her face in his hand with just the right balance of force and tenderness that my heartrate spiked to medical-alert levels and I immediately started sweating. The roadblocks and obstacles to happily ever after all unfold as expected, too, in this case largely orbiting the question over whether a rabbi and a shiksa could feasibly work out. (Side note: There’s been [criticism]( of the [show’s portrayal]( of Noah’s Jewish family, which is definitely worth reading.) Is everything mostly predictable? Sure. Is every piece of banter so flawlessly witty and cute that it’s almost entirely untethered from the awkwardness of real-life interactions, especially when it comes to difficult conversations about relationships? Of course. And I wouldn’t want it any other way. The surprise, though, is this specific kind of rom-com fantasy character that the show crafted by casting Brody: the so-called dork whose endearingness is made apparent immediately because, while nerdy, he is also objectively hot—a modern man who holds steadfast to his values and goals while having a remarkable open-heart to compromise, understanding, and change. While I’d like to think I’m special in my week spent crushing on Brody in this show, a quick sweep of social media reveals that, well, I’m anything but alone:     More Like Joker: Folie á Poo, Amiright? “Bad” is on a spectrum. For example, 2019’s [Joker]( was bad in a way that was infuriating: intellectually ludicrous and philosophically empty, while smugly deflecting any fair criticism of its content. ([Joaquin Phoenix]( did give a fascinating performance.) The sequel [Joker: Folie à Deux]( is bad in an entirely different, much less fascinating way: It’s [utterly boring](. The film is, well…it’s nothing. Pointless and bland to the extent that it would be mystifying if, after watching it, you could be motivated enough to care. The film, now in theaters, tantalized with the prospect of introducing [Lady Gaga]( as Joker’s paramour, Harley Quinn (who goes by “Lee” in this film) and staging their psychotic hallucinations as grand musical numbers. In the end, however, the film is a waste of talent and concept. Gaga’s presence is frustratingly limited—she spends large chunks of time sitting on a courtroom bench silently supporting Arthur Fleck/Joker—which is a true shame, considering the potential in the fiery energy she brings to her scenes. From her haunting introduction in a prison music class, she has an unsettling edge that’s cut by a palpable warmth. When the camera trains on her face, you’re practically hypnotized. That she excels in the musical numbers goes without saying, in spite of their lethargic staging. But it’s when she starts energizing ideas of a Bonnie and Clyde-esque reign of terror with Joker, it’s baffling that director Todd Phillips didn’t simply pour the kerosene and let Gaga set fire. There’s a Great Gay Tension that I myself suffered when deciding to screen Joker 2. On the one hand, I really didn’t care for the first one. On the other hand, LADY GAGA!!! If only the movie had more of her, I could say she’d be worth it alone.     Advertisement     I Can’t Stop Thinking About Gavin Creel The Broadway community and its fans were stunned this week when news broke that Tony-winner Gavin Creel, a performer with unrivaled charisma and enthusiasm, [died at age 48]( after a swift battle with a rare cancer. I discovered Creel when Broadway did, as Jimmy in [Thoroughly Modern Millie](. It intersected directly with the moment that musical theater became my end-all, be-all obsession, and all I wanted in life was to sing, dance, and be as charming and handsome as him. The real world had other plans when it came to those things, but something else happened as I spent the next decades tracking his career, watching his performances, and burrowing my way in a tiny corner of the theater community, seeing how he made his impact in ways that transcended his talent—which, given his talent, is something quite remarkable. There were tributes to the performances and his activism. The proof of both is all over the internet and the community, be it in videos of his performances in [Hair](, [She Loves Me](, [Into the Woods](, and [Hello, Dolly!](, or appreciations of his work for Broadway Impact to fight for marriage quality. But what I’ve been most struck by and emotional over, however, is how every single person who posted a tribute to Creel—literally every one—mentioned not just his incredible work but his kindness. What a way of living to aspire to. Here’s one of the clips of Creel that I’ve watched most, and certainly makes me smile the biggest: a cheeky duet of Rent’s “Take Me or Leave Me” with [Aaron Tveit]( during which he appears to be having the time of his life. [[ratio]  ](     You Need to Watch This Great Episode It’s incredibly fun to watch a new series and instantly [fall in love with it](, which is pretty much what happened to any of us who have started the FX comedy [English Teacher]( this fall. It’s another when, in that freshman season, it elevates things with an episode that makes you realize, oh, this show isn’t just good, it’s good good. “Linda,” in which progressive gay English teacher Evan (Brian Jordan Alvarez) faces off against a conservative helicopter mom—just guess her name—is a searing, thought-provoking peek into a modern culture war dominating education. It’s also incredibly funny. [ ]( Actress Jenn Lyon, who plays Linda, gives what just may be the guest performance of the year so far. You can watch the episode on Hulu, and look at the clip [here](. [ ](     Not the Reaction She Was Going for… During this week’s vice presidential debate, M*gyn K*lly (don’t need to give her any more visibility), tweeted irate when CBS cut off JD Vance’s microphone after he exceeded his allotted time to speak. “F you CBS - how DARE YOU,” she [posted on X](, which immediately became a hilarious prompt for her to be trolled by people who, rather than engaging with her point, aired their grievances about CBS programming over the years. [ ]( [ ]( [ ]( [ ]( [ ]( [ ](     More From The Daily Beast’s Obsessed - Gone Girl turned 10, and feels a whole lot different in the wake of the latest Bennifer split. [Read more](. - After that season finale, Industry officially earned its title as the new Succession. [Read more](. - I interviewed It Girl of super gay, super demented New York musical theater, my spirit guide Marla Mindelle. [Read More](.   [See This]   - Hold Your Breath: Sarah Paulson [doing amazing acting]( in a new project? Real original. (Now on Hulu) - It’s What’s Inside: One of the [wildest mind-melds]( of a horror thriller in a while. (Now on Netflix) - Salem’s Lot: A new generation can now be [completely traumatized]( by an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. (now on Max) [Skip This]   - Joker: Folie à Deux: [Boo! Hiss!]( (Now in theaters)     [The logo for Daily Beast's Obsessed]( [TV]( [Movies]( [Reviews]( [Previews]( [TV]( [Reviews]( [Movies]( [Previews]( [Daily Beast Obsessed Facebook]( [Daily Beast Obsessed Twitter]( [Daily Beast Obsessed Instagram](   Advertisement   Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up here.](   [Daily Beast]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Sign up for our politics newsletter Get original reporting and analysis straight from Washington to your inbox. 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