On the surface, putting Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe together in a show from Robert Carlock may seem like a way of recapturing the “30 Rock” magic as Morgan plays a self-absorbed-but-lovable former star against a tightly wound creative (Radcliffe in place of Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon).
However, push past the logline of “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” and you can see that Carlock together with co-creator Sam Means crafted a show with the signature blend of weirdness and silliness of “30 Rock,” but with a distinctive flavor thanks not just to Morgan and Radcliffe but the full ensemble that creates a delightful spin on the family sitcom. Erika Alexander, Precious Way, Jalyn Hall and Bobby Moynihan are just as essential to making “Reggie Dinkins” a consistently funny show.
Twenty years ago, Reggie Dinkins (Morgan) was a superstar running back in the NFL until his career imploded in scandal over Dinkins gambling on sports (he says later, “I only gambled on myself,” but the larger joke is how gambling is now fully a part of the sports landscape in a way that’s absurd and gross). Seeking a way to redeem his name, Dinkins recruits Oscar-winning documentarian Arthur Tobin (Radcliffe), who is seeking his own redemption after melting down on set when he tried to direct a Marvel movie. Although Dinkins’ ex-wife and still-agent Monica (Alexander) is wary of Arthur, she reluctantly decides to go along with the project. Along for the ride are Reggie’s sweet, much-younger fiancée Brina (Way), his dutiful teenage son Carmelo (Hall), and former teammate/best-friend Rusty (Moynihan).
What’s so refreshing here is that the showrunners know where the predictable tension points would be in this story and go in opposite directions. There’s no bad blood between Monica and Brina, nor does Monica harbor deep romantic feelings for Reggie. Reggie is fine that his son doesn’t appear to be trying to follow in his father’s footsteps. Everyone just accepts that Rusty is a weird guy living in Reggie’s basement. Rather than have a sitcom where everyone is slinging barbs at each other, the show instead relishes making the characters look ridiculous at their own expense. One of the show’s best jokes comes from sending Monica on a blind date that goes horribly wrong not because of anything she does but from an unexpected misfortune.
Most of the comedy in “Reggie Dinkins” comes as a sneak attack, throwing in some ridiculous one-liner or comic flashback rather than having one character tear down another.
It also helps that all the actors are more than game to appear as silly as possible. For Morgan, there are certainly traces here of Tracy Jordan, but the writers have clearly worked to figure out how a faded sports star would differ from a faded comic actor. The solution is to make Reggie not so much a complication like Jordan would be for Liz Lemon, but the show’s warm center who can’t get out of his own way. The story needs the other characters to rally around Reggie, and while in “30 Rock” Tracy held the center because of the show’s financial necessities, “Reggie Dinkins” is one of family loyalty and love. It’s the rapid-fire comedy and weird moments that stop the show from being too saccharine.
With Morgan providing a solid anchor, it allows all the other actors to shine. Radcliffe is, unsurprisingly, great as the pompous documentarian brought low and finding his own path of redemption. But the full cast has not only their moments, but plenty to build on as well. Because they’re not tearing each other down, the obstacles usually come in the form of outside forces, which leads to great guest characters played by a collection of reliable comic actors, who I won’t spoil here. That requires the characters to bond together in surprising and rewarding ways. We get a recurring dynamic in how other characters are more cutthroat and ruthless in their pursuit of fame and domination, and what has us root for Reggie and his family is that their ultimate focus is on building each other up. Restoring Reggie’s name is the catalyst for the story, but what keeps it humming is combining the characters to help each other out.
The show ends with a good problem for a sitcom to have — it feels like they’ve only started to scratch the surface of what this ensemble and premise can do. At only ten episodes, it feels a bit truncated for what would have been, in decades past, at least a 13-episode midseason replacement. But with lovable characters you can mix and match, as well as plenty of material from the ridiculousness of the sports world (e.g., Reggie’s longtime rival appears on a panel show called “Sports Shouting”), it feels like there’s more than enough here to keep the show running as comforting sitcom that forges an identity separate from that of “30 Rock.”
“The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins” premieres at 8 p.m. ET/PT Monday on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock.
40 Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2026