Chad Powers TV Review: Glen Powell combines Mrs. Doubtfire and Ted Lasso in this comedic touchdown

Plot: Eight years after an unforgivable mistake nukes his promising college football career, hotshot quarterback Russ Holliday tries to resurrect his dreams by disguising himself as Chad Powers – a talented oddball who walks on to the struggling South Georgia Catfish.

Review: There are so few series based on commercials or sketches that turn out to be great that I can count them on one hand. Hell, I can count them on one finger. Ted Lasso grew from an ESPN advertisement into one of the most beloved and acclaimed shows in the last ten years. With that series in production on a long-awaited fourth season, it is time for Chad Powers to join that very short yet illustrious list. Based on a segment from former NFL quarterback Eli Manning’s reality series Eli’s Places, Chad Powers combines the heartfelt emotional core that made Ted Lasso resonate with non-sports fans with a hilarious performance from Glen Powell. Chad Powers should have been a failure based on the concept alone, but after watching the entire six-episode run, I am glad to say that it is an absolute winner and another stellar addition to Glen Powell’s resume.

Maintaining the general appearance and core setup of the Eli Manning sketch that inspired it, Chad Powers follows star quarterback Russ Holliday (Glen Powell) eight years after he publicly melted down after losing the College Football National Championship. While the trailers show the play that cost Holliday his ticket to the NFL, there is so much more in the episode. Needless to say, Russ finds himself a relic of reality shows and a D-list celebrity with no shot at playing professional football. When he learns that the South Georgia Catfish are holding open tryouts for quarterback, Russ takes prosthetics crafted by his make-up effects guru father, played by Toby Huss, and transforms himself into Chad Powers. With the aid of team mascot Danny (Frankie A. Rodriguez), Russ becomes Chad and wins a spot on the Catfish roster. The first episode of the series crams a lot of setup with a lot of comedy, which builds over the subsequent five episodes.

While Russ cites Mrs. Doubtfire as his inspiration for his crazy idea, Chad Powers does not rely on quick changes and mistaken identity like the Robin Williams film did. Instead, Russ must contend with transforming himself into a better man as Chad rather than the self-centered asshole that he made himself to be through his playing career. Surrounding Chad is a team of players trying to succeed at the highest level of competition, along with coaches aiming to prove themselves. Head Coach Jake Hudson (Steve Zahn) is a former top-ranked coach who is on the brink of losing his job if he cannot turn his program around, and he also struggles with distance from his wife, Wendy. Hudson’s daughter, Ricky (Perry Mattfield), works as an assistant coach and struggles to prove her worth as an individual both to her father and the other coaches, including quarterback coach Dobbs (Clayne Crawford) and coach Byrd (Quentin Plair). As Chad becomes a central figure to the team, he forges a strong bond with the staff, especially Ricky.

I have not laughed as hard during a series or movie as much as I did watching Chad Powers. Most of the characters we meet are played straight, aside from Colton Ryan as extremely religious backup quarterback Gerry Dougan and Wynn Everett as the lead alumni booster, Tricia. Steve Zahn, Toby Huss, Frankie A. Rodriguez, and Perry Mattfield are all solid as they play their characters as genuine and realistic, but the core of the series hinges on Glen Powell’s performance. Powell has turned out a string of excellent performances from Top Gun: Maverick and Twisters to Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, which he co-wrote. Here, Powell echoes much of the genuine emotion he imbued in Hit Man to make Russ Holliday and Chad Powers equally likable. Russ is a douche in search of redemption, while Chad is a caricature who is just weird and odd enough to pass as a real person, making him a fun protagonist to root for. While Russ’s past sets him up to be a character no one could like, Glen Powell’s charm makes it hard not to want him to win. How this scheme could work is a question not directly addressed this season, but it certainly doesn’t avoid it either.

Glen Powell and Michael Waldron (Loki, Heels) share a writing credit on the premiere episode, with subsequent entries scripted by Paloma Lamb (Echo), Jamie Lee (Ted Lasso), Ben Dougan, Jordan Mendoza, Luvh Rakhe, and Gaelyn Golde. Tony Yacenda (American Vandal, Dave) directs the first two episodes and the fifth, while Payman Benz (Winning Time, The Last Man on Earth) helms the third and fourth episodes. Michael Waldron directed the sixth and final episode of the season. Creatively, Powell and Waldron set this series up to be a redemption arc for Russ Holliday, but it does not make the journey easy. The six episodes of this season all clock in between thirty and forty minutes, making Chad Powers a short series, but one that packs every episode with storytelling that works even when the plot takes some creative tangents. I was expecting the season to end in a different manner than it does, but it works to make Chad Powers a straightforward series to greenlight for a second run.

Chad Powers does for American football what Ted Lasso did for soccer. You do not need to be a fan of sports to understand or appreciate Chad Powers, but you will likely connect more with the cameos from famous sportscasters and reporters featured in various segments. The game sequences are shot well but are ancillary to the practices, team-building, and individual character dynamics that factor heavily in each episode. By the finale, Chad Powers will have you liking some characters more than others and leave you desperate to see where the story will go next. Glen Powell has shown himself to be talented in action, comedy, and drama, and Chad Powers has all three. This is a fun story that should not have worked at all, but led by Powell, Chad Powers is a winner. With a very short debut season, I hope Chad Powers connects with audiences and garners an early renewal to see where this show goes next.

Chad Powers premieres on Hulu on September 30th.