Some TV shows start as pitch decks. Chad Powers started as a wig, a rubber chin, and Eli Manning fooling an entire Penn State walk-on tryout in broad daylight. Three years and 17 million YouTube views later, that prank has become a genuine Hulu hit, currently gearing up for a second season that promises to be, in star and co-creator Glen Powell’s own words, “a different show in the best way.” Season 2 arrives September 3, 2026, and it’s bringing more suspense, higher stakes, and a lie that’s gotten a lot harder to keep hidden.
The Real Story Behind Chad Powers
Before he was a scripted TV character, Chad Powers was a bit. In 2022, retired NFL quarterback Eli Manning went undercover for his ESPN+ series Eli’s Places, disguising himself in a blond wig and prosthetic chin to attempt Penn State’s open walk-on tryouts as a homeschooled quarterback with a suspiciously good arm. The segment went viral almost instantly, spawning T-shirts, Halloween costumes, and a catchphrase – “Think fast, run fast” that fans still repeat today.
Powell and Loki writer Michael Waldron saw the bones of a much bigger story in that stunt, and pitched Manning on turning it into a scripted series. Manning, along with brother Peyton’s Omaha Productions, signed on as executive producers, helping bring real college football authenticity stadiums, culture, and all to the fictional version.
What Happened in Chad Powers Season 1
Chad Powers opens with Russ Holliday, a hotshot Oregon Ducks quarterback, fumbling away a national championship in the worst possible way – dropping the ball before the end zone, then getting into an ugly, publicized altercation with a fan. His reputation never recovers. Eight years later, broke and directionless, Russ steals his father’s Hollywood makeup kit and reinvents himself as Chad Powers, a mustachioed, guileless walk-on quarterback trying out for the struggling South Georgia Catfish.
With help from Danny (Frankie A. Rodriguez), the team’s mascot, Russ keeps the disguise intact through a season of unlikely success on the field – all while Ricky (Perry Mattfeld), the team’s assistant coach and daughter of head coach Jake Hudson (Steve Zahn), gets steadily closer to him. The season builds to a gut-punch finale: Coach Hudson suffers a heart attack, and in the chaos, Ricky finally discovers the truth about who Chad really is.
Chad Powers Season 1’s Reception and Achievements
Critics were split – Rotten Tomatoes settled the season around the 50% mark, with reviewers divided over whether its mix of raunchy comedy and genuine sports drama fully cohered. Audiences, though, showed up in force. Chad Powers debuted at No. 1 on both Hulu’s and Disney+’s daily top charts, ranked as the fourth most-streamed program in the U.S. during its first two weeks per TVision, and landed among the ten most-streamed original series in the country according to Whip Media.
On Luminate’s weekly streaming chart, it climbed from No. 34 to No. 19 in its second week alone, racking up 2.2 million hours viewed from just two episodes – strong enough real-world numbers to earn a Season 2 renewal despite the mixed reviews.
Hulu’s Chad Powers Cast
Glen Powell leads as Russ Holliday and his alter ego, delivering a dual performance critics have consistently praised even when the show around it divided them. He’s joined by Perry Mattfeld as Ricky, Steve Zahn as Coach Jake Hudson, Frankie A. Rodriguez as Danny, Wynn Everett as Tricia, Quentin Plair as Coach Byrd, Toby Huss as Russ’s father Mike, Colton Ryan as Gerry, and Clayne Crawford as Coach Dobbs – all confirmed to return for Season 2. Eli and Peyton Manning remain executive producers, alongside Powell and showrunner Michael Waldron.
The Budget
Neither Hulu nor 20th Television has disclosed an official budget for Chad Powers. What is clear is that the Manning brothers’ involvement bought the production real access – actual college football stadiums, authentic sideline culture, and details that a purely fictional sports comedy typically can’t afford to get right. That access, more than any confirmed dollar figure, is where the show’s production value actually shows up on screen.
How Chad Powers Season 2 Connects to Season 1 – and What’s Coming Next
Season 2 picks up in the direct aftermath of that finale cliffhanger. Ricky now knows Russ’s secret, and Russ has responded the only way he knows how: by making clear that exposing him wouldn’t just end his own career, it would jeopardize the Catfish’s entire season and her father’s reputation along with it. That uneasy standoff is the engine of the new season.
