HBO has renewed The Righteous Gemstones for a second season. The show has been getting positive reviews from viewers and critics, so season 2 was inevitable. While the show has been receiving praise, the show is still learning how to balance its excellent cast, while giving everybody some time to shine. It's possible that season 2 will give Danny McBride and Jody Hill a chance to get the perfect balance.

Anything with Danny McBride and Walton Goggins on board is going to be off-kilter and ready for some bizarre twists and turns. McBride, Jody Hill, and David Gordon Green know how to take something that looks like it's going to be one thing, only to have it completely shift gears by the time the second episode comes around. HBO's Amy Gravitt had this to say about renewing The Righteous Gemstones.

"Danny, Jody and David (Gordon Green) are among our favorite collaborators and we're thrilled that their take on a family comedy has been met with such enthusiasm. We cannot wait to share the next steps in the Gemstone family's epic journey. Hallelujah!"

In addition to Danny McBride and Walton Goggins, The Righteous Gemstones also stars John Goodman, Edi Patterson, Adam Devine, Cassidy Freeman, Tony Cavalero, Tim Baltz, and Greg Alan Williams. The story centers on a corrupt family of televangelists who are still clearly mourning the loss of their mother. There's McBride, David Gordon Green, and Jody Hill's typical comedy presence, but there is a darkness to it that goes further than Eastbound and Down and Vice Principals ever went, and we're only midway through the first season of the series.

The Righteous Gemstones is HBO's most-watched comedy debut in more than three years, so the season 2 news wasn't exactly a huge surprise. The show is the third success that Danny McBride has had with the network over the years. When crafting the characters for the series, McBride did some pretty extensive research into the world of church and televangelists. He had explains.

"Ultimately, these characters and stuff are completely from our own, my own imagination. They're not really based on anyone in particular. It was more or less headlines or things that I was seeing that people would get away with. Some of the business aspects of it are from things I researched; I was reading about how the mindset of some of these churches is to put a church in a town where there are already other churches because there's already a market placed there for a church. Church building through the eyes of capitalism is something that I'd never imagined. They went hand in hand. But it makes perfect sense of why they do, and why they choose to operate that way. I just thought it was fascinating. It was unexpected."

The Righteous Gemstones was created and written by Danny McBride, who directed and executive produced all nine episodes of season 1, along with his partners Jody Hill and David Gordon Green. The series is also executive produced by John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley and Brandon James, produced by David Brightbill and co-produced by Justin Bourret and Melissa DeMino. Consulting producers include Grant DeKernion, Jared Hess, Kevin Barnett, Chris Pappas and Edi Patterson. The season 2 renewal news was announced by HBO.