Chad Powers: The 'Mrs. Doubtfire' Inspired Football Comedy You Need to See
This sporty comedy, created by Glen Powell and "Loki" director Michael Waldron, follows a disgraced football player named Russ Holiday. He returns to his glory days with a unique strategy from his father's prosthetics company. Inspired by “Mrs. Doubtfire,” he tries out for a rival college team under the new persona of Chad Powers. He is not very smart and is very clumsy at playing football, and the journey to rediscover his true self is a long one.
The Creative Spark: A Lie at the Center
The thrill of the show on Hulu is the operation under the "Chad Powers" alias. After Powell and Waldron developed this concept—originally from an Eli Manning sketch—they knew they had something special. They spoke with TheWrap about turning the concept into a series, the delicate balance of its absurdity and sincerity, and their readiness for a Season 2.
TheWrap: “Chad Powers” originated from an Eli Manning sketch. How did you expand it into a full series?
Michael Waldron: Glen and I, long-time friends seeking the right project, are huge college football fans. When this idea surfaced, we were instantly hooked. While set in a world we love, we had to find the real story underneath. We kept uncovering interesting character layers and surprising depth. We didn’t want to make “Ted Lasso”; we aimed for a weirder, different story, and this had all the right elements.
The Allure of the Double Life
Glen Powell: What we loved about Eli’s original sketch was the clear understanding that Eli Manning was in that disguise. Every scene in that walk-on tryout had a fantastic lie at its center. The fun part is that it’s a bomb under the table, creating an explosive sense of danger. That central lie gives you the DNA of a great underdog and redemption story. As Russ Holiday goes on this journey with the world watching and a program believing in him, the stakes are immense. The fall would be more painful and devastating, and it's all happening again. We liked having a flawed character, someone we all recognize—the person defined by a mistake—who is given a chance, with a new face, to turn back the clock and make it right.
Crafting the Tone: Heart with an Edge
Michael Waldron: We had a lot of fun on set, with a lot of laughter between the writers, cast, and crew. But we are also telling a dramatic story. There is a tragic element here—the person in the prosthetic—but we grounded everything else in reality.
I didn’t want it to feel like it had a direct precedent. I thought a lot about “Eastbound & Down” and the work of Danny McBride, Jody Hill, and David Gordon Green. This is a show that isn’t afraid to have a hard edge but is also super funny and sweet. That contrast makes the sweetness feel real because it exists in a world that has some meanness and teeth.
Anchoring the Comedy in Real Pain
Glen Powell: This show reflects a real person. That’s why you can’t sugarcoat the genuine pain a human endures when terrible things happen, and the world hates the image of your face. What does that do to someone? We couldn’t turn this into a PG-13 softball. We had to reflect a real character who hates his own reflection, who uses a prosthetic to try again and get it right this time. That’s the real pain he’s facing. This isn't a simple "I had a hard time" story. This is a person who is truly struggling, someone who would remove himself from the planet if he could, because so many people are telling him to do just that online. He is a person who is really struggling, and that is the human story.
