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The Righteous Gemstones

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The Righteous Gemstones

The Righteous Gemstones is an American crime comedy-drama television series created by Danny McBride that premiered on August 18, 2019, on HBO. The series follows a famous and dysfunctional family of televangelists. McBride also stars in the series, alongside Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson, Tony Cavalero, Cassidy Freeman, Gregory Alan Williams, Tim Baltz, and John Goodman. The series concluded on May 4, 2025, after airing four seasons and 36 episodes. It received positive reviews from critics.

The Righteous Gemstones depicts a family of South Carolina-based televangelists and megachurch pastors led by widowed patriarch Eli Gemstone. Eli and his immature adult children, Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin, lead opulent lives funded by the church.

In the first season, Eli's estranged brother-in-law, Baby Billy Freeman, is brought in to lead the Gemstones' new shopping-mall-based satellite church, which leads to a conflict with Rev. John Wesley Seasons, whose smaller, neighboring church is threatened. Concurrently, a trio of masked figures blackmail Jesse with a scandalous video documenting the lewd behavior of him and his best friends.

In the second season, Jesse and Amber partner with Texas megachurch leaders Lyle and Lindy Lissons to develop a Christian timeshare resort. The family faces threats, including investigative journalist Thaniel Block, an old friend from Eli's past, and a mysterious group of motorcycle-riding assassins.

In the third season, Eli scales back his involvement in the church, handing over greater control to his children. Eli's impoverished sister, May–May, resurfaces, asking for his assistance in keeping her family safe from her ex-husband, Peter, a vengeful Christian militia leader who holds a decades-long grudge against the Gemstones. Meanwhile, betrayals threaten to end the relationships of Judy and BJ and Kelvin and Keefe.

In the fourth and final season, the Gemstone children continue to lead the church amidst their turbulent personal lives: Jesse struggles to leave a lasting legacy and keep control of his rebelling sons, while Judy must care for a depressed BJ after he is injured in a pole-dancing accident. Having entered into a romantic relationship with Keefe, Kelvin gains prominence after creating PRISM, an LGBT-friendly ministry. However, things spiral completely out of control for the Gemstones when a lonely Eli enters into a relationship with Lori Milsap, a close friend of Aimee-Leigh. The origins of the Gemstone empire, led by outlaw-turned-reluctant preacher Elijah Gemstone, are likewise explored.

On June 28, 2018, it was announced that HBO had given the production a pilot order. The episode was written and directed by Danny McBride who is also executive producer alongside Jody Hill and David Gordon Green. On October 2, 2018, it was reported that HBO had given the production a series order. On July 1, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere on August 18, 2019. On September 9, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season. On January 25, 2022, HBO renewed the series for a third season. On July 27, 2023, HBO renewed the series for a fourth and final season.

McBride said he intended the series to run "longer than anything we've done before," including the four-season Eastbound & Down and the two-season Vice Principals. "If I had my way, when this is done, it's like this epic, sprawling tale, like the fucking Thorn Birds or something," he told Polygon. "You'll know everybody in this family, cousins, great uncles, all these people. In my eyes, this season is chapter one. It's just setting the table for who all these people are and what's about to happen." Like McBride's previous television characters, the Gemstones have "an inflated sense of self". McBride comments, "To me, the idea of a minister that sees themself as bigger than God just feels like the ultimate display of that."

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