It may be best to focus on all the things The Righteous Gemstones is and not worry about the things itâs not.
It is the latest HBO comedy series from longtime collaborators Danny McBride, Jody Hill, and David Gordon Green, whose track record for television includes the brilliant Eastbound & Down and the sporadically funny, occasionally grueling Vice Principals. Gemstones follows a family of Christian evangelists who operate a South Carolina megachurch, led by patriarch Eli Gemstone (John Goodman), with McBride as eldest son Jesse, Workaholicsâ Adam DeVine as youngest son Kelvin, and Edi Pattersonâso hilarious in a small role on Vice Principalsâas neglected middle daughter Judy.
The Gemstones are obscenely wealthy, living in separate houses on a giant compound. The matriarchâand glueâof the family, Aimee-Leigh (played in flashbacks by Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles), has died, leaving Eli a grieving widower and the adult kids endlessly squabbling. If youâve seen any of McBrideâs stuff before, you know that expletive-laden insult battles are the name of the game.
And itâs plenty funny. But one wonders what we mightâve gotten if McBride and his collaborators werenât quite so comfortable working togetherâand if they had used the rich milieu of American evangelism to stretch themselves further. Gemstones isnât particularly interested in exploring the hypocrisy of profit-driven religion, nor in examining the inner faiths of its supposedly pious characters. Weâre simply meant to guffaw at this boorish family of spoiled brats who take money in the name of Jesus but donât seem aware of the good bookâs moral teachings.
In other words, itâs a show about wealth and power, not about God. And maybe thatâs point enough. McBrideâs Jesse is essentially a reprise of Eastbound & Downâs crass, arrogant Kenny Powers, and a big chunk of Gemstonesâ plot is propelled by Jesseâs efforts to suppress a blackmail video that shows him at a cocaine-fueled orgy. One of the blackmailers is played by Scott MacArthur, whose performance exemplifies my frustrations with Gemstones: MacArthur had a supporting role as the doofus boyfriend on the now-canceled Fox sitcom The Mick, where he was fucking excellentâcharming, gross, and hilarious in one fell swoop. In Gemstones, MacArthur just shouts swear words and breaks things. Heâs annoying, and one wonders how the show managed to do a charismatic performer such a disservice.
Goodman, too, is oddly wasted, barely given anything to do other than look sad about dear, departed Aimee-Leigh. His character is fleshed out a bit more in a later episode, which flashes back 30 years to diagram the initial rift between the Gemstone family and Aimee-Leighâs brother, Baby Billy, whoâs played with diabolical zeal by the great Walton Goggins. Baby Billy is more of a cartoon than a character, and while Goggins is often a joy to watch, he also sometimes ventures into irritating territory.
Still, the laughs are usually there, even if the thoughtfulness isnât. And, to be fair, Gemstones gets better as it goes along. (I saw six out of nine episodes, and the hour-long series premiere was easily my least favorite.) Maybe a grounding force like Eastboundâs fantastic Steve Little character would have given the show a bit more humanity. As it is, itâs just more rich kids behaving badly and hiding behind the cross to do it. Theyâre overdue for a reckoningâweâll just have to see if Gemstones gives it to them.
The Righteous Gemstones premieres Sun Aug 18 on HBO.
