I really don’t know why I’ve slept on Danny McBride for so long. As a baseball lover, everyone has told me I should watch McBride’s first series, Eastbound and Down, which ran on HBO for four seasons, from 2009 to 2013, developing a huge cult following. And, as an even bigger fan of Walton Goggins, I should have already been on board for McBride’s second HBO series, Vice Principals, which ran for 2 seasons in 2016 and 2017, which starred McBride and Goggins as two high school vice principals competing for the top job. But no, for some reason I instead let both of those series pass me by without any interest at all. There was just something about McBride that didn’t appeal to me–his comedy just wasn’t my cup of tea. Or so I thought.
Just shows you how much I know.
It took Walton Goggins, John Goodman AND three years of overwhelming buzz for me to finally give McBride’s current series a chance, and it has become the most enjoyable binge we’ve had since six seasons of Schitt’s Creek got us through the early days of lockdown.
Where has The Righteous Gemstones been all my life? It is the perfect blend of silly, bawdy, satirical, smart, dark, sweet, clever, biting, and sardonically ironic television that makes me so happy. McBride has created a show that is so witty, so stupid and yet so relevant to the world we live in, it’s magical realism meets Anchorman. It most certainly won’t be for everyone, but if, in the parlance of the day (first day of the playoffs), the pitch is in your wheelhouse, this will most definitely be a home run for you.
The great John Goodman plays Eli Gemstone, the patriarch of a world-famous televangelist family, and he has three near-worthless adult children who all dream of taking over one day. Imagine Succession, but without any of the brains, ruthlessness or machinations, but all of the stupidity, narcissism and sibling rivalry. McBride plays Jesse, the eldest and seemingly heir apparent, whose ego is only matched by his appetites. Adam Devine plays Kelvin, the youngest, who claims to be the most hip and youth-oriented member of the family, the most in touch with the next generation, but he’s just as clueless as the rest of them. And then there’s Judy, played by Edi Patterson, the middle child and the only girl, a foul-mouthed, excessively aggressive and insecure attention grabber who is desperate to forge her own path but has no ideas (or talent) to do it.
The show is filled with crazy characters and terrific performances, especially from the four leads, but also from the supporting cast, notably the great Goggins, who plays Uncle Baby Billy, Eli’s brother-in-law, who he just can’t shake, and Tony Cavalero, who plays Keefe Chambers, Kelvin’s best friend and most loyal follower and friend.
It’s impossible to sum up the stories that happen during the three seasons of The Righteous Gemstones that are currently available to watch on MAX, but they all involve this ridiculous family of grifter preachers inevitably butting heads with somebody and there’s some big final showdown and it’s all over-the-top and awesome, hilarious and sometimes pretty grisly. There’s a strange fascination with displaying male genitalia (more than I’m used to, I can tell you that) for a mainstream television show, and it’s occasionally pretty violent, but, much like the religion and God stuff, it’s all quite palatable and toned down just enough to not be disturbing in the least.
In fact, despite everything, The Righteous Gemstones ends up being much sweeter than it is satirical. Somewhere along the road to roasting, toasting and making fun of the entire industry of organized religion—or at least monetized religion—McBride and his fellow creatives hone in on a purity of heart that finds its way through all the meanness and cynicism that dominates the three main adult sibling characters. I was wondering why we hadn’t heard the evangelical community screaming about this show, and it’s probably because, despite the obvious skewing it takes, there is a semblance of decency in there, imbued in several of the characters, who are pure of heart, and pure of character.
But, mainly, the show makes me laugh SO HARD, I don’t even care what it’s about. It’s so clever, so bawdy, so rich with texture, I look forward to going back and I will be so sad when I’ve finally run out of episodes. It has officially been renewed for season 4, but who knows how long we will have to wait for it. In the meantime, I guess I’ll have to catch up on some other Danny McBride shows, now that I finally know what I’ve been missing.