It’s Wednesday, and the rabbi is out.
Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This” season 3 has taken a sharp hit in the ratings.
The series is so far is down 28% in viewers from last season, and much more from its season 1 debut.
Netflix has already had a notable problem with viewers not returning to successive seasons of its series.
But comments made by the show’s star, Adam Brody, about Israel and genocide in GQ magazine seem to have put a huge dent in the numbers.
First Brody attracted unwanted attention when he told the magazine writer “put me down for genocide,” when asked if he thought that description of Israel’s activities in Gaza were just that.
His full quote: “Put me down as thinking it’s a genocide. Put me down as wanting a free Palestine. It’s awful that it’s taken so much death and misery, but it does feel like it’s reaching a breaking point that it should have a while ago.”
Brody, who is Jewish and plays a rabbi on the show, had never spoken before about October 7th or defended Israel. His blithe quote set off a firestorm, especially among Jewish viewers who do not believe that a genocide is taking place and support Israel. Brody, like a lot of Hollywood types, doesn’t understand that American Jews are invested in Israel spiritually and financially. They are not interested in hearing those kinds of comments.
The next thing that happened was criticism of Brody from the rabbi who consults on the show. The was followed by more from respected Jewish actress Tovah Feldshuh, also on the show.
When Netflix dropped season 3 last week initially the series didn’t appear in their top 10. Then for a couple of days it was number 1. But now it’s dropping on their charts to Number 2 or 3. Today it’s being beaten by the Matthew Perry documentary.
Brody did himself a lot of damage when he spoke out against Israel. But he also imperiled this series that was his first success in a long time. Now it’s unclear if the series, which could have fun five seasons, will be back for a fourth.
