ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Danny McBride To Star In New Show That Sends Up Televangelism

Danny McBride To Star In New Show That Sends Up Televangelism

John Goodman will also feature in the HBO pilot

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Danny McBride looks like he is about to return to our screens with an audacious attempt to send up the culture of TV evangelism.

If reports from Variety are to be believed then McBride is to star in a new half-hour long comedy alongside John Goodman called The Righteous Gemstones.

The show will tell the story of the Gemstone family, an old dynasty of televangelists who have devoted their lives to making a shed load of cash in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Goodman will play Eli Gemstone, the patriarch of the family, whereas McBride looks likely to play his son, Jesse Gemstone - the natural heir to the family's TV religious throne.

PA

According to Variety, Jesse 'fancies himself a maverick in the ministry game, taking what Eli has built and expanding it for a more modern audience'.

Jesse also apparently 'demands loyalty from those in his circle' so we can expect fireworks, obviously.

That's literally all we know to this point, so you'll have to wait and see what emerges.

The show will follow Goodman and McBride's characters as they navigate the strange world of televangelism with presumably hilarious consequences.

The show is thought to be a send up that is specifically aimed at TV preachers such as Joel Osteen. Osteen became the latest in a long line of shamed televangelists after it was revealed that he was taking donations during Hurricane Harvey whilst also keeping his mega-church closed to those who needed shelter.

Given that his church would have held about 16,000 people, that's pretty lame behaviour.

PA

So, where does Danny McBride fit into this? Well, Osteen is known to have inherited his ministry and his congregation from his Dad, so there is a parallel to be drawn there.

He made his millions by preaching on the TV to a community that hangs on his every word, surely, they're absolutely ripe for parody. Bring it on.

McBride is down to write, direct and star in the show, which will see him reunited with his Eastbound and Down and Vice Principals collaborators, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green.

Goodman will take some time out from his recurring role in The Conners on ABC to feature. They've recently sacked Roseanne Barr, so now is probably the perfect time for a break.

The Righteous Gemstones is the latest HBO show to be allocated a pilot slate, following the announcements of shows like Mrs Fletcher, Run, and Watchmen.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Pilot, TV and Film, HBO, US Entertainment