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Glen Powell is Hollywood’s man of the moment, a Tom Cruise-in-waiting megastar who only has to breathe near a movie set to guarantee that a project will be a huge hit (see: Twisters, Hit Man and – of course – the extremely Cruise-y Top Gun: Maverick). It may come as a surprise, then, that his latest gig isn’t a blockbuster movie where he gets to share his surfeit of charisma with the world, but a small-screen comedy in which he spends most of the time smothered in latex and sporting a wig that will – for British viewers – almost certainly call to mind Corrie’s Gail Platt.
The role in question is the titular character in Chad Powers (Disney+, from Tuesday 30 September), a Forrest Gump-ish southern college American footballer who is both unfailingly good-natured and deeply socially awkward (he’s described by one character as “a sweet, possibly inbred folk hero”). If this sounds like it could be in bad taste, fear not, for Chad Powers is, in fact, the alter ego of disgraced sportsman Russ Holliday, the sort of toxic chump who brags about wearing a blood diamond earring and proudly drives a Tesla Cybertruck. After fumbling a major championship – an “outrageous, improbable, inexplicable, painful loss” according to the commentary that replays numerous times throughout the series – Russ is persona non grata, less popular with the public than Bin Laden, we’re told. Disguised as Chad, there’s a way back, and the possibility of resuscitating his sporting career. Just so long as he keeps his face away from all and any forms of water!
The character was the brainchild of ex-footballer and broadcaster Eli Manning, who disguised himself with some frankly terrifying prosthetics for a section on his ESPN series Eli’s Places back in 2022. But if making an entire series based on a TV prank sounds absolutely absurd, it truly works. Powell and co-creator Michael Waldron (Rick and Morty, Loki) have made a show that’s as farcical as it is warm-hearted, with a story as much about sports as it is friendship and navigating the travails of life. In Russ’s case, that means making an unlikely alliance with the South Georgia University Catfish mascot, Whiskers, who – under his big sea creature costume – is actually Danny (Frankie A Rodriguez), a theatre kid with some much-needed makeup skills. Danny’s also unafraid to tell it like it is – not least when Chad is considering plastic surgery in Brazil (“I think you’re having a psychotic break,” he deadpans).
Rounding out the starting lineup are Steve Zahn as perma-frazzled Catfish (see what they did there) coach Jake Hudson, with Perry Mattfeld as his daughter and colleague, Ricky, who is desperately trying to fight off nepo baby accusations to forge her own career. Because of the sort of show this is, they get a lot of silly things to do: I have no idea how the actors kept a straight face during a scene where Chad refuses to shower, feigning a medical condition, and Coach Hudson senior has to tell him to “Tape up your peehole!”. But because it’s also a heartfelt show, they get a lot of really touching scenes, too, which – shock horror – feel far less cloying and Hallmark-esque than you might expect. Zahn is particularly plausible as a man trying to save his marriage, while also truly believing that he has “one of the hardest jobs known to man”.
This, I think, is Chad Powers’ secret weapon: it really does have a lot of heart, even when it’s totally and utterly ridiculous, which it very frequently is. In a scene where it looks as though a dog has mistaken Chad for a rubber chew toy, I find myself both in fits of laughter and desperately hoping that this isn’t how his true identity will be revealed. Similarly, where else would running out of face glue be both a hilarious plot point and a potentially dramatic twist?
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Seeing Glen Powell here, at the peak of his powers, might come as a surprise then, but it’s an excellent move. I wouldn’t recommend that HBO start mining old episodes of Punk’d for their next prestige hit, but Chad Powers proves that sometimes the old jokes are the best.
