HBO orders televangelists pilot starring John Goodman, Danny McBride
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Danny McBride will write, executive produce, direct, and star in The Righteous Gemstones, a new half hour comedy about “a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed and charitable work, all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” for HBO. If picked up, this would mark the third HBO comedy for McBride, following the success of Eastbound and Down and Vice Principals.
The Righteous Gemstones will also star John Goodman, who will play Eli Gemstone, a stern, world-famous televangelist known for his weekly television show, global ministries and aggressive salvation techniques. McBride will play his eldest son Jesse, a man looking to branch out on his own by adapting his father’s famous teachings for a modern audience.
The project will reunite McBride with his Rough House Pictures partners Jody Hill and Gordon Green, the same trio responsible for Vice Principals and Eastbound and Down. Most recently, they worked on the Netflix film, The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter, which premieres July 6th.
Deadline reports that should HBO pick up the series after the pilot is filmed, Goodman will wait until production is finished on The Connors, the Roseanne Barr-less spinoff series, before continuing filming The Righteous Gemstones with McBride.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)
