Animation
Universal Basic Guys
With the content issues within the show, ‘Universal Basic Guys’ isn’t worthy of the income checks paid to create it.
Oregon vs. Georgia. The Rose Bowl. 31-31. Last play of the 4th quarter.
Oregon quarterback Russ Holliday grabs the football. He dodges the Georgia defensive line. He sprints towards the endzone. He’s at the 30, the 20, the 10 … He’s in the endzone, patting himself on the back for winning the game.
Except for the fact that the one vital thing he needs to secure that win is not in the endzone—the football: He dropped it at the one-yard line while prematurely celebrating.
Georgia scoops the live ball, runs it down the field and scores a touchdown. Game over.
In his anger and confusion, Russ punches a man standing on the sidelines who was attempting to comfort him. The man flies back into his son, a child suffering from cancer who uses a wheelchair. He’d been on the sidelines to cheer for his favorite player, Russ. The momentum causes the son’s wheelchair to topple, sending the father, son and Russ’ chances of ever playing football professionally to the ground.
For the past eight years, the only thing people have known about Russ was his monumental failure following that assault. But now, Russ’ humiliation is but a forgotten moment in time. Russ even has a contract to play for the XFL’s Vegas Vipers.
But that’s when a news story drops: the cancer patient whom Russ unintentionally knocked over just passed away. Suddenly, everyone in the world remembers how badly they’d like to verbally tackle Russ. The negative publicity forces the Vipers to rip up his contract. Russ spends another humiliating night on his father’s couch.
Meanwhile, the coach of the South Georgia Catfish announces open tryouts for quarterback. Following the college’s string of disappointing seasons, he’s desperate.
Russ just so happens to hear about the tryouts as he’s delivering a wig, prosthetics and makeup to a movie studio for his father. He also just so happens to see a billboard showcasing Mrs. Doubtfire, the 1993 movie featuring a divorced father who disguises himself as an elderly female housekeeper to spend time with his kids.
“Does Coach Hudson really think some stud quarterback’s just gonna appear out of thin air?” sports analyst Stephen A. Smith asks.
Why, yes, Russ thinks. Yes, I will.
The concept for Chad Powers isn’t too difficult to trace.
It stems from retired football player Eli Manning’s own undercover experience: In an episode of Eli’s Places, he wanted to find out what the walk-on experience at Penn State was like by donning both a disguise and the name ‘Chad Powers.’ (Manning is an executive producer in this fictionalized version of those events.)
How the story plans to stretch its plot longer than a single season remains to be seen. But the general theme of the show indicates that it’ll focus on how Russ’ experience living as the far more likeable “Chad” changes him into a better person overall.
But that doesn’t stop the show from earning a flag on the play for its content issues. Male rear nudity and some sexual references make their way onto the screen. People throw around heavy language more than they do footballs. And the occasional throwaway religious quip makes the viewing even more uncomfortable.
But hey, at least the show’s not donning a disguise to trick you into watching it.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
When Russ overhears of walk-on tryouts at a small college, he dons a disguise and hopes to make the team.
Russ is ecstatic when he meets the “Hawk Tuah” girl, who became famous for expressing how she performs oral sex. When one of Russ’ prosthetics begins to leak, a fellow player tells him it looks like semen. A woman says that, had she followed what the world wanted her to do, she would’ve sold feet pictures on OnlyFans. A woman references a porn topic. Russ urinates, though nothing is seen. We see Russ and other men shirtless. Someone mentions canine arousal.
Russ punches a man, and the guy falls backwards onto his son—a cancer patient who uses a wheelchair—knocking both of them to the ground. Eight years later, we are informed that the son has passed away from cancer. (Russ briefly expresses hope that the death was due to the COVID-19 vaccine.) Russ gets sprayed with wasp killer. A man attempts to tackle Russ, mistaking him for a school shooter. Someone tells Russ to kill himself.
People drink beer and shots of liquor. Someone spits dipping tobacco. Russ tells a man that he got hit by a car while he was on drugs.
A woman sanctimoniously states that she’s praying for a man.
We hear the f-word roughly 40 times, including a couple of instances preceded by “mother.” The s-word is used 30 times. We hear a crude word for female genitalia. Other vulgarities include “a–,” “d–n,” “d-ck,” “b–ch” and “h—.” God’s name is used in vain eight times, including seven instances paired with “d–n.” A song filled with many vulgarities and sexual references plays in the background of a scene.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
With the content issues within the show, ‘Universal Basic Guys’ isn’t worthy of the income checks paid to create it.
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