Danny McBride built a career on playing dimwits, and The Righteous Gemstones is the culmination of that streak. It is a crime comedy about a televangelist family in South Carolina, and it treats the Gemstones like the worst kind of criminals: rich, lazy, and utterly convinced of their own righteousness. The show premiered on HBO in 2019, ran four seasons and 36 episodes, and ended on May 4, 2025. It received positive reviews from critics, and our verdict lands at 6.7 out of 10.
Trailer, via Warner Bros. Entertainment.
The Gemstone Family
The series follows Eli Gemstone, a widowed patriarch played by John Goodman, and his three adult children: Jesse, played by McBride; Judy, played by Edi Patterson; and Kelvin, played by Adam Devine. They live opulent lives funded by the church, and they treat the congregation like a cash machine. The show’s premise is simple: a family of televangelists with a history of deviance, greed, and, yes, charitable work, all in the name of Jesus.
Jesse is the eldest son, a schemer who wants to leave a lasting legacy. Kelvin is the younger brother, immature and greedy, who partners with Texas megachurch leaders Lyle and Lindy Lissons to develop a Christian timeshare resort. Judy is the daughter, who cares for her husband BJ after he is injured in a pole-dancing accident. Eli, the patriarch, scales back his involvement in the church, handing over greater control to his children.
Season One and the Blackmail Video
The first season introduces Baby Billy Freeman, Eli’s estranged brother-in-law, who is brought in to lead the Gemstones’ new shopping-mall-based satellite church. This move leads to a conflict with Rev. John Wesley Seasons, whose smaller, neighboring church is threatened. At the same time, a trio of masked figures blackmail Jesse with a scandalous video documenting the lewd behavior of him and his best friends.
The blackmail storyline is the show’s engine in season one. It forces Jesse to confront his past, and it sets up the family dynamic that carries the series through its run. The video is a threat, and the Gemstones have to navigate it while maintaining their public image.
Seasons Two Through Four
The second season brings in investigative journalist Thaniel Block, an old friend from Eli’s past, and a mysterious group of motorcycle-riding assassins. Jesse and Amber partner with the Lissons to develop the Christian timeshare resort, and the family faces threats on multiple fronts.
In the third season, Eli’s impoverished sister, May–May, resurfaces. She asks 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. Betrayals threaten to end the relationships of Judy and BJ and Kelvin and Keefe.
The fourth and final season sees 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 his injury. Kelvin gains prominence after creating PRISM, an LGBT-friendly ministry, and enters into a romantic relationship with Keefe Chambers.
What Works and What Doesn’t
The show is at its best when it is funny, and it is very funny. McBride’s Jesse is a delightfully awful character, and his schemes often land with genuine wit. The supporting cast, including Cassidy Freeman as Amber, Tony Cavalero as Keefe, and Tim Baltz as Benjamin Jason ‘BJ’ Barnes, all get room to shine. John Goodman anchors the family as Eli, and his performance grounds the chaos.
But the show’s tone is inconsistent. Some episodes lean hard into farce, while others try to be dramatic. The transition between comedy and drama rarely feels smooth, and the show often ends up being neither. The show also leans heavily on shock value, and some of its jokes rely on cruelty rather than humor.
| Element | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Jesse Gemstone | Hilarious, clever schemes | Cruelty in jokes |
| John Goodman as Eli | Anchors the family | Tone shifts |
Final Word
The Righteous Gemstones is a show that knows exactly what it wants to be: a crime comedy about rich, entitled preachers. It delivers on that promise more often than it fails. The show’s best episodes are genuinely hilarious, and its worst are merely mediocre. It is a solid, occasionally brilliant series that falls short of greatness.
The show’s ending, with the Gemstone children taking over the church, feels like a natural conclusion to the family’s saga. The show leaves the Gemstones where they belong: still rich, still corrupt, and still convinced they are doing God’s work.
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