Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Righteous Gemstones series finale, "That The Man Of God May Be Complete." Stream it with a Max subscription and read at your own risk!
The Righteous Gemstones completed its four-season run this past weekend, evoking bittersweet feelings. After all, it's not often that we see a comedy go out at what may be the peak of its success. The final season is filled with strong performances from A+ guest stars like Michael Rooker and Megan Mullally, and there was even a monkey involved in a storyline. Even series co-creator and co-lead Danny McBride was surprised by what he and his team pulled off, including convincing John Goodman to be part of a 69 joke.
When Goodman teamed up with McBride for The Righteous Gemstones, I don't imagine he thought he'd one day do a wild sex scene with co-star Megan Mullally. McBride actually heard some chatter about how Goodman reacted when he found out about it. Ahead of that, however, he talked to Deadline about what a dream it was to collaborate with the A-lister:
It was awesome working with him. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite elements to this whole show. I just grew up idolizing John Goodman and always have thought he’s awesome, he’s such a good actor, he’s such a funny comedian. I’ve always appreciated his choices that he’s made in his career, and it felt unreal to walk onto the set with him. And you’re watching him and he’s saying your words and he’s bringing things to it that you didn’t anticipate. I just think he’s such a special person, and it was great.
For four seasons, John Goodman played the great Elijah Gemstone as a well-mannered preacher, which is a far cry from how he portrayed Dan in The Conners' final season. While it seems Danny McBride forged a firm working relationship with Goodman, he still couldn't believe was able to get the veteran actor to sign off on having a sexual act be his running joke of the final season.
There's no shortage of John Goodman movies, with crazy moments, that are worth checking out. However, The Righteous Gemstones might be the project with one of his wildest scenes in his acting career. Danny McBride talked about scripting in the scene in which the Gemstone children walk in on their father "69ing" Lori Milsap, and how Goodman allegedly responded to it:
I would have never imagined when I was a kid that I would be an adult trying to talk John Goodman into like 69ing someone on camera like that, something in my life I never imagined happening. I remember when he first got to Charleston this season, there were rumors that he had walked into the production office and was just saying, 'No on Proposition 69, no on Proposition 69!'
The actor allegedly brought it up to the production team in a big way but ultimately went through with the scene. With that, the season subsequently featured jokes about Elijah Gemstone being a big fan of that one specific sex act. I'm not sure if it's any worse or about the same as Baby Billy actor Walton Goggins needing a "dick double" for his scenes, but, man, just contemplating it makes me appreciate how rare of a show The Righteous Gemstones is.
As for what Danny McBride plans to do now that the televangelist comedy is over, that's up in the air. I know I'm already ready to watch his next HBO follow-up, but the actor confirmed he was taking a break. It feels like that's for the best, considering how tough of a series this will be to follow up, unless he pitches an Uncle Baby Billy spinoff. The Gemstones will hopefully not be forgotten as time goes on (but I'm sure that those who've seen that "69" scene will never forget it).
The Righteous Gemstones is available to stream on Max along with Danny McBride and David Gordon Green's other collaborative projects. I would highly recommend Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals to anyone who hasn't seen it yet, especially if they enjoy the raunchy humor of this latest show.
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