Hot boy of the moment Glen Powell has turned off his Hollywood hottie persona to morph into Chad Powers on Hulu’s new comedy series.
The series, co-created by Powell and Michael Waldron, was adapted from Eli Manning’s viral ESPN sketch. All six episodes are now streaming.
In the sports comedy series, Powell stars as Russ Holliday, a former college football star who has a huge fall from grace at a championship game. (The intro scene of the series is so good that it’ll pull you right in, I promise.) Soon after, Holliday slaps on some prosthetics to become the titular character so he can walk on as quarterback for a new football team, the South Georgia Catfish.
“Chad Powers” also stars Steve Zahn as Coach Jake Hudson, who recruits Chad onto the Catfish, Perry Matfield as Ricky, the coach’s daughter and assistant coach who builds a great relationship with Chad, Wynn Everett as Tricia, the chair of the booster club, and Frankie A. Rodriguez as Danny, Russ’s right-hand man who helps him with the Chad disguise. Rodriguez is particularly great in his role.
Manning also makes a cameo as a coach at Ole Miss.
The concept behind the series is fun, albeit one that’s been done a zillion times before. Think “Tootsie,” “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “She’s The Man.” There’s a scene in “Chad Powers” that shows a billboard of “Mrs. Doubtfire” that’s as cheeky as it is cheesy.
But what “Chad Powers” has going for it is that it’s only six episodes, and the episodes are 40 minutes or shorter. It’s light fare at a moment where everything happening in the real world seems so heavy. That is one thing I can always get behind: a TV show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and lets audiences enjoy it and not think too hard. We could all use someone — fictional or not — to root for right now.
The season ends pretty abruptly, and fans of the show are already lobbying for a Season 2.
“The reality is there’s a lot more story to be told,” Powell told The Hollywood Reporter. “I believe we have a hit show here and one the world’s really going to love. If we get the privilege to make a second season, we have some fun stuff in mind.”
Here’s hoping!
“Chad Powers” is streaming on Hulu.