Chad Powers

Chad Powers asks one question: how much prosthetic makeup does it take before people stop noticing you're Glen Powell? Surprisingly, the answer is: enough for six episodes.

Adapted from Eli Manning's famous undercover-quarterback sketch, the series follows disgraced football star Russ Holliday after he blows up his career and reinvents himself as Chad Powers, a socially awkward walk-on college quarterback with a new face and a second chance.

Sure, the premise is ridiculous. Powell is clearly having a blast playing both sides of the joke: Russ, an insufferable quarterback who torches his own career, and Chad, a sweet, stumbling oddball who's somehow even better at football. Watching Powell, one of the better-looking guys in Hollywood, transform into someone this unfortunate-looking is its own kind of comedy.

There's plenty of fun to play with here. The prosthetics are good enough to be believable, but bad enough that you're constantly asking yourself, "Are people really buying this?" There's the team mascot — the only person who knows Chad's secret — who drifts between confidante and pimp, helping him navigate situations that should absolutely expose him. Then the coach's daughter brings a surprisingly sweet will-they-won't-they into the mix. For the record, they definitely would... if only he didn't look like Chad. Conundrum.

Did we mention Russ drives a Cybertruck? It's a funny running bit because every time that thing rolls in, you're reminded that beneath the fake nose and good intentions is still the same douchebag who got himself into this mess. But somewhere along the way, Chad stops feeling like a disguise and starts feeling like the guy Russ should've been all along.

Every disguise story eventually runs into the same problem: what happens when everybody finds out? Chad Powers spends six episodes racing toward that moment, then swerves at the last second. It's a low-stakes, likable watch that doesn't quite finish the thought.