Chad Powers is back, and it just keeps getting better. Season 2 dropped on Hulu this past week, and I couldn’t have been more excited. This has been one of the most underrated shows. Some call it the American Ted Lasso because both shows were born out of a comedic sketch or promotion. Just like with Ted Lasso, somebody thought you could make a heartwarming sports story based on a piece of comedy that was meant to be one and done. In this case, Glen Powell helped develop it for Hulu, and yes, it’s easy to make those comparisons to a great show, because the biggest similarity is that the main focus is not about the sport within the show; it’s about the characters and how they evolve. I’m a big fan of Ted Lasso, and while I freely admit that I don’t think this show is as good, it’s a show with a lot of heart where, even through a disguise, a despicable character can become a better person. In this case, it is the main character, Russ Holiday, a self-centered, glory-hound quarterback who ends up becoming the biggest joke in college football by blowing the national championship in the most godawful way possible and has never been able to live that down. No matter what he does, he’s always a joke, and he can’t escape his past, so he reinvents himself as a different character when there’s an opportunity to try out for a college football team. Of course, it’s taking the concept of Mrs. Doubtfire and injecting it into college football, but I love the fact that they make jokes about it.
The best part about this series is the cast. It’s a fantastic cast, and while Glen Powell has propelled himself in deleting man’s status, especially after Top Gun: Maverick, it’s great to see him play kind of oddball characters. This is one of my favorite performances of his, right next to the movie Hitman, which he wrote with Richard Linklater. He’s essentially “The Man with a Thousand Faces,” as his character gets to have lots of different disguises, playing a cop of sorts on sting operations catching guys who want to kill their wives. It’s a funny movie, and you should check it out, but this might be his best role because we get to explore more of his character through two seasons. Steve Zahn, who plays Coach Hudson, is always great, but the person who really lights up with her performances is Perry Mattfeld, who plays the coach’s daughter, Ricky. You also get a great performance from Clayne Crawford, who plays Coach Dobbs. His character is a bit of an asshole, but a lovable one that you hate God but you can’t help but love because he has some of the most offbeat lines that will keep you laughing.
But I will tell you my absolute favorite character in this show, and it’s the University booster, Tricia Yeager, played by the electric Wynn Everett. Her performance is the one that stands out the most to me because this is kind of a departure for her. She’s known for good-hearted characters instead of villains, and I say that lovingly because the character while it may seem like she is kind of a villain, I’ve come to realize that she is the evil genius that’s going to make everything work, as we see by the end of season 2. But here’s the real reason that she’s the best character: she’s the least predictable character. Tricia is a loon; she’s also the Cruella Deville of college boosters. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not that awful, but she plays the character like a villain that doesn’t care about anything except her image. However, she literally has the best lines of the series, from emasculating a fellow booster based on the size of their private jets to being one “bad bitch” that some of the football players want to get with, if you know what I mean. She says and does things that people shouldn’t get away with. I found myself laughing at her performance more than anybody else in this series. She is a great actress, and this is such a different role for her, but she pulls it off with such gusto that it’s so easy to root for her character. Also, any actor I’ve ever talked to says that playing a villain, or at least a questionable character, is always more fun, and you can tell she’s having fun with the role.
Both seasons of Chad Powers are great. There’s a lot to love about this show, especially since each episode is not really long. You can binge-watch a season in an afternoon, or really both seasons at this point. It’s full of humor, heartfelt drama, and even though the love story is a bit predictable, it doesn’t matter because these characters are easy to root for. Season 1 was definitely more light-hearted, whereas season 2 got a little bit darker, but it worked, and there is clearly a lot of life left in the show. I hope we get at least two or three more seasons before the inevitable and the big secrets come out because you know they’re going to eventually. But just like a great sports show that demonstrates heart and where you root for the little guy, you’re rooting for the South Georgia Catfish and these characters to find success. Also, just like a great sports drama, it’s a show about redemption, even if you have to sometimes wear a different mask. That’s my absolute favorite part of the show: how this one character became a better person and somebody who could be loved, and isn’t that what we always want with the characters we root for, especially when they start out being despicable characters.
Now my biggest complaint is sometimes I feel like we don’t have enough time for great character development when you’re only doing something like 30-minute episodes in a six-episode season, but the show is getting there, and that’s why we’re going to need more seasons. However, they’ve done a good enough job to make us invested in these characters. There’s certainly a lot of room for the show to grow, especially since this one football season is not over yet by the end of season 2. The story seems very short, which is understandable when you are doing a sitcom format, but you don’t have the luxury of 20 to 25 episodes per season like on regular TV. However, what we get in each episode is great, and it clearly feels like this story is a trilogy or a saga. I know there were some complaints about season 2 being too dark, but if you think about it, it feels more like the middle part of a trilogy, which is where the story does get dark before the big climax. This shouldn’t take away from how entertaining the first two seasons have been and why we’re going to need more. If you’re wondering whether this show is worth checking out, of course it is because not only is it a good sports comedy/trauma, but it does have those Ted Lasso vibes.
From all the great characters and the performances to the Mrs. Doubtfire themes, which make for a great comedic story, the show is worth watching, and the one thing that season 2 did better than season 1 is actually giving us all the episodes on the same day. That was one of my biggest complaints about season 1 was waiting from week to week for these 30-minute episodes, which was completely unnecessary. This is the kind of show you want to binge-watch. But for my money, this show is gold! It’s got a lot of great characters, and the sports drama within the story will keep you on the edge of your seat. Now, even though we don’t review a lot of sports stories, it doesn’t seem like something that would be in a nerd’s wheelhouse; you can still be nerdy about sports, especially if the story is so much more than sports. I say the future is bright for Chad Powers, and yes, it is nerd-approved, especially if you like sports. Now let’s get a few more seasons Greenlit so we can continue this awesome story.
