HBO’s New Comedy Mocks Televangelists
On Wednesday, HBO released the official trailer for The Righteous Gemstones, a new comedy mocking televangelists. The series—which stars John Goodman and Danny McBride—focuses on “the Gemstones,” a fictitious family of successful televangelists. The show’s executive producers, McBride and Jody Hill, previously created the profane comedy Vice Principals for HBO.
McBride—who reportedly grew up Baptist—told television reporters the show is critical of hypocrisy but not Christianity itself.
“The goal isn’t to be a takedown of anything,” McBride says. “When Hollywood takes on religion, they make the mistake of lampooning one’s beliefs. For us, it’s about lampooning hypocrites—people who present themselves in one way, an act differently in another. I don’t think that’s something that’s relevant [only] to the world of religion and televangelism but the world we live in: People who present themselves one way on social media and present themselves in another way.”
The Righteous Gemstones will premiere Aug. 18.
