If you’re feeling the need for some pitch black religious-themed comedy, we’re happy to report that your prayers have been answered. Season three of Danny McBride’s The Righteous Gemstones hits NEON on June 20.
If there’s a more fertile topic for satire than the lucrative world of American evangelical Christianity, then it’s the power struggle following the death of Stalin, and Armando Iannucci has already covered it. But Danny McBride, a man with an eye for American absurdity, has hit the bullseye with this tale of the Gemstone family, led by widowed patriarch Eli (the mighty John Goodman), a dynasty of televangelists and megachurch pastors living high on the hog thanks to an endless stream of donations from their faithful flock.
The essential gist is that the Gemstones are all horrible people living lives of sin beneath their veneer of respectability. Eldest son Jesse (McBride) is a debauched party animal, youngest son Kelvin (Adam DeVine) is a conflicted youth pastor who may be harbouring “inappropriate” feelings for his ex-satanist roommate, and middle child Judy (Edi Patterson) is getting a bit sick of being passed over in favour of these two idiots.
Having dealt with family black sheep (and Eli’s brother-in-law) Baby Billy Freeman (Walton Goggins) in season 1 and clashed with both rival megachurch pastor Lyle Lissons (Eric André) and nosey investigative reporter Thaniel Block (Jason Schwartzman) in season two, season three sees the Gemstones contend with a new threat in the form of Steve Zahn’s Christian militia leader. Exactly what form that threat takes is anyone’s guess, but McBride and the gang are sure to have fun messing around at the intersection between “guns” and “god.”
Savagely funny and fearless when it comes to highlighting the foibles of modern religion, The Righteous Gemstones is just the thing for lazy Sunday morning viewing, assuming you have no more pressing engagements.
