Glen Powell to star in one of the worst ideas we’ve ever heard
Hulu's Chad Powers is Invincible mixed with Mrs. Doubtfire, as performed by the improv stylings of Eli Manning, and Glen Powell deserves better
Aux News Glen Powell
It’s easy to forget, after all the Emmys, Golden Globes, critical accolades and backlashes, etc., that Ted Lasso was originally created as a pitchman for NBC Sports, appearing in a series of ads that operated on the basic premise that it’d be funny to see Jason Sudeikis play a Southern football coach who didn’t know enough to know how little he knew about soccer. We suspect it will not be as easy to forget the origins of Chad Powers, a new TV show that’s just been ordered by Hulu and which seems, as far as we can tell, utterly determined to waste Glen Powell’s charms on one of the worst TV premises we’ve ever heard.
In case you, like us, were unfamiliar with the “Chad Powers” character, here’s the basic idea: About a year ago, football star Eli Manning decided to do a sort of Undercover Bosses thing and use Hollywood prosthetics to disguise himself as an extremely unhealthy-looking college student, so that he could try out as a walk-on for the Penn State football team. (This was for Manning’s ESPN+ show, Eli’s Places.) The result was 15 of the most uncomfortable minutes of TV we’ve ever watched, as Manning—not a gifted improviser, by the by—lumbers around doing the worst Matthew McConaughey impression we’ve ever heard, before stoking his own ego by easily crushing a bunch of hopeful kids at football, the one thing our society generally agrees that both of the Mannings do pretty well.
We do not know why Hulu has decided this would make a good TV show, but it has, ordering Chad Powers to series, and—
Actually, no, we can’t move on yet from how bad the above clip is. In a clever touch, at one point, they show Peyton Manning trying to tell a joke, to distract you from how bad Eli Manning is at telling jokes, but there is no distraction from how profoundly bad Eli Manning is at telling jokes. (His version of humor is repeatedly muttering “Chad Powers” to himself.) For some reason, they use stock music from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia! There are so many shots of actual teenagers looking at this homunculus in horror, and that’s before Manning tears his face off in front of them. This is scarring television, is all we’re saying.
The one saving grace of the fictionalized version of Chad Powers is that, while Manning will executive produce, the Chad in question (who, in the fiction, is a hotshot college quarterback forced to go undercover as a freshman after being cut from his team for bad behavior) will not be played by charisma void Eli Manning, but by actual charming actor Glen Powell. (Who, at 35, will still be straining some of that college-age credulity, but at least a little less so.) Powell is a good actor, and showrunner Michael Waldron has made some good TV in the past. Even so, this is one of the worst ideas for a TV show that we’ve ever heard.
86 Comments
I dont see charming in glen powell, he’s just filled the armie hammer void of generic handsome man. I imagine his PR team coach him so hard so that his “texas leanings” dont come out in interviews or social media
“both of the Mannings do pretty well”Fun fact: there is a third Manning brother who used to play football. Also their dad was in the NFL for years.
Cooper was evidently more athletically gifted than Peyton or Eli but was never really got out of the gate for medical reasons. Maybe hyperbole, but it would have been wild to see three brothers at starting QB at the same time. And yeah, dad wasn’t exactly a stiff.Peyton’s definitely the ham of the family though…
Cooper was actually a WR, not a QB. He’s the oddball of the family apparently. His Dad and brothers are QBs and Cooper’s son, Arch, his a QB currently at University of Texas
Cooper wasn’t more talented, he was just the oldest, and was the first one to get attention. He was good, but part of why he was good was that he had Peyton throwing to him. I played against both of them in middle and high school, and we all knew at the time that Peyton was the stronger player.
So glad to see when people post that. It’s still probably one of my favorite SNL skits of all time.
Will never beat retired Greg Maddux going undercover to completely confound Kris Bryant.You still want my bat?No.
I love it when athletes try to act. I know a lot of people love Space Jam, but Michael Jordan’s performance is so laughably bad. I’m sure there are good athletic actors but I can’t think of any.
Wait, Terry Crews. Nailed it.
if we start thinking of wrestlers as athletes the list grows considerably
True. I know a lot of people cite The Rock, but John Cena’s performance as Peacemaker is freaking awesome.
Agree on Cena and frankly it’s the only thing I have seen him in, acting wise though pro wrestling is acting of sorts, but he was OUTSTANDING. Delivering those line like the perfect straight man.
And if you include gymnasts, you reach the apex of filmmaking… Gymkata!
Dave Bautista
Carl Weathers
John Cena…yep, that’s it.
