Two things in The Righteous Gemstones that gave me joy this week.

The first, and Gemstones is not alone in this, is that major league comedy has learned that naked penises are funnier than toplessness. When I became fully enamored with boobs (mid-1980s), they were a mainstay of comedy. Everything from the Tex Avery-ish ogling in PG movies to the generous helpings of bare breasts in R-rated ones. The last decade has shifted this trend. Four episodes in, and penises have spent more time on-screen than boobs, and the episodes are much funnier for it.

Two is the incredible performances from Edi Patterson and John Goodman. There have been a few scenes I’ve found they’ve acted the hell out of even when they don’t have lines. There’s a scene, 20 minutes or so into Episode 3, where Walton Goggins is talking to a featured extra, and John Goodman (with one line) is completely engrossing. He is not stealing any focus, but is so present in the scene that it caught me off-guard.

Now John Goodman is a goddamn treasure and I’ve felt this for decades. Familiar with him from Roseanne, I saw him in The Big Easy (1988) and Barton Fink (1991) in my video-renting heyday and it blew my mind how he could be so good in such different roles.

Edi Patterson is new to me on-screen. She makes me giggle like crazy as Bean Dip on Comedy Bang Bang, and her and Tim Baltz (also a huge draw for me on CBB) are half the reason I’m watching Gemstones right now. I find myself waiting for her scenes, but noticed that she is always in character, always focused on the scene around her, but rarely stealing any scenes by going bigger, which she could kill with. I get the feeling that she’s going to eventually get some star turns, and I can’t wait.