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Divine new comedy series The Righteous Gemstones follows the antics of a seriously flawed family of TV evangelists

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They’ve made millions spreading the word of the Lord, but there are more than a few skeletons lurking in this family’s closet. Meet the Gemstones, a clan headed by Hollywood star John Goodman’s character Eli, who have become world famous and fabulously wealthy through their work as TV evangelists.

‘But now they have a problem,’ says Danny Mcbride, who plays Eli’s son Jesse Gemstone in new channel Sky Comedy’s nine-part series The Righteous Gemstones.

‘My character gets back from a baptism marathon in China and receives a video from blackmailers who claim to know all about his scandalous past indiscretions.

‘As a man of the church, Jesse knows what damage such indiscretions would do to his family’s reputation if they came to light, so he has to pay up or fight back.’

Jesse’s wife Amber is clueless about his past, so there may also be consequences for his marriage. He decides to fight but might have wishedhe’dpaidupwhenheand his siblings are shot at by the blackmailers. But Jesse and his family’s reputations are worth battling for, with global audiences of six million tuning in to their action-packed services held in arenas and with donations to the Gemstone Ministry allowing them to live in luxury.

‘The family have an oceangoing yacht and three private jets named The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost,’ says John Goodman. ‘But Eli is not happy. The series begins with him mourning the loss of his wife Aimee-leigh, with whom he built the ministry.’

Despite his grief, Eli remains the head of the family while his sons, Jesse and Kelvin, and daughter, Judy, jockey for position.

‘The death of Aimee-leigh has rocked them,’ says Danny, who also created the series. ‘She had presence, charisma and the passion to make their empire a success. Now she’s gone, everyone’s scrambling to find their new position in the family.’

It’s far from plain sailing as typified by a baptism service held in a swimming pool. ‘There are loads of people and it’s going fine until

someone turns on the wave machine,’ says Adam Devine (Bumper in Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2), who plays Kelvin. ‘It gets chaotic.’

Danny Mcbride says the series isn’t poking fun at those who follow and donate to televangelists, but instead is shining a light on the organisations themselves. ‘It’s an exaggerated version of what’s out there and lets the viewer decide just how devout the Gemstones are and how worthy they are of the money that comes their way. Is it a sham or do Eli and the rest of the family really believe what they’re saying and doing?’ he says. ‘Investigating that seemed ripe and fertile ground for comedy.’

AIMEE-LEIGH (Jennifer Nettles) Eli Gemstone’s late wife founded the ministry with him, and we see her in flashbacks. JUDY GEMSTONE (Edi Patterson) She lives with her fiancé BJ, bu frustrated by her peripheral role within ily. JESSE GEMSTONE (Danny Mcbride) He and his devoted wife Amber have two children together, but there are secrets in his past.

AMBER (Cassidy Freeman) Jesse’s naive wife doesn’t know anything about his secret lecherous life. DR ELI GEMSTONE (John Goodman) Part preacher and part bully, he has a temper to match his fortune. KELVIN GEMSTONE (Adam Devine) The youngest of the family is small and fierce, and focuses on youth ministry while learning the ropes.