Fans of HBO‘s The Righteous Gemstones may have a wallop of a follow-up to the first season to look forward to, with HBO announcing season two is on its way this winter.
That’s because, according to an interview with the show’s creator and star Danny McBride for Entertainment Weekly, he used much of the time in COVID lockdown rewriting the second season to make it “bigger, nastier and crazier” than originally planned when the shooting schedule got significantly delayed due to pandemic shutdowns.
The hilarious examination of a highly dysfunction family of an Evangelical megachurch co-stars John Goodman, Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson, and Walton Goggins, among others. New additions include Jason Schwartzman, who plays a journalist named Thaniel seeking to expose the family’s corruption, and Eric Andre, who plays a rival megachurch pastor named Lyle Lissons in an over-the-top sounding role in which the Bad Trip star is sure to relish. Eric Roberts also joins the cast.
While the exact release date for the second season hasn’t been announced yet, other than to say it’s dropping this winter, McBride said he is a mere week from finishing filming. The production for the show restarted back in March 2021 after being delayed about a year because of the pandemic. However, McBride said he used that time in isolation to return to the script and make some major changes. For instance, the Gemstones now live in a world that was also affected by COVID.
McBride elaborates the pandemic has been a boon to the fictional megachurch’s business, comparing their rise to how many large corporations’ profit margins saw an increase during the same time in real life.
“COVID was very kind to the Gemstones. They were able to deliver to the world a streaming service that allowed people to stay at home and watch Gemstone broadcasts. So while everyone around them suffered, they’re in a better position than they’ve ever been in before.”
We’re excited to see the zany new direction HBO‘s The Righteous Gemstones takes in the upcoming season, especially considering McBride’s stellar track record of comedies on the premium network so far, such as East Bound And Down and Vice Principals.
