‘Chad Powers’ Season 2 Breakdown With Creator Michael Waldron
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello, welcome back to the Prestige TV podcast feed. I'm Joanna Robinson. We're doing something a little different today. We're calling it a showrunner special. We've got Michael Waldron of Chad Powers, Loki, et cetera, et cetera, fame. We will talk about his incredible career. Michael Waldron, I'm a big fan of his. So we will talk to Michael Waldron. Molly Rubin is also here to bring the sort of football bona fides to this conversation about a television show about college football. So that was very useful to the conversation because certainly I could not provide that. Rob Mahoney will be back next week. We're doing the new season of Slow Horses, episode one. We've already recorded that episode. So that will be dropping next week.
after that episode drops. Just a quick preview of our conversation with Michael Waldron. Chad Powers season two spoilers, obviously. So if you haven't watched all of Chad Powers season two, it was dropped on Hulu last week. You're going to want to do that before you listen to this podcast. So spoiler warning for Chad Powers. We talked about how Chad Powers relates to Michael Waldron's experience doing superhero storytelling for Marvel. We talked about what classic television like Mad Men, Veep, Breaking Bad and Fleabag, et cetera, how all of those things are in the mix for Chad Power season two. So a real prestige TV feed special there. And then our last question for Michael, which I really loved his answer to, was sort of advice for people who want to get into making television, sort of how he would advise they go about that.
So you're going to stay tuned for that answer. So that is what we're doing today. And let's go now to our conversation with Michael Waldron. All right, we are here today with the great Michael Walder. Michael, welcome to the podcast. Hi, guys. We're thrilled to have you here. Thank
you for having me.
What a treat. What a joy. It's such an honor.
I'm honored.
The honor is ours. What a thrill. We've been following your career since Loki season one, at the very least.
You wrote my first ink
in the trades. Your first ever ink in the trades. Feature well. Vanity Fair. The big times. That
was like...
Fancy photo shoot. I remember it
well. I read that and I was like...
I've arrived.
I am not... I can't. I'm not this guy. I was like, whoa.
Why is Michael Waldron fascinated by the film Heat and how does it influence Chad Powers?
It was deep pandemic. Yeah. So we spent like four hours on Zoom. It was awesome. There was nothing else to do. Yeah. And you also showed me the like one million Post-its you had from trying to figure out the Loki time loops and all those other things that were going on. Post-its. Yeah. Yeah. Not a cork board, not dry erase. No, I'm so disoriented. The vessel of choice.
Yeah,
just
making it up is all bullshit.
What happens when the adhesive fades? You
start
over.
You prune the timeline.
You start over. That's what the TVA is really for. All right, we are here to talk about Chad Power season two, among other things. Mallory's here as our football expert. I'm here as someone who watches television sometimes. But my first question for you is actually about movies, Michael Waldron, because we work at The Ringer. I am legally obliged to start with this question, which is a couple weeks ago when I saw you at Chad Power's event, you told me that one of the main inspos for season two was the film Heat, as well as The Dark Knight, which is also just based on Heat. Yes. And so my question for you is, since we at The Ringer are obsessed with Heat as well, what do you think it is about that film that is so irresistible to people who love telling stories?
It's just, it's so... Is there anything cooler than a guy my age talking about
heat on a podcast? I mean, we work with Chris Ryan, so... Just
finally, that's what people get to see. You know, I
think it's... You said you wanted to come to the ringer. Right, we're here. We're
used to it. I mean, I think there is just there's something it's just cool. How do you how do you define what that is? The movie is just everybody in it is cool. They're doing cool shit. It's like that. That is kind of what you're what you're what I'm always chasing is, you know, what how do we make this cool?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:19–2:30
2
Why is Michael Waldron fascinated by the film Heat and how does it influence Chad Powers?
2:30–7:54
3
How does Waldron use the concept of a ‘do‑over’ to shape flawed characters in the series?
7:54–16:47
4
What challenges arise when writing flawed characters on a long‑term arc?
16:47–22:45
5
How did writing Season 2 differ from Season 1 for Chad Powers?
22:45–28:19
6
What impact does the NIL era have on the show’s storytelling and realism?
28:19–33:31
7
How do yearning and romance drive the narrative in Season 2?
33:31–43:00
8
Which past project taught Waldron the most about running a TV show?
43:00–44:52