Happily, this 10-part series understands the challenges and gets the necessary elements right. Having convincingly introduced the potential couple, it tracks a path strewn with obstacles towards a possible happily-ever-after ending. Romcom hurdles come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes a competing love interest creates an uncomfortable and threatening romantic triangle. Sometimes the lovers face logistical challenges: living in different cities or countries. Sometimes the problem is a culture clash, or class differences. Sometimes one of the participants gets cold feet about commitment. There can be damaging gossip, misunderstandings and miscommunications.

Here, Joanne’s sometimes-resentful sister creates some ructions, while Noah has family members insistently advocating for his ex, Rebecca (Emily Arlook). They include Rebecca’s BFF, Esther (Jackie Tohn), who’s also Noah’s brashly opinionated sister-in-law, and his gimlet-eyed, Russian-immigrant mother, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh). A formidable matriarch who’s unapologetically manipulative, she dismissively hisses that her son’s latest fling will be fleeting because “shiksas are just for practice”.

The major stumbling block here is religion. It’s not simply that Noah is Jewish and a rabbi, but he has ambitions for the top job at his temple and a non-Jewish partner would be a non-negotiable no-no. In addition to their coupling being unacceptable to the congregation, their children wouldn’t be Jewish. It’s a significant hurdle and one that the series tackles thoughtfully as it raises the “C” word (conversion).

In the interim, though, there are uncomfortable situations to overcome and faux pas to navigate, such as Joanne’s when she includes prosciutto on the charcuterie board that she brings to a dinner with Noah’s parents. After that, in a sign that this is a genuinely accomplished comedy, the gaffe becomes the springboard for a string of very funny exchanges. Nobody Wants This is shaped by capable hands, including those of executive producer Steven Levitan (Modern Family, Just Shoot Me!) and set-up director Greg Mottola (Arrested Development, The Comeback).

As the series creates a couple that viewers can genuinely care about, it also addresses timeless and universal problems about love and romance: the complications of connection and intimacy; the need to combat the “ick” factor; the difficulty of finding a soul mate. It also addresses issues specific to modern courtship: the disappointments of online dating; the question of how long it should take to respond to a text message; the concern about whether its tone has been correctly interpreted.

As in the best romcoms, the focus isn’t exclusively confined to the couple but grows to encompass a lively community around them. Noah has his goofy brother, Sasha (Timothy Simons), while their father (Paul Ben-Victor), provides wise counsel for Noah, but also wisely stays silent a lot of the time. Joanne’s dad (Michael Hitchcock), who’s recently separated from her mum (Stephanie Faracy) and come out as gay, is less helpful. The range of female characters and the development of their relationships is particularly impressive. They’re a spirited and engaging bunch, from sceptical yet supportive Morgan to abrasive Esther and her justifiably frustrated teenage daughter (Shiloh Bearman).

As with Foster’s earlier work – including a podcast with her sister, Sara, and their mockumentary TV series, Barely Famous (Apple TV+) – the series has strong autobiographical elements. “This show is based on the only good decision I ever made,” she’s said, “falling for a nice Jewish boy”. Originally, she intended to play Joanne, but after converting to Judaism and marrying Simon Tikhman in 2019, she wanted to focus on motherhood and found her ideal leading lady in Bell, who played the feisty, eponymous girl-sleuth in Veronica Mars (2004-2006, 2019, Prime).

The daughter of Grammy-winning music producer and composer David Foster, Erin Foster intimately knows and understands the affluent LA scene portrayed here and also has first-hand experience of the community that she’s depicting. The shaping of the characters and their dialogue radiates the robust and at-times bracing authenticity of lived experience.

In an early conversation between Noah and Joanne, for example, Joanne confesses her troubling preoccupation with his ex and he jokingly confirms that she has reason to be worried. Rebecca, he remarks, looks better without make-up than with it, is very good at maths and has abundant brown hair. It’s the kind of conversation that only a woman who understands other women’s lurking fears could write.

Beyond the banter, though, it’s the characters’ honesty that cuts through, the raw moments when Noah and Joanne reveal their fears, confusion and mistakes to each other. These anchor the series and give it a heft that make it more substantial than simply a succession of funny moments.

The title might be Nobody Wants This, but this is the romcom that lovers of the genre definitely do want.

Nobody Wants This is on Netflix from September 26.

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