May 5, 2025 • 7 mins
"Where does 'The Righteous Gemstones' rank among HBO's greatest comedies?" Dive into this captivating episode of The Ben and Skin Show, where Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray explore the highs and lows of HBO's comedy legacy.The hosts discuss the conclusion of this beloved HBO comedy after four seasons. Ben shares his thoughts on the finale, highlighting the standout performances of Danny McBride, Walton Goggins (Uncle Baby Billy), and Edi Patterson (Judy Gemstone). The team debates the show's place in the pantheon of HBO comedies.KT leads a lively discussion on the best HBO comedies of all time. From "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Veep" to "Eastbound & Down" and "Silicon Valley," the hosts share their personal favorites and the reasons behind their choices.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Juicing your news. Hot gods come stay on top in
the hot shovel.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I m O is a abbreviation of in my opinion,
and I am O. HBO slash Max is the bell
of the ball when it comes to just making TV
shows right now.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
The quality is always going to be good.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
And last night we had a series finale of an
HBO comedy after four seasons.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
The Righteous Gymstones is now done.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
It's in the books now.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I no matter what's caught up, We're not gonna talk
about the show too much, spoiler it or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
We're not gonna do that.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
But I was thinking, where does this stand on the
echelon of HBO comedies of all time. There's a lot
of shows that a company'll go, oh, yeah, that's an
HBO one. So Ben, you're probably the only one of
the shows caught up in seen it caught up. But
I did watch just the preview of it last night
after we watched Last of Us and I died laughing,
(01:05):
and that was just, yeah, the preview.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
So yeah, that show.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
That show is interesting to me because I did I
thought it was great, but I thought two characters in
particular were outrageously funny, and I had I look forward
to see him.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
First of all, Danny McBride, I laugh at anything he does.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
So Jesse Jimstone was great, but by no means was
he the funniest character on that show. It was Uncle
Baby Billy. Walt Goggins is one of the greatest characters
in the history of entertainment. Like, I can't even fathom
how outrageously funny that character is.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
He stole the show. I thought he was the MVP
of the whole show.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
And then Judy Jimstone, I don't I mean, I guess
she was in Vice Principles too, is it Eddie Edie Patterson?
Edie Patterson, I don't even know her name. She was
a close runner up to Baby Billy in that show
Dude Cheer. Her dialogue was all off the charts awesome.
Speaker 6 (02:02):
So I have only seen for three or four episodes
of season one of Righteous Gemstones, And like Ben love
Danny McBride, I loved the tone of all that stuff,
and I loved Eastbound and Down, but I got bored
with it after a while. And then I don't even
know if I ever finished it, because I was like, hey,
you know, I don't know and then Vice Principals came out,
(02:24):
and I thought that that was damn near perfect because
they did two seasons and then they wrapped it up.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
You know, that's a great point because it's a lot
like an SNL sketch, h Like, there's enough there that Okay,
that's a fascinating character, but if you go too long,
it's gonna get drawn.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
I or like there maybe wasn't enough here for that. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
I kind of got lost in the Righteous Gymstones along
the way too for that reason, but I got jumped
back in here at the end, and Baby Billy brought
it all home.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
I will say that y'all's reaction to this show has
made me think, Okay, I should go watch it because
I absolutely loved Vice Principles.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
I loved it.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I like it more than right to Gymstones, but that's
just more Walt Goggins and then the sassy character that
will God.
Speaker 6 (03:05):
His mother and the relationship between him and his mother
in law. He brings a lot of that to this too, relationships.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
And didn't write like you spend down was more about
like solo, okay, and then I'd like the buddy thing
with Vice Principals and this was more story. Yeah, and
you get like intel it John Goodman's doing, and you
know Adam Divine from Workaholics and all that stuff. Pretty
wild ending and pretty dark, and it could have gone
a lot of different ways.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
We won't talk about that too much. Buzz thing about
these shows.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
And I was sitting there going, man, I like to
show a lot, but I'm not certain that it's a
top ten favorite HBO comedy of mine. Okay, so I'm
just gonna list a few Veep is my number one
HBO comedy of all time. I failed by not watching that,
you have to, Okay, just and it's It's was made
eleven years ago and it predicted everything that's happened in
(03:55):
the last eleven years.
Speaker 5 (03:56):
Yeah, it's very good and I love it. But for me,
Curb Your Enthusiasm is maybe the most perfect show ever.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I've had to recuse myself from these. I haven't seen
Olive Curb.
Speaker 6 (04:07):
I can already tell you my top two HBO comedy
shows of all time, and it's not even close. It's
Curb Your Enthusiasm and it's Mister Show Show.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Yep. Those are my two fades.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
And there's a bunch that I love, But those are
just like Far and Away the Leaders.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I have Larry Sanders show on there ahead of Righteous Jimstones.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Okay, okay, I.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Just love playing on the late night talk show.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Flight of the Concords.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I did not have Flight at the Concords above it.
I liked Flight of the Concords, but I didn't love it. Dude,
The Tenacious d first season I liked, but it's like
I'd rather just listen to the album. But all those
bits from the album are in the show right ahead
of Righteous jimsones for me?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Is he spounding down?
