The pleasures of the romantic comedy are well-documented. When they work, they make for the best kind of fantasy. The ones where our all too numerous flaws may stall but never derail us. Of course, their failures are similarly well documented, making the ups and downs of lust and love feel like products. Moving the genre from its typical medium—film—to television with the new series Nobody Wants This carries the threat to magnify those shortcomings until they blot out anything else. And then there’s that title. Oof. If ever there was a juicy fastball down the middle for critics looking for an easy headline dunk, it’s that one.

It’s more than a relief then to find that blowing out rom-com tropes from an under two-hour film to a 10-episode season helps, not harms, the storytelling. Nobody Wants This isn’t doing anything revolutionary, but it plays the hits well. It makes a thing you’ve seen a hundred permutations of feel fresh and lively. Sorry, lovers of ironically mean-spirited headlines.

The story is a tale of mismatched lovers. Joanne (Kristen Bell) cohosts a podcast with her sister Morgan (Justine Lupe) dedicated to their love life’s successes and failures—mostly failures. Her producer Ashley (Sherry Cola) has her over for a small gathering, warning Joanne there’s a rabbi in the house. Joanne jokes with another guest, Noah (Adam Brody), about it, their chemistry immediate. When Noah blesses dinner, Joanne realizes her error.

Noah’s carrying plenty of complications. He just ended a long relationship with Rebecca (Emily Arlook), a woman everyone was convinced he’d marry, including his sister-in-law, and Rebecca’s best friend, Esther (Jackie Tohn). The breakup devastates her, his parents, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh) and Ilan (Paul Ben-Victor), and Esther. It also leaves his poor brother, the self-labeled “loser sibling” Sasha (the almost perfectly named Timothy Simons), stuck between taking his brother’s side and avoiding his wife’s wrath.

But she’s Kristen Bell, and he’s Adam Brody, so of course they can’t help themselves. Both are smitten. So, in fits and starts, they begin a romance. It quickly gets serious in ways neither have experienced. Unfortunately, just as quickly, they must face the reality that they both need to make significant changes if their relationship is to stand a chance.

One flaw in the series is the inequality of their respective baggage. Joanne has some hangups about commitment given her parents’ divorce and her woo-woo mom Lynn (Stephanie Faracy) remaining very much in love with Joanne’s dad, Henry (Michael Hitchcock), whose coming out triggered the marriage’s end. She also has career concerns as her new love unexpectedly impacts the podcast, straining her collaboration with Morgan. On the other hand, members of Noah’s family are openly dismissive and/or actively trying to ruin his new relationship and rarely shy about letting people know it. Even his boss, head Rabbi Cohen (Stephen Tobolowsky) warns Noah that he must choose the job or the girlfriend. As a result, it frequently feels like Joanne is handling her side of the street much more than Noah.

Much of that is revealed in retrospect, however. While the show unfolds, it is easy to get swept up in its momentum, making each setback feel more shared than is accurate. The way the show navigates these conflicts certainly helps. As someone allergic to the many ways TV shows keep characters apart while teasing the inevitably of their love, I appreciated Nobody Wants This taking a less adversarial position. It isn’t conflict-free, but characters actually talk to one another and try to fix things. It’s not real life, of course. Real life is somewhat incongruent with romcoms. Still, the conflicts feel honest, the characters’ reactions authentic. That’s too rarely the case in romcoms.

Nobody Wants This also largely dodges making anyone a villain. Admittedly, the final episode disappointingly suggests that might not be the case in a second season. Until then, however, everyone is multi-faceted. Again, people do lousy things. They lie, set out to interfere or hurt others, and say cruel things. However, almost everyone also receives moments to show their decency and feelings. Even as you disagree with them, you rarely hate anyone. And if you do, wait a few scenes and the show will turn you around.

Brody and Bell’s performances don’t hurt, either. They have great chemistry with each other and with the supporting players. Plus, for critics of a certain—say my age—both were stars of shows that commanded very dedicated fanbases twenty years ago. So, in addition to turning in winning performances in the context of the show, they tap into a vein of goodwill from those previous projects. It’s reductive to say it turns out audiences wanted Veronica Mars and Seth Cohen to hook up, but, well…there is a bit of that nonetheless.

The “loser siblings” also deserve a pile of praise. Lupe has an appealing chaotic energy, needling Bell with barbs that feel equal part sibling antagonism and coworker passive aggressive. Her first moments with Brody are hilarious, too, despite how little screen time they share. Simons is an MVP, whether solving his daughter’s romantic problems while very high or trying to navigate the tension between sibling and spousal liberty. And when Lupe and Simons play off each other? Gold.

Good performances. Great chemistry. Authentic emotional beats. Charisma all over the place. Romcoms aren’t “easy”. But they frequently feel like they are when all those elements come together. It’s like love. It requires work, but when things click, it feels lighter than air. Nobody Wants This is easy to love.

Netflix has the mics ready and the table set for Shabbat for Nobody Wants This to arrive on September 26.

Nobody Wants This Trailer: