It’s hard to think of a more delightful person to teach the basics about Judaism than Jewish comedian Sarah Silverman. She’s excellent at melding the profoundly, messily human with the deeply (and audaciously!) funny — and her sister is an actual rabbi, after all!
It seems that the team behind Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This,” that hit show about a “shiksha” who falls in love with a rabbi, agrees, as they’ve cast Silverman to play Rabbi Eden in the upcoming third season, described in Variety this week as “the warm, quirky teacher of an Intro to Judaism class, and a supportive presence for Joanne and Noah.”
Rabbi Eden, it seems, will help Kristen Bell’s Joanne, who, after a rousing speech from her sister-in-law Esther (the brilliant Jackie Tohn), realized she does want to convert to Judaism for Adam Brody’s Hot Rabbi Noah and for herself.
We’re sure Sarah’s sister, Rabbi Susan Silverman, who officiated Tiffany Haddish’s bat mitzvah, will give her plenty of tips on how to help welcome someone on their Jewish journey.
This casting choice is making me extra excited for season three. I’ve always thought Joanne’s journey towards conversion to Judaism would make for such a funny, and possibly enlightening, if done right, storyline. And after watching Leslie Grossman’s amazing Rabbi Shira in season one, I’ve been jonesing to see more women rabbis on the show.
Silverman isn’t the only thrilling new cast member we’ve learned of this week. To add some extra humor and drama to those early Judaism lessons, “Nobody Wants This” is bringing in Andrew Rannells to play Sebastian, Joanne’s nemesis in conversion class. Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan, “Nobody Wants This” showrunners, also famously helmed “Girls,” and just that one-line description of Rannells’ character is giving very fun Elijah vibes (for those who never watched “Girls,” Rannells played Elijah Krantz, Lena Dunham’s former college boyfriend who comes out as gay; the two had the most incredible scenes together).
Rounding out the list of Joanne’s classmates is Keyla Monterroso Mejia, whose character, Amber, is “a single woman enrolled in Joanne’s Intro to Judaism class who is obsessed with finding a Jewish husband.” I gotta be honest, this character description is definitely raising some red flags! But I have loved Mejia in all of her TV roles (most recently in “The Studio”) and shall remain optimistic.
But that’s not all (dayenu!). Sadie Sandler is joining season three, too. Adam Sandler’s eldest daughter, who is about to star in the Netflix movie “Roommates,” will be playing a psychic who gives a reading to Joanne’s sister, Morgan (Justine Lupe), in what is surely to be a quirky and funny situation.
Son of Borscht Belt comedian reps and funny Jew in his own right Steven Weber will be playing “Julian, a funny, grounded, cool and secure divorced dad.” Intriguing. Will he be a guide for Timothy Simons’ Sasha (who will be going on online dates with Stephanie Koenig’s Poppy) or a love interest for Esther? I’m still a little heartbroken about the demise of my favorite “Nobody Wants This” couple, but intrigued about what comes next for them.
Perhaps the most fascinating new season three cast member is someone who has been with the show from the very, very beginning — creator and writer Erin Foster, who based the show on her own love story with her NJB (nice Jewish boy, of course), and her journey becoming Jewish. Foster will be playing a very “Revolving Doors” version of herself (and the character based on her, Joanne). Foster’s Nicole is terminally single and a chaotic mess. Essentially, she’s Joanne if everything had gone wrong with her life.
Rounded out by Avan Jogia as a confident man who enjoys negging Joanne and Poorna Jagannathan as Sebastian’s biting aunt, these new cast members are most certainly giving me a lot to look forward to in season three of “Nobody Wants This,” which has been shooting around Los Angeles these past few weeks.
So are these pictures of Tovah Feldshuh’s Bina at the beach and at… a workout class?
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