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Still?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
The season one is so good. Season two when.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
They go to Mexico is very good. They got way
lost in season three and four. I have Silicon Valley
above Righteous Jimstone. Are we including the John Oliver in
this whole thingers? That can its own category?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
If we are, then I would have to consider that.
Speaker 6 (05:03):
But I think it's its own category of like where
Bill Maher is or whatever.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I have Bury ahead of Righteous Jim Stones. I have
Vice Principals ahead of Righteous Jim Stones.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
So come by.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Crashing Pete Holmes is a comedian man three season it
is wonderful.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I got bored with him.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I know everyone gets bored with him because he's awkward
guy that shows the most. And I've comedians have been like, dude,
this is the most realistic take on what it takes
to be a stand up comedian in New York.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
Just the work your way up thing. Ali g Oh
my god. Hell, yes, I forgot about how that's gotta
be up there for me.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
That's in fact, I haven't seen all that.
Speaker 6 (05:40):
That's definitely top five for me, maybe top three.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
This show.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I'm just just because we're talking about this. I haven't
seen the show Girls. I liked Girls quite a bit.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
I could see getting bored with it, but I liked
it a lot, and the acting on it is awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yeah, I missed that one. I don't know why. It's great.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Hacks one's tons of wards, but I've quit it, and
I was like, should I give it a third shot
and try not to quit it?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
I think it's fine, man.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
I really like the rehearsal on HBO, but I don't
even know that you can call it a comedy. That's
more of like a science experiment.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know, it was still going.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
Are y'all watching the new one at all? I've dabbled
in it. It's really cool.
Speaker 6 (06:17):
It's it's it's so strange, so strange, you can't tell
exactly what's happening on it.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
He takes it into some weird places, but he always
has a serious facial expression.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
I never know what's real or not.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I know that guy is really good at that though,
So there.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That's a righteous is wonderful and I can't wait to
see what he does next because he brings back all
these people.
Speaker 6 (06:40):
He move to Charleston like he does not live to
La Life anymore. Are you guys not going to put
the white Uh? Did he lived in Charlotte? It's Charleston Arston? Yeah, Well,
are you guys not gonna put white lotus on there?
As much as you love that, that's not give it
as a comedy as much as a drama. But I
guess it could be a comedy.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
It could be. It's funny. I mean it's it's probably
got more comedy in it than Barry.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, that might be true.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
There was I don't think any of y'all watched the
show that Mike White did with Laura dern.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Oh Man. The hell was that called?
Speaker 6 (07:09):
There's just two seasons of it called something or other.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Huh. I'll look it up. I'll look it up during
the next song.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
All Right, we got just over three minutes and we're
gonna crank up the way back machine and get back
into the old barn swallow situation. Is it a story
about farm life or is it a bird that's pestering
my house? All that's coming your way next
Juicing your news. Hot gods come stay on top in
the hot shovel.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I m O is a abbreviation of in my opinion,
and I am O. HBO slash Max is the bell
of the ball when it comes to just making TV
shows right now.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
The quality is always going to be good.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
And last night we had a series finale of an
HBO comedy after four seasons.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
The Righteous Gymstones is now done.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
It's in the books now.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I no matter what's caught up, We're not gonna talk
about the show too much, spoiler it or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
We're not gonna do that.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
But I was thinking, where does this stand on the
echelon of HBO comedies of all time. There's a lot
of shows that a company'll go, oh, yeah, that's an
HBO one. So Ben, you're probably the only one of
the shows caught up in seen it caught up. But
I did watch just the preview of it last night
after we watched Last of Us and I died laughing,
(01:05):
and that was just, yeah, the preview.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
So yeah, that show.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
That show is interesting to me because I did I
thought it was great, but I thought two characters in
particular were outrageously funny, and I had I look forward
to see him.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
First of all, Danny McBride, I laugh at anything he does.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
So Jesse Jimstone was great, but by no means was
he the funniest character on that show. It was Uncle
Baby Billy. Walt Goggins is one of the greatest characters
in the history of entertainment. Like, I can't even fathom
how outrageously funny that character is.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
He stole the show. I thought he was the MVP
of the whole show.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
And then Judy Jimstone, I don't I mean, I guess
she was in Vice Principles too, is it Eddie Edie Patterson?
Edie Patterson, I don't even know her name. She was
a close runner up to Baby Billy in that show
Dude Cheer. Her dialogue was all off the charts awesome.
Speaker 6 (02:02):
So I have only seen for three or four episodes
of season one of Righteous Gemstones, And like Ben love
Danny McBride, I loved the tone of all that stuff,
and I loved Eastbound and Down, but I got bored
with it after a while. And then I don't even
know if I ever finished it, because I was like, hey,
you know, I don't know and then Vice Principals came out,
(02:24):
and I thought that that was damn near perfect because
they did two seasons and then they wrapped it up.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
You know, that's a great point because it's a lot
like an SNL sketch, h Like, there's enough there that Okay,
that's a fascinating character, but if you go too long,
it's gonna get drawn.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
I or like there maybe wasn't enough here for that. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
I kind of got lost in the Righteous Gymstones along
the way too for that reason, but I got jumped
back in here at the end, and Baby Billy brought
it all home.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
I will say that y'all's reaction to this show has
made me think, Okay, I should go watch it because
I absolutely loved Vice Principles.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
I loved it.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I like it more than right to Gymstones, but that's
just more Walt Goggins and then the sassy character that
will God.