Yeah that’s about it. On the other end of the spectrum you have Dan Marino, Michael Jordan, Brett Favre. I guess they get a pass because they were never really aspiring to be actors, they were just asked to appear in stuff.
You left out a bunch of 80s sitcom dads…Dick Butkus, Bob Uecker, Alex Karas.
For good reason. No one ever thought they needed the dad from Mr. Belvedere or Webster to sell their movie.
The “dad from Webster” is probably better looked at as a pawn in the game of life.He was Mongo in Blazing Saddles, and he was fantastic.
How about Jesse Ventura, Howie Long, Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones?
Rowdy Roddy Piper is spinning in his grave.
I mean, sure, he’s a lot of fun in They Live, but he doesn’t exactly make me take the movie more seriously.
You clearly didn’t watch the movie he was robbed of an Oscar for, Hell Comes to Frogtown
Yeah, dude had chops. Wish he’d done more.At least we had Da’ Maniac!
I have an abiding love for Piper.But.He was an InfoWarrior.
Ugh. That sucks.
Terry Crews?
Carl Weathers was a football player, not a wrassler.Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash. (Not a fan of Hogan, but he has shown he can act well enough to be in multiple Hollywood productions.)Andre the Giant.
This thread is about athletes turned actors, not just wrestlers, and where we draw the line between good and not good. Hulk Hogan is a fucking terrible actor, and acting “well enough to be in multiple Hollywood productions” is a pretty low bar if Richard Gere and Paris Hilton can clear it. And just because they were good enough for a part, it doesn’t mean they have legitimacy as actors. Any fat guy can say, “Mongo love candy!” Gimme a break.
Burt Reynolds, Ed O’Neal, and John David Washington probably belong on that list. I’d argue Schwarzenegger and The Rock are at least capable of great performances, even if they rarely get the opportunity. And yes, I googled up a list of athletes turned actors, because I also couldn’t think of anyone else.
I also looked at a few lists because I don’t trust my memory anymore, and I purposefully excluded some of the asterisk names. Burt Reynolds never played pro because of a car accident during his college years. Ed O’Neill was cut before playing a single snap in the league. Bodybuilding is less of a sport and more of a weird beauty pageant, and even if it wasn’t, Schwarzenegger has charisma and screen presence, but is extremely limited as a performer. And feel free to show me anything from Dwayne resembling a decent performance. If such a scene exists, I know it won’t be from Ballers.
There was no specification for “pro” or “successful,” but I suppose that should have probably been assumed as given, since the number of great actors that EVER participated in athletics at any level would likely be pretty close to all of them.“Bodybuilding is less of a sport and more of a weird beauty pageant”The competitions themselves, sure. But success in that field requires as much training and dedication as any other sport. More bronzer than most other sports, admittedly. As for the QUALITY of performances from Schwarzenegger and Johnson, I’d agree that they are rarely challenged to rise above glowering at the camera and reciting catchphrases, but both have shown signs of great depth as performers. For the former, I’d recommend checking out Maggie where I believe he gives a nuanced and moving performance. For the latter, I’m still hung up on Southland Tales, where Johnson showed a real capacity for emotional range with challenging (impenetrable, really) material (though there are no clips online that I can find that demonstrate that.)
I think the basis for consideration is being successful enough in sports in order to springboard into acting—having something to pivot from—opposed to someone like Ed O’Neill who trained in acting and worked his way up through commercials and bit parts before getting bigger roles, like any other actor.
I’d agree with that, though IMO that’d take Weathers out of contention, since he had a relatively undistinguished career in pro football. I’m no sportso, but it seems he only played 8 games across two seasons before being cut by the Raiders and finishing his career in the CFL.
Bernie Casey was solid.
Vinie Jones, Fred Dryer, Mark Harmon, Alex Karras, Bob Uecker, Fred Williamson, Jason Statham, Gina Carano, Chuck Norris, Carl Weathers, Sean Connery, Burt Reynolds…
Gina Carano can’t act
Neither can Chuck Norris, Jessie Ventura, Vinnie Jones, etc, etc, but they aren’t supposed to act. They supposed to look good punching, kicking, and shooting at things, and they pretty much did.
She’s great when she’s not talking.
What about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?Or Eric Cantona? Or OJ Simpson, but, you know, before the murderings?
I was gonna say, there was a really popular football player/actor in the 80s and 90s, until he murdered his wife. Maybe it’s better that people don’t remember him for other stuff.
I’m just going to stick my fingers in my ears and go “lalala, Towering Inferno, lalala, Capricorn One, lalala, Naked Gun”
Isn’t it typical? You bring so much joy to millions of people. And then you horrifically murder two people, and that’s all anyone can talk about.
