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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

The Righteous Gemstones, Season Two

Streaming on HBO

Of all the world’s satire-worthy species, televangelists were the longest overdue for a scripted series. In fact, you could say that our prayers were answered when Danny McBride and Jody Hill, the men behind Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals, unearthed The Righteous Gemstones in 2019. The show perfectly captures the white-trash pomp and pretend piety of mega-churches and the charlatan shepherds who prey on their flocks. Season Two features the same disciples of dynastic dysfunction and fraudulent virtuousness that made the first season such a hit—specifically, the show’s namesake family, played by McBride, John Goodman, Adam Devine, and Edi Patterson—though new appearances by Eric Roberts, Eric Andre, and Jason Schwartzman promise to make for a caricature of Biblical proportions. —Nathan King

Danny McBride in “The Righteous Gemstones.” Photo courtesy of HBO.