Speaker 6 (03:05):
His mother and the relationship between him and his mother
in law. He brings a lot of that to this too, relationships.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
And didn't write like you spend down was more about
like solo, okay, and then I'd like the buddy thing
with Vice Principals and this was more story. Yeah, and
you get like intel it John Goodman's doing, and you
know Adam Divine from Workaholics and all that stuff. Pretty
wild ending and pretty dark, and it could have gone
a lot of different ways.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
We won't talk about that too much. Buzz thing about
these shows.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
And I was sitting there going, man, I like to
show a lot, but I'm not certain that it's a
top ten favorite HBO comedy of mine. Okay, so I'm
just gonna list a few Veep is my number one
HBO comedy of all time. I failed by not watching that,
you have to, Okay, just and it's It's was made
eleven years ago and it predicted everything that's happened in
(03:55):
the last eleven years.
Speaker 5 (03:56):
Yeah, it's very good and I love it. But for me,
Curb Your Enthusiasm is maybe the most perfect show ever.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
I've had to recuse myself from these. I haven't seen
Olive Curb.
Speaker 6 (04:07):
I can already tell you my top two HBO comedy
shows of all time, and it's not even close. It's
Curb Your Enthusiasm and it's Mister Show Show.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Yep. Those are my two fades.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
And there's a bunch that I love, But those are
just like Far and Away the Leaders.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I have Larry Sanders show on there ahead of Righteous Jimstones.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Okay, okay, I.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Just love playing on the late night talk show.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Flight of the Concords.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I did not have Flight at the Concords above it.
I liked Flight of the Concords, but I didn't love it. Dude,
The Tenacious d first season I liked, but it's like
I'd rather just listen to the album. But all those
bits from the album are in the show right ahead
of Righteous jimsones for me?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Is he spounding down?
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Still?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
The season one is so good. Season two when.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
They go to Mexico is very good. They got way
lost in season three and four. I have Silicon Valley
above Righteous Jimstone. Are we including the John Oliver in
this whole thingers? That can its own category?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
If we are, then I would have to consider that.
Speaker 6 (05:03):
But I think it's its own category of like where
Bill Maher is or whatever.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I have Bury ahead of Righteous Jim Stones. I have
Vice Principals ahead of Righteous Jim Stones.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
So come by.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Crashing Pete Holmes is a comedian man three season it
is wonderful.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I got bored with him.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I know everyone gets bored with him because he's awkward
guy that shows the most. And I've comedians have been like, dude,
this is the most realistic take on what it takes
to be a stand up comedian in New York.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
Just the work your way up thing. Ali g Oh
my god. Hell, yes, I forgot about how that's gotta
be up there for me.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
That's in fact, I haven't seen all that.
Speaker 6 (05:40):
That's definitely top five for me, maybe top three.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
This show.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I'm just just because we're talking about this. I haven't
seen the show Girls. I liked Girls quite a bit.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
I could see getting bored with it, but I liked
it a lot, and the acting on it is awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yeah, I missed that one. I don't know why. It's great.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Hacks one's tons of wards, but I've quit it, and
I was like, should I give it a third shot
and try not to quit it?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
I think it's fine, man.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
I really like the rehearsal on HBO, but I don't
even know that you can call it a comedy. That's
more of like a science experiment.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know, it was still going.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
Are y'all watching the new one at all? I've dabbled
in it. It's really cool.
Speaker 6 (06:17):
It's it's it's so strange, so strange, you can't tell
exactly what's happening on it.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
He takes it into some weird places, but he always
has a serious facial expression.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
I never know what's real or not.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I know that guy is really good at that though,
So there.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
That's a righteous is wonderful and I can't wait to
see what he does next because he brings back all
these people.
Speaker 6 (06:40):
He move to Charleston like he does not live to
La Life anymore. Are you guys not going to put
the white Uh? Did he lived in Charlotte? It's Charleston Arston? Yeah, Well,
are you guys not gonna put white lotus on there?
As much as you love that, that's not give it
as a comedy as much as a drama. But I
guess it could be a comedy.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
It could be. It's funny. I mean it's it's probably
got more comedy in it than Barry.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, that might be true.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
There was I don't think any of y'all watched the
show that Mike White did with Laura dern.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Oh Man. The hell was that called?
Speaker 6 (07:09):
There's just two seasons of it called something or other.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Huh. I'll look it up. I'll look it up during
the next song.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
All Right, we got just over three minutes and we're
gonna crank up the way back machine and get back
into the old barn swallow situation. Is it a story
about farm life or is it a bird that's pestering
my house? All that's coming your way next
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.