You’re forgetting the greatest actor of his generation. Fred Dryer.
Just from American Football there’s Carl Weathers, Alex Karas, Fred Dryer, Bubba Smith, Jim Brown.Terry Bradshaw has turned in a few good performances, but also a few bad ones.Also, O.J. Simpson (he acted like a guy who didn’t kill his ex-wife;-)If you count foreign football there’s Vinnie Jones.Jason Statham was a competitive diver.
If you can’t acknowledge the brilliance of John Matuszak, former Raiders defensive lineman, as Sloth in Goonies, I don’t know what to say.Seriously, though, there are others, especially if you go back a ways. Bob Uecker had a good run with Major League, although he was pretty much playing himself. Kareem was pretty funny in Airplane. There was a run of football players getting into acting and doing decently – Rosey Greer, Fred Williamson, Alex Karras, and Merlin Olsen stand out to me, but there were more. Weismuller was a good Tarzan and a great swimmer. Tony Danza was a boxer before becoming an actor, Jason Lee was a skateboarder.
Carl Weathers played in the NFL for 5 years I think. Burt Reynolds was a star football player at Florida State. Ed O’Niell was a Pittsburgh Steeler for 4 years
Woah, easy! I’m no Jordan fan per se, but “laughably bad” is a little extreme. Dude was not an actor and had to shoot 90% of his scenes in front of a green screen without any other actors there for support. Under those circumstances, he’s absolutely killing it.
Kevin Garnett is incredible in Uncut Gems. I think it’s the best athlete-actor performance ever. And I’d cut MJ a little slack for Space Jam only because he was acting with tennis balls for 90 % of that movie.
Carl Weathers, Dave Bautista
Jim Brown. Ed O’Neil. John Amos. Merlin Olson. Alex Karras. Carl Weathers…Basically everyone from the 70s
Fred Dryer is pretty funny. Was almost Sam Malone on Cheers but later guess starred as a friend of Sam’s:Dave Richards : [to Rebecca after first laying
eyes on her] I make an ungodly amount of
money and I know exactly how to use it.Rebecca
Howe : You must be a friend of
Mr. Malone’s.
Dave
Richards : Well,
you know what they say, the good looking ones travel in pairs. And that
certainly is true in your case.
Rebecca
Howe : Do you have the time?
Dave Richards : 4:30.
Rebecca Howe : Good,
because I just wanted to remember the exact moment I met the biggest jerk on
Earth.
[Sam laughs at Dave]
Dave Richards : [to Sam] Tough
woman, tough woman.
Sam Malone : You got
that right. I wear a cup to work.
What about an actor turned professional athlete turned actor again? Kurt Russell?
Invincible? The animated show about ultraviolent superheroes? It’s unclear to me what part of this Powell/Manning thing is like that at all.Also, Ted Lasso was from Kansas. Isn’t that the Midwest, not the South?
I was thinking more the various warships named Invincible over the centuries (although that always seemed to be tempting fate). As for Kansas and the Midwest, well, that depends on what the “Midwest” is. I grew up in Wisconsin and thought the Midwest was places like Wisconsin and Minnesota. But it seems to be a general “flyover state” category these days that includes places like Kansas and Nebraska, states as alien to me as they are to people from California or New York.
I get the feeling you may be right, and this show may be heading for…Yeah.
No, the New Kids movie.As a Hoosier, I’ll accept states like Iowa Missouri but sorry, Kansas, no way. Get out of here. https://www.wsj.com/us-news/midwest-u-s-survey-west-geography-97c18794 (please use your favorite paywall bypasser to avoid giving WSJ money) (also I do realize the article contradicts my point about Kansas but oh well. I simply cannot abide the Dakotas and south being Midwest. Those are Plains states and I won’t be convinced otherwise.)
Yeas ago I remember arguing with a guy I worked with that Chicago was, in fact, part of the Midwest. He was from Kansas.
Wisconsin and Minnesota are north country. Midwest is Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa. Shit like that. At least, that’s how I’ve always seen it
Invincible, the 2006 Mark Wahlberg movie about the real-life NFL player Vince Papale, a 30-year-old substitute teacher and part-time bartender who earned a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles at a 1976 public tryout after not having played organized football since high school, I imagine.And while Kansas is the Midwest, in the commercials that introduced Ted Lasso to the world, he just has kind of a generic southern accent. They don’t say where in particular he’s from.
Yeah pretty sure I had a stroke reading the subhead.
Probably the Mark Wahlberg football movie.
Ah yes, a real movie that I definitely remember.
