I went into The Righteous Gemstones on HBO Plus expecting a savage satire on the greed and hypocrisy of fundamentalist megachurches. And the Gemstones are quite excessively rich, occupying separate mansions on their vast estate, with an amusement park on-site and a fleet of private planes. But they aren't conning old ladies out of their life savings by selling prayer shawls annointed by Jesus. They fill their 10,000-seat Gospel Stadium by delivering a quality product, with laser shows and dance numbers, and sermons that stress acceptance and forgiveness rather than God hating things.
These people aren't like any fundamentalists you've ever heard of. They drink wine with dinner, openly, in restaurants! A baptism is followed by a party with dancing! They engage in premarital sex. And they are gay-friendly.
1, The patriarch of the family, Eli (John Goodman), is a rowdy wrestler who turned to God through the influence of his wife, a famous gospel singer (now deceased). When an old friend comes to visit, his daughter Judy thinks that they're having sex, but her only complaint is that he's not cute. Why not pick a hot guy, like Patrick Stewart?
The pastor in one of the satellite churches causes a scandal when he is filmed watching his wife and another woman having sex in a public restroom while high on Molly. The church elders fire him, noting that they're fine with gay people, but disapprove of three-ways.
2. In the first episode, eldest son Jesse (Danny McBride) hears his son Pontius (Kelton DuMont, left) using a homophobic slur, and chastises him: "I have gay friends."
Later, he mistakenly believes that his son Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) is gay, and goes out of his way to be accepting. Gideon protests that he likes girls, so Jesse says "Oh, so you're bisexual? That's fine too. I love my bisexual son."
3. The youngest of the Gemstones, Kelvin (Adam Devine, top photo), is obsessed with bodybuilding and muscular men, and has a strongly romantic relationship with his mansion-mate Keefe (Tony Cavalero), whom he saved from a life of Satanism.
Keefe constantly chafes at his "roommate" role, asking to sit at the dinner table with the rest of the family, but Kelvin is not ready to admit that they are boyfriends. When asked, he says "No, we're not boyfriends. We're just two guys who like to...um...hang out...and stuff."
The Righteous Gemstones is also groundbreaking for its full-frontal nudity. Nearly every episode displays a wang or two, big, small, real, prosthetic, usually on minor characters or guest-cocks, but still, the variety and openness of male nudity is amazing.
My Grade: Just watch it.