Comedy is something that brings so many of us joy and when you find a new favorite show, it is important to cherish it. Chad Powers has that potential.
The series, based on the Eli Manning sketch, details Russ Holliday’s (Glen Powell) return to sports. When he thinks he is in the end zone, he dropped the ball and the other team takes it and destroys him. He had to move back with his father and ended up leaving his dreams of becoming a quarterback behind. That is until his brilliant plan of taking on a new persona comes to life.
Danny (Frankie A. Rodriguez) ends up helping Russ keep up the image that he is a sweet man from the middle of nowhere who decided to walk-on to the Georgia’s Fishes just because. And the two form an unlikely friendship throughout the series that is, in a lot of ways, the heart of the show. Both Danny and Russ think they’re “okay” but then the two see that they can (and should) change for the better.
What makes this show so special isn’t the hilarity of Glen Powell in all of those prosthetics. It is that Russ sees Chad as the “better” version of himself but doesn’t recognize that feeling and want to change. Instead, he is always trying to do what is best for “Russ” and not the greater good. Or, at least, that’s what Russ would want you to think.
It is a show about believing in yourself
Russ thinks that he is not a good man. He says as much on the show. He also says that he, as Russ, is a dick. His words, not mine. But Chad isn’t. What Russ fails to realize on the show is that he IS Chad and Chad is who he is. And somewhere in all of that, the real Russ can step forward and show his true self. All of this is what, to me, makes the show stand out.
You could have leaned heavily into the sketch idea and made this outlandlish but I love that Chad Powers isn’t about Russ becoming the next Eli Manning or anything other than a man trying to have a redemption arc. Really, it is its own thing entirely and I think that’s a good thing. That way then the show can breathe. When you follow something that is too rigid, it means you have to stay by the books.
But Chad Powers feels fun and whismy about its source material. The show itself doesn’t take itself too seriously but it does still hold an emotional weight to its characters. And look, we haven’t had a great sports series in a while. I do think though that Chad Powers is more than just a show about a ‘Football star’s comeback story’ that no one asked for.
The series is about people growing and learning that they can change (and change for the better) and it is a beautiful message to share with an audience right now.
(featured image: Hulu)
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