We seem to be in the feelgood sports era of TV dramedies, likely thanks to Ted Lasso. Earlier this year, we had Owen Wilson trying to resurrect his golf career by coaching a young prodigy in Stick. Now we have Glen Powell trying to resurrect his football career in Chad Powers.
Opening Shot: A shot of the Rose Bowl during ESPN’s coverage of the College Football National Championship game nine years ago: Oregon vs. Georgia.
The Gist: Russ Holliday (Glen Powell) was the star quarterback for the Oregon Ducks in that game, and with no time left and the game on the line, he breaks away from the defense and runs into the end zone… but he drops the ball in celebration at the one-yard line, where a Georgia defender takes it and runs the other way for a game-winning touchdown. Russ is so pissed that he punches out the father of a wheelchair-bound 8-year-old superfan, who ends up falling into his son after being hit.
Eight years later, Russ hasn’t gotten a sniff from any pro league, given his toxic image. He’s been using his Cybertruck to deliver prosthetics made by his father Mike (Toby Huss) to movie soundstages. He thinks he’s got a shot at the XFL, and goes to a club with his agent to celebrate, but when the former fan — now a teenager — dies from his longtime illness, even the XFL won’t touch him. Mike tells him that at this point, he needs to give up on his dream to be a pro quarterback.
While delivering prosthetics to Fox studios, Russ sees a Steven A. Smith report that the coach of South Georgia University, Jake Hudson (Steve Zahn) has had so many quarterbacks enter the transfer portal that he’s holding an open tryout. Then Russ sees a sign for Mrs. Doubtfire and gets an idea.
He drives cross-country to Georgia, thinking he’ll try out for the team using a new identity. He puts on the prosthetics and a wig, but is sprayed by Danny Cruz (Frankie A. Rodriguez), who’s wearing the team’s Catfish mascot costume; he’s under the impression that Russ was about to commit a mass shooting.
Danny decides to help Russ with the makeup for the prosthetics, because he appreciates second chances. When he hits the field, he suddenly has a southern accent and spits out the name “Chad Powers” when asked by Ricky (Perry Mattfeld), the assistant QB coach who is Coach Hudson’s daughter and completely resented by her boss, Coach Dodd (Clayne Crawford). After having some difficulty at the beginning of the tryout, the memory of the Rose Bowl in his head, he ends up impressing Coach Hudson and making the team.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Chad Powers, created by Powell and Michael Waldron (Eli and Peyton Manning are also executive producers via Omaha Productions), has the feelgood vibes of Stick and Ted Lasso with a bit of the aforementioned Mrs. Doubtfire mixed in.
Our Take: We can see where Chad Powers is going in its first episode, even if Powell, Waldron and their writers don’t quite see it yet. What do we mean by that? As we mentioned above, the show is leaning towards the idea of being a feelgood redemption story, not just for Russ/Chad, but for Coach Hudson, who is being told by Tricia (Wynn Everett), the school’s biggest booster, that this might be his last chance to save his job (“Fuck the Liberty Bowl,” she says when he tries to defend their 3rd-tier bowl bids). It’s also a redemption story for Ricky, who has to overcome being considered a nepo baby.
What it’s trying to be in its first episode, though, is something different, with Powell playing Russ like the d-bag he pretty much becomes as soon as he drops the ball on the one-yard line during the championship game. We’re not sure if Russ is a bit of a dope or he’s actually smarter than we’re supposed to give him credit for. The first episode seems to make a case for both.
As you might expect if you’ve followed Powell’s career, he shines during moments where Russ/Chad doubts himself, or in a scene with Ricky where she talks to him about not getting too big a head if he becomes a star (she was a college track star at South Georgia). He’s a bit less convincing when he stumbles around trying to keep his stories straight when he’s being Chad.
It doesn’t help that Powell looks like the world’s oldest college student during the flashback and the makeup that Danny helps him with doesn’t make him look much younger when he goes through the tryout. How long he’ll be able to keep up the ruse is anyone’s guess, but he’s already going against Danny’s advice to not give too much in the way of backstory. There is a bit of a nod to that when Ricky checks him in, and as desperate as Coach Hudson is, he doesn’t care if Chad Powers is 23 or 35, as long as he helps the Catfish win. But the longer Russ keeps this up, the less believable the show is going to be.
Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode.
Parting Shot: Russ exits Coach Hudson’s office, trying to figure out how he’s going to fake a birth certificate and college transcripts for Chad.
Sleeper Star: We’ve liked Perry Mattfeld for a number of years, and her character Ricky wants to be taken seriously as a football coach. despite being both a woman and the coach’s daughter. Of course, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Ricky and Russ/Chad become a romantic match.
Most Pilot-y Line: When Ricky asks Chad how old he is, he says, “Uh, you know, old enough. Also young enough, you know how it goes, with COVID.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. We’re not 100 percent sold on Chad Powers yet, but if it concentrates on the redemption arcs and steps away from the goofiness, it should be a satisfying show to watch.
Chad Powers is available to stream for Hulu subscribers.
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Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.