I've finally found my church: The church of The Righteous Gemstones

Megachurchs are a little bit of a small obsession for me. They seem so weird and culty and foreign. I guess I just wasn't brought up in a way to think that religion could somehow be entertainment and that I would want to go and invest a lot of my time and money into helping one operate. I'm sure they're helpful to a lot of people and provide a strong community where there might not otherwise be one.

Maybe if they didn't have to base everything around one book that, speaking as a former literature major, is such a major snooze. Bible 101 in undergrad at Southern Illinois had a very nice professor but the content was by far the most boring of all my classes. The little made-up story is pretty nonsensiscal and just basically fails at storytelling, characterization, plot, and every other key element of writing.

Bible 101 aside, I just finished season 3 of The Righteous Gemstones (on Max), which is thank-the-Lord coming back for another season soon.

Here's what I wrote about season 1: Led by the masterful patriarch John Goodman, this ensemble cast gives us a look at what life must be like - albeit taking it to ridiculous and hilarious heights - to be megachurch leaders. I especially like the performances of Danny McBride as the oldest and seediest son, Edi Patterson as wacko sister Judy, and Walton Goggins as Baby Billy, a low-budget pastor stereotype. The gang needs to cover up all kinds of misdeeds. 4 out of 5 stars

I liked season 2 even more: A lot of Danny McBride-watching can never be bad. He’s got to be my favorite comedic actor at this point, up with the likes of Bill Burr and Mike Myers (still). The family continues to show its mega-church evil, wackily obliterating anyone who dares to threaten the empire. 4.5 out of 5 stars

I'm not going to jump to giving season 3 5 out of 5 stars, but it is still every bit as great as season 2. 

• Dealing with infidelity by using marriage therapy in a box. 
• Celebratory family gathers while watching each other take turns driving the family monster truck. 
• Baby Billy's Bible Bonkers TV game show is just absolutely bonkers. 

These televangelist and megachurch pastors are a hoot, totally out of control, and quite possibly uncomfortably realistic. The family has dealt with rivals from other local smaller churches, investigative journalists, nonsensical but fun motorcycle assassins, and now needy and estranged family members. Oh the poor lives of megachurch leaders.

Some evangelicals haven't appreciated the show (such as the "media organization" The Gospel Coalition, which wrote, "This show ... feels built on cheap shots and easy caricatures rather than empathy and incisive observation. Created from a mood board that draws inspiration from Falwells, Bakkers, Benny Hinn, T. D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Bieber-looking hypepriests, and PreachersNSneakers, the Gemstones are essentially the Ewings of holy-roller evangelicalism"), but surprisingly there hasn't been much real backlash.

Interesting things about real megachurches (which I'm pretty convinced includes the church of The Righteous Gemstones; heck, I would actually pay good money to see Danny McBride preach every Sunday morning, even if I knew he was doing an 8-ball of coke backstage before each sermon):

• A megachurch is defined as "any Protestant Christian church which at least 2,000 attend in a weekend."
• The first megachurch was established in London in 1861. 
• The first megachurch in the U.S. was the Angelus Temple, founded in 1923 by Aimee Semple McPherson (fascinating story) in Los Angeles.
• By the 2000s, as they had slowly grown in popularity, they eventually started to become more untraditional, with stadium seating, especially in places like the U.S., Africa, Asia, and Australia.
• With more than 1,300 megachurches in the U.S., most are in Florida, Texas, California, and Georgia.
• Many megachurches focus on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage and forego important issue like social justice and the immorality of war. Megachurch pastors, like the Gemstones, frequently appear to encourage their poor flocks to give money to the church that often goes right into their pockets for fancy clothes and vehicles.

Re: monster truck.

Can't wait for season 4. As for season 3, it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.