The nine-episode and final season of the HBO Original Series THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES premiered MARCH 9 on HBO and is now available to stream on Max. The series tells the story of a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed, and charitable work. Despite constant bickering, Gemstone family ties run deep, and this season, the family’s codependence is tested as they attempt to move forward without letting go of their storied past.
Danny McBride, who is the creator, executive producer, and also plays “Jesse Gemstone,” talked to The Knockturnal about Season 4 of THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: Are you sad that it’s the 4th Season or are you excited to see the results?
Danny McBride: “I think it’s a combination of all of it, I’m very excited for fans to check this out, see what we’ve accomplished here, but of course it’s a little sad too because the end of any chapter is often sad. It’s been amazing working with all this cast and crew, but you know what, whenever a chapter closes, another one starts, and I’ll make sure a lot of these people work with me again.”
THE KNOCKTURNAL: What was your favorite part of working as a family with The Gemstones? Do you have any favorite moments on set of that family environment?
Danny McBride: “So many awesome moments, I feel like a lot of them, any time we did any church lunch scenes it got to me as being particularly fun, because the whole cast was there, everybody was kind of throwing fast balls all day long…so those scenes tended to be some of the most memorable ones to shoot.”
THE KNOCKTURNAL: As far as the story goes, what drew you into this project, and being a part of the show?
Danny McBride: “You know, I don’t really know, it’s just that concept of a family running a church and operating like gangsters, it just seemed like there was something fun to explore there – and that’s what we did!”
The Righteous Gemstones series counts with the legend John Goodman as “Eli Gemstone,” who’s a delight to watch in anything he does. The ensemble cast includes Adam DeVine as “Kelvin Gemstone,” Edi Patterson as “Judy Gemstone,” Cassidy Freeman as “Amber Gemstone,” Tim Baltz as “BJ,” Skyler Gisondo as “Gideon Gemstone” and Walton Goggins as “Baby Billy Freeman, and Bradley Cooper who makes a special appearance on the last season telling the origin story of the Gemstones family.
Adam DeVine said he was shocked to realize he wasn’t on the first episode of Season 4 and he was told they got Bradley Cooper instead. “Maybe he does the rest of the season, I’ll step out if he’s going to fill my shoes,” DeVine said. “It just goes to show how much people respect Danny and Roughhouse and HBO, and want to work with this creative team.”
The cast reflected on the last season and how they feel saying goodbye to the show.
Cassidy Freeman said, “Oh man, the last day we were all filming was like one of the most beautiful things, and also like the end of the eternal summer camp we all loved being at, and I didn’t see a dry eye in the house.”
Danny McBride thanked everyone who made the show possible as he celebrated the work they have put together one last time.
“It’s been so incredibly fun to make this, and that’s in large part due to every single person that’s involved in this show, from all the crew, to all the actors, HBO, everyone who made this so much fun – and yeah it’s very hard to walk away from something you enjoy so much but I wouldn’t do it unless I felt like we really stuck the landing! I think we really have and I’m excited to share this with you all,” McBride said.
The premiere happened on Ash Wednesday at the Paramount lot, which included a live choir and a church lunch at the afterparty, in true Gemstones style. HBO has been investing in relatable comedies with an edge since Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Insecure, and now with Hacks, The Franchise, and The Righteous Gemstones. Catch them for one last season!
