Fifty-plus years ago, CBS had a hit like Netflix’s ‘Nobody Wants This’ – but the sitcom about a Catholic teacher and Jewish cab driver falling in love couldn’t withstand the backlash, despite its high ratings.
Nobody Wants This, Netflix’s hit series about an interfaith relationship between Adam Brody’s rabbi and Kristen Bell’s podcast host, enjoyed a smooth path to a prompt season two renewal. The same can’t be said for CBS’ similarly themed sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie, which debuted 54 years ago.
Created by Bernard Slade (The Flying Nun), the series provided an early-career role for Meredith Baxter as Bridget, a wealthy Irish-Catholic teacher who weds Bernie (David Birney), a Jewish cab driver.
“I’d only been a working actor for a very short time, so I was thrilled to have a job,” Baxter, who would later play mom to Michael J. Fox on Family Ties, recalls to The Hollywood Reporter. “David had been a known stage actor for some years and had some feelings about working with such a newbie.”
Baxter doesn’t recall CBS explaining the decision but assumes the controversy didn’t help: “I was terribly upset and confused, as we had been doing so well!” Baxter and Birney’s chemistry was not an act — the pair wed in 1974, divorcing 15 years later. (Baxter alleged in her 2011 memoir that Birney was abusive during their marriage, which he denied.)
Despite the short run, producer Jerry London remembers the show fondly: “Those two leads were very bright on the screen.”
