From Arrested Development to The Office, Schitt’s Creek to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, shows centered around a group of oblivious, largely unlikable characters have become so prevalent that they’re now a comedy subgenre unto themselves. Each of these shows offers a bold, unique comedic voice, but they also all face a similar uphill battle.

A strong sense of humor can make a show entertaining, but compelling characters are what truly elevate a series into a powerful, memorable story. By nature, this brand of comedy takes time to endear audiences to its characters, an obstacle that shows have tackled with varying approaches and varying degrees of success.

With their inordinate wealth and materialistic megachurch monopoly, The Righteous Gemstones had a particularly long way to go to generate real emotional investment in the lives of the Gemstone family. Yet the HBO hit didn’t waste any time in bringing its audience to the edge of their seats on the Gemstones’ behalf, breaking an unspoken rule of comedy television in the process.

The show’s premise doesn’t immediately bring suspenseful action sequences to mind, but The Righteous Gemstones did, in fact, dole out equal doses of action and comedy. In putting the Gemstones’ lives on the line, the series went to a place where comedies rarely stray, and solved the genre’s biggest problem in the process.

The Righteous Gemstones’ Action Sequences Hold The Entire Show Together

The Righteous Gemstones understood that its success wasn’t about whether the audience disliked its characters; it was about how much they disliked them. Jesse, Kelvin, Judy, and Baby Billy may have been insufferable in everyday circumstances, but that doesn’t mean viewers wanted them dead.

By consistently putting their lives in danger, The Righteous Gemstones didn’t minimize the Gemstones’ dark moments, but it did put them in perspective. In threatening its characters with punishments that far exceeded their crimes (like sending assassins after Eli or kidnapping Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin), the show drew viewers into the story without forcing its characters to do the time-consuming work of real change.

Visually, The Righteous Gemstones fully committed to these threats to its characters. Thanks in large part to stuntman Gideon Gemstone, the danger the Gemstones were in was brought to thrilling life through frequent action sequences. Fight scenes, car chases, and shootouts were a staple of the show throughout its run, ensuring that the stakes were very high and very real.

This element of the show made The Righteous Gemstones unlike any other comedy. It turned the series into a full-fledged spectacle, meshing unexpected genres and creating scenes that were impossible to turn away from.

This visual appeal was certainly a bonus, but adversaries like the “motorcycle ninjas” weren’t just the cherry on top of a great show. They were the entire reason that audiences were interested in not only laughing at the Gemstone family but in seeing them succeed.

The Righteous Gemstones Creatively Solved TV’s Biggest Problem

Image via Max

The beloved Schitt’s Creek had a notoriously monotonous first season. For all The Office‘s dedicated fans, there were just as many who found it too uncomfortable to watch. Arrested Development had some of TV’s strongest comedic moments, but it didn’t evoke a burning need to see its characters succeed. Even among mega-hits, navigating unlikable characters has remained a major obstacle for TV comedies.

TV comedies, by and large, are lighthearted and jeopardy-free. Comedy characters are generally assumed to be “safe” from harm, with life-threatening danger and real suspense remaining squarely in drama territory. Without a sense of urgency, unlikable characters, at best, take time to develop a relationship with the audience. At worst, they don’t develop one at all, instead remaining simply a vehicle for jokes.

The Righteous Gemstones wasn’t afraid to broach that territory typically reserved for dramas. It wasn’t afraid to shoot Eli through the windshield of his car, leaving his fate genuinely unclear for episodes on end. In doing so, The Righteous Gemstones created characters so compelling that viewers were invested in their fate before there was even time to decide if they liked them or not.

Release Date

2019 – 2025-00-00

Network

HBO

Writers

Scott MacArthur