According to Hulu’s official synopsis, Chad is now a legitimate star on the field but his increasingly strange behavior off it has Coach Hudson and Gerry growing suspicious, and as the walls close in, Russ and Danny need help staying hidden through a real playoff push. The only person capable of providing that help is also the person with the most reason not to: Ricky.
It’s a smart structural pivot. Season 1 got significant mileage out of the disguise itself being a novelty; Season 2 seems built around a much tighter, more dangerous question – how long can a winning lie survive once everyone around it starts paying closer attention? All six episodes drop at once on September 3, continuing the binge model from Season 1, with Disney+ carrying the complete season internationally the same day.
Chad Powers Best Dialogues & Quotes
What’s made Chad Powers stick in the cultural conversation isn’t just Powell’s performance – it’s a handful of lines that capture exactly what the show is trying to be: a redemption story wearing a disguise comedy’s clothes. The show’s signature catchphrase predates the series entirely, inherited straight from Eli Manning’s original viral stunt, while its most quoted in-show line gets right to the emotional core of Russ’s entire arc.
“Think fast. Run fast.” – Chad Powers’ unofficial catchphrase, carried over directly from Eli Manning’s original 2022 viral segment into the scripted series, now printed on more T-shirts and Halloween costumes than most actual NFL slogans.
“Russ was an ahole. Chad doesn’t have to be.”** – Fan-voted as the show’s standout line, and for good reason: it’s the entire premise distilled into one sentence – the idea that a disguise can be more than a hiding place, it can be a chance to actually become someone better.
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Chad Powers Season 1 Best Dialogues and Quotes
1. Son, it’s time to face it. Your football career is over.
2. We’re here in the grandest stage in American sports, Kirk. And for Russ Holiday, a chance to do something special.
3. You were showboating and you blew the game. They can’t get him. This is insane.
4. Oh my goodness. Georgia’s picked the ball up. Georgia is going to win a championship. What was Holiday thinking?
5. – It’s time for you to move on.
– There’s just one problem, Dad. I’m not done with football.
6. I’m going to do a Mrs. Dowire but with football.
7. – That was one hell of a performance. You can take your helmet off.
– I’m going to leave it on.
– Why?
– You know, in this helmet, I feel strong. Mhm. Like a strong, powerful male.
8. This isn’t just football. This is packing.
9. – Chad, why don’t you remind the game day viewers where you’re from?
– West Virginia.
– And what part of West Virginia?
– So over if you go west in West Virginia, it’s the westest the westest of the west of Virginia.
10. – That red rocket is big and dirty. Personal hygiene is part of participating in a society.
– I wish I could be in there, coach. I know you wish you could be in there, too, but I don’t wish that.
11. You were born for this moment. Every choice, every mistake carried you to this spot.
12. – Why are you helping me?
– Because no one is beyond second chances.
13. Who the is that guy? He’s like extremely ugly.
14. – I’m sure it’s a different quarterback with frosted tips and a cubic zirconia stud.
– Well, it’s real. It’s a blood done.
– You verified that somehow.
– Whatever.
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Chad Powers Season 2 Best Dialogues and Quotes
1. – I haven’t had a lot of real friends in my life.
– Can we not do this right now?
– Until you basically zero.
– I don’t want to be earnest.
2. You have had my back. You have protected me so many times. It’s my turn.
3. You’re obsessed with Chad Powers. Everyone’s obsessed with Chad Powers. Even I am.
4. – You coming to the party tonight? It’s tradition.
– Cool. I love tradition. Circumcision.
5. We are here because you always act so weird all the time.
6. I am a man living inside the big skin of another man. It is a weird situation.
7. – Why are you helping me?
– Just doing my part to avoid the worst scandal in sports history.
8. – Can we go to jail for this?
– We’ve looked into it a lot.
9. – We’ve looked into it a lot. What’s the worst that can happen?
– He finds out you’re a Russ Holiday and actually murders you.
10. I might be an over on my head.
11. I think Chad Powers just died.
12. – I know your secret, Chad.
– You crossed the line.
13. Well, I’m going to go outside and text my girlfriend. Maybe send her a nude.
14. You know, until this very moment, I suspected you had no penes or testi. Just a bare patch of greasy skin down there.
15. – But now I believe you do have some testi.
– Still no penes though.
Chad Powers Season 2 premieres on Hulu (and Hulu on Disney+) on September 3, 2026.
