"Chad Powers is what you get when the thinnest thread of a concept gets yes-anded into a streaming series. Just as Ted Lasso began life as a promo for NBC's English Premier League coverage, Chad Powers crawled out of a gag on Eli's Places, Eli Manning's post-retirement ESPN+ program, in which the former Giants quarterback hides under prosthetics to pose as an aspiring Penn State walk-on."
"The premise is the plot: Powell plays Russ Holiday, a disgraced University of Oregon star who blows a championship game so spectacularly that he's blackballed from the pros. Washed up, tabloid fodder, and marinating in existential malaise, Russ begins the series as a finely observed jackass who drives a Cybertruck, dabbles in crypto, and flashes a diamond earring at the club. He's convinced the universe is conspiring against him when a chance with the B-list XFL falls through,"
Chad Powers originated from a viral comedy gag and was expanded into a streaming series built around Glen Powell and showrunner Michael Waldron. The story follows Russ Holiday, a disgraced college football star who disguises himself as a walk-on named Chad Powers to re-enter the game. The show leans on familiar tropes from sports-and-identity comedies, mixing tabloid satire, physical disguise, and locker-room antics. Performances and occasional sincere moments break through the formula, but much of the series feels manufactured and derivative, resembling a corporate content exercise that recycles well-worn plot devices.
Read at Vulture
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