Its fine. I doubt Mark Wahlberg remembers that movie.
Looks like one of the Geico Cavemen.
Wake me when this gets retooled into a Karl Havoc series.
But the chin kills.
Chad Sexington was right there…
Is it just me, or is Glen Powell just a TERRIBLE actor? Like he starred opposite Sydney Sweeney in that romcom and somehow it was barely noticeable how bad she is at acting. Can he play any character besides the negging hot guy? I actually think in this setting, Eli may have more onscreen charisma.
Also- is this going to be about a character named Chad Powers, or a guy who makes up a character named Chad Powers to try to make a college football team?
Weirdly, he seems like a guy who could play a really nice, charming guy… and to your point he is hot negging guy in everything I have seen him in (to be fair… Scream Queens and Top Gun Maverick).
My partner and I are big into rom coms, so I, ahem, procured a copy of that movie. I think we lasted five minutes. We probably would have sat through the entire “guy pretends he knows girl for her benefit” thing if the acting wasn’t offensively bad.
I mean, I’ll generally sit through anything, and I didn’t think Sydney Sweeney was bad on the White Lotus where all she had to do was be the physical embodiment of a withering side-eye, but MAN was she terrible in that romcom. The only good parts were where one of the dads keeps referring to her like “the plump-chested one with sad eyes.” It’s amazing that Powell barely out-acts her.
Yeah I didn’t have a problem with her in Euphoria or White Lotus, which made the opening minutes of Anyone But You all the more jarring. Really helps you understand the role of the director in coaxing good performances out of mediocre actors.
When everyone is handing in terrible performances, I start to wonder if it’s really the director who did a horrible job. Powell may be one note but he certainly hasn’t been bad in other movies I’ve seen him in. I would say he was pretty great in Everybody Wants Some!!.
Yeah, Everybody Wants Some was definitely the one exception in the Glen Powell oeuvre. Which is unfortunate since it was the first thing I saw him in and expected him to be better in… everything.
But you may be right that it was the director. The only actors who seemed to be OK were the proven vets—mainly, the four parents. Even GaTa, who I really like on Dave, felt completely miscast.
Well, it sounds like you’ll have another exception if Netflix ever decides to release Hit Man. Though I think he was exactly who he needed to be in Top Gun.
I’ve liked Powell in most everything else I have seen him (which admittedly is not a lot of movies – Set It Up and Top Gun: Maverick). Also Hidden Figures but he doesn’t have a big role in that one. I do agree he plays the same type of person in his movies but my point was I thought he played that role well before this one.
He’s great in Everybody Wants Some
Glen Powell is good and quite charming. If you have any interest in seeing him used properly, check out Richard Linklater’s fantastic hang out movie, “Everybody Wants Some”. Coincidentally (or not) it also includes a minor subplot about a college baseball player getting outed as a 26 year old trying to keep his dream alive.
Yeah, that was the first thing I saw him in, and really liked the movie overall. Great cast. Which is why I was a little shocked how bad he was in Anyone But You. And the other romcom he was in with the other person from Everybody Wants Some. Maybe Linklater is just a way better director of actors than anyone else Glen Powell has worked with.
Cavemen. Cop Rock. Viva Laughlin. Celebrity Boxing. Heil Honey, I’m Home.Or how about the one-offs? The Decision. The Secrets of Al Capones Vault. The Star Wars Holiday Special.I’m not even talking about how bad they ended up being. Everyone involved in them should have known they were a bad idea before making them, and everyone else knew they were a bad idea once they heard about them. These make Chad Powers seem innocuous.
This is the “the kids LOVE Morbius, so let’s put it back into theaters!” of TV shows.
Y’all don’t know what ‘homunculus’ means, do you?
I actually looked it up, figuring I was wrong about what it meant. It was silly of me.
I’m so goddam sick of the Manning family. Why are they constantly on TV?
I can’t look at this guy’s face without thinking: “He should be on TV. In the 90’s”. Not sure where anyone’s getting “2024 movie star potential” from.
The result was 15 of the most uncomfortable minutes of TV we’ve ever watched…William have you seen the JLo debacle, “This is me, now”? You may want to revise your statement.I didn’t make it thru 4 1/2 minutes, and 2 of those minutes were just the opening credits. I don’t know what you have against the Manning brothers, that’s your deal, but I’ve seen Peyton tell jokes in person and in comedy skits and he’s pretty funny. Perhaps you missed the point that this was supposed to be not great? That Eli looked ridiculous because it wouldn’t take long for people to figure out this wasn’t some walk on candidate, but a pretty damn good athlete who had won two Super Bowls?