Chad Powers holds audience in Season 2 as reviews climb

Chad Powers has held its American audience into a second season while sharply lifting its reviews.

All six episodes of Season 2 launched on Sept. 3 on Hulu, and on Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers. In the first 28 days of release, the season averaged 2.75 million US viewers per episode, according to Nielsen, the US television measurement firm. Season 1 averaged 2.96 million US viewers per episode. Variety

The opener did the heavy lifting. The Season 2 premiere, titled “7th Quarter”, drew 2.86 million US viewers, per Nielsen. That puts it third among scripted series returns on Hulu, and No. 14 among Hulu returning scripted launches since the start of 2023.

The comedy centres on a disgraced former star quarterback. Glen Powell stars as Russ Holliday, who puts on a prosthetic mask, moustache and wig and tries out for a struggling football team under an alias, Chad Powers. In the show, he walks on to the struggling South Georgia Catfish. Hulu

Season 2 is darker behind the camera as well as in story. Co-creator Michael Waldron directed four of the six episodes. He cited Point Break and films by Tony Scott, Jonathan Demme and Sam Raimi as influences on the tone. Isaac Bauman was cinematographer for the season.

It was a fast climb for Waldron as a director. He made his directorial debut with the Season 1 finale. That episode was filmed during halftime of a game at the University of Georgia, Waldron’s alma mater.

The scores moved up. Chad Powers holds a 93% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes for Season 2, up from 60% for Season 1. Its audience score is 93% for Season 2, compared with 85% for Season 1.

Perry Mattfeld co-stars as Ricky Hudson, assistant coach for Russ and Chad’s team. Reuters

The series was ordered as a half-hour comedy from Powell and Waldron, who co-created it. Hulu renewed it for Season 2 in December 2025. Powell and Waldron have said they mapped the story over three seasons, with a beginning, middle and end. Variety

What makes this stand out is the split. Viewing slipped slightly. Approval rose a lot. For fans, this means the Catfish are still drawing a crowd while the creative team pushes for a planned finish.