Weekend Pick or Pass: Chad Powers (2025) on Moviebox

After an unforgivable mistake that assumedly ended his college football career, our charmingly disgraced hotshot quarterback, Russ Holliday, doesn’t appear to be ready to retire from football. He attempts to walk on to the South Georgia Catfish and even creates a new persona, Chad Powers, and a wig, for the occasion. While that premise is absolutely silly, it illustrates the kind of humor this series brings to your Moviebox weekend.

Is Chad Powers Just Glen Powell’s Second Act?

Glen Powell stars in and co-directs this 2025 comedy series. His charismatic instincts energize Chad Powers’s character. The allure of Russ Holliday, and by proxy, Chad Powers, is justified. He effortlessly goes about and captivates the audience with his screen presence, despite the character’s often stupid actions. While the rest of the critics enjoy this show, one went as far as saying that it was ‘one of the most magnetic central performances in recent memory.’

The show’s plot attempts to blend both extreme laugh out loud stupidity and serious sentiment. The plot follows Russ who wants to play football and Russ wants to have a second chance, both of which he attempts to do through a silly disguise, which really redefines himself after a nasty failure. This show attempts to examine what authenticity is and a created persona, and that creates an interesting and a surprisingly deep undercurrent for this silly sports comedy. You can’t help but cheer Chad on while also wanting to cover your eyes in embarrassment that Russ even had the gall to try what he did.

The humor consisted of some tackles and some misses, which is true for most comedy shows. I found a lot of humor in the world building that sustained my interest in silly others might find far fetched, like the South Georgia Catfish. There is adequate balance between the absurd and the realistic that builds an interest in the team and their inner conflict. This show is ideal for distracted viewing, but does have the ability to maintain your interest and attention. The writing in the show creates a bond with your favorite character, Chad Powers, and is worth sticking around for.

The show does have enjoyable moments, particularly Powell's performance, and an effective blend of heart and humor, but still has misses. Some reviewers say the first season tries to cram too much and thus skips crucial character and relationships building, like the father and son dynamic. Some of the emotions and story elements are lacking because the development was rushed. But, for a short season series, there are worse show flops to have.

One reviewer noted that the show ‘feels like a cynical corporate experiment, engineered within an inch of its life.’ While these reviews admit that there are some heartfelt and charming moments, it seems some reviewers think the engineering of the calculations of the show is visible, and lacking in moments that can truly surprise the audience. The goal of the show is to elicit a positive emotional response to a comedic series, however, there are simply segment length pacing issues that The Chad Powers Show lacks the control to escape and fully satisfy the audience.

Comparisons to other sports feel-good comedies are inevitable, and The Chad Powers Show is often measured next to Ted Lasso. Structurally, the two shows have similar plots of the underdog team and the unconventional leader, but Ted Lasso far surpassed The Chad Powers Show in emotional development and character dimnsion that not only the audience loved and appreciated, but that set the show far, far apart. Audience ratings are through the roof with many viewers saying the show is consistently hilarious and the show is light hearted while still being able to build storyline tension. The plot lines in each 20 minute episode are easily digestible which is why many say they love watching each episode. The second season saw an overall drop in ratings, but refinement of the plot and a rapid control of the narrative are strong indications that the show is worth hanging around for.

The Playbook For Your Weekend Couch

How about the lineup for this weekend? Start things off with Chad Powers on Friday. This show fits perfectly as your light viewing after a long week while you relax and let it wash off all the stress of the week. It's not going to test your brain, but it's fun and has enough laughs and a solid leading character to keep you interested. If you are a fan of Glen Powell or just a casual sports comedy with some fun twists and an oddly sweet heart this is definitely a great pick. It’s not going to have a touchdown every play, but it'll definitely move the sticks, and to keep this hyperbolic football analogy going, it definitely will be an entertaining and pleasant watch as the second season has great improvements that make this series much better.