How Does Danny McBride’s ‘Righteous Gemstones’ Character Compare to His Other TV Roles? (POLL)
Danny McBride has been a quiet king of comedy for some time now, and the actor-writer’s shows on HBO are among his bread and butter. McBride’s latest venture is the dark televangelist family comedy The Righteous Gemstones, costarring John Goodman, Adam Devine, and Vice Principals alumna Edi Patterson among others.
After the August 18 series premiere, we’re taking a moment to reflect on McBride’s latest character and his past fan favorites from former shows Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals. All vastly different, McBride’s personas are varying degrees of horrible in hilariously twisted tales.
This year marks McBride’s 10th at the premium channel, with his first series being 2009’s Eastbound & Down, which ran for four seasons through 2013. Playing Kenny Powers — a washed-up has been ballplayer attempting to revive his heyday status — McBride set a bar for himself with the seriously deluded character.
Just a few years later, in 2016, the creator returned to HBO with Vice Principals alongside Walton Goggins in which he portrayed Neal Gamby. Just like Kenny Powers, Gamby is outrageously misguided with his behavior which makes for just as many laughs. Wielding his power at North Jackson High School, it’s sometimes hard to not root for the Vice Principal.
Now, two years after Vice Principals wrapped its second season, McBride has introduced viewers to Jesse Gemstone — the eldest son of televangelist empire lead Eli Gemstone (John Goodman). In the premiere he exudes a self-confidence with little reason to back it up, but it all comes crashing down when he receives a damning text that includes an incriminating video.
How Jesse proceeds with his blackmailers sets the tone for the series, painting the Gemstone family as wholly unholy in the funniest way possible. If you haven’t caught the premiere episode, you can watch it now On Demand with HBO or on the channel’s HBO Go or HBO Now apps.
If you did get a chance to tune in we want to hear from you. Which Danny McBride character do you think is the funniest? Let us know in the poll below.
The Righteous Gemstones, Sundays, 10/9c, HBO
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services