Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

I'm Jesse Thorn, it's Bullseye.

If you see the right-just gemstones, it's a comedy on HBO. It is about a family called

The Gemsstones. They're pastors and owners of a massive mega-church with hundreds of

thousands of followers. The family centers around Dr. Eli Gemsstone, the patriarch. He's

been preaching on TV for decades. It's played by John Goodman. But the show centers on Eli's

kids. Their power struggles, their scheming, their scandals, their ham-fisted attempts to

curry favor with their father. Maybe think succession, but if succession was set in the

south and created by Danny McBride, well I mean it actually literally is created by Danny

McBride, Manchester.

Danny stars as Jesse, the oldest child. He is a borish, overconfident dummy who constantly

finds himself in over his head. So pretty much every Danny McBride character ever. There's

Kelvin, the cool young one who dresses pretty much exclusively in affliction t-shirts, ripped

jeans and patterned sport coats. He's played by Adam Devine. And there's Judy, played

by my guest, Edie Patterson. On a show filled with some of the most talented people in comedy,

Judy Gemstone is comfortably the funniest character. She's kind of kind of crackly, manic

energy, alternating between total confidence in everything she does and massive, crippling

insecurity. She doesn't have much filter. She has a very, very short temper. I mean,

so far in this season she has destroyed an entire soda vending machine and an SUV. Here's

a scene from early on in the show. In it, the Gemstone family gather at the grave stone

of their late matriarch Amy Lay. Goodman's Eli Gemstone has some harsh words for all of

his children, including Judy.

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