Tracy Morgan kept plenty busy in the years following “30 Rock’s” 2013 series finales, popping up in movies, lending his inimitable voice to animated projects and starring on a sitcom, TBS’ “The Last O.G.,” for four seasons. But he never stopped missing the joy he felt working on the zany mid-aughts comedy created by Tina Fey, in which he played an eccentric superstar named Tracy Jordan. Morgan was still regularly in touch with Fey as well as “30 Rock” executive producer Robert Carlock and writer Sam Means, so he proposed a band reunion of sorts.
“He kind of raised his hand and said he was bored,” Carlock recalled. “We said, ‘Great.’”
And thus was born “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” a mockumentary series from NBC starring Morgan as the title character, a once-heroic running back for the New York Jets who was kicked out of the NFL for betting on his own games. Now a loving family man who’s still stung that he’ll never be in the Hall of Fame because of the gambling scandal, he hires an Oscar-winning documentarian, Arthur Tobin, to film his redemption story.
Due to a viral meltdown on the set of a big-budget superhero movie, Arthur (played to pretentious perfection by Daniel Radcliffe) is a Hollywood pariah, so he too is maneuvering a comeback.
Together, they make an odd couple forged in comedy gold. Though they butt heads over the direction of the doc — Reggie expects hagiography; Arthur is committed to cinéma vérité — they eventually come to understand each other. Like “30 Rock,” the show is densely packed with absurdist humor, but there’s also a sweet earnestness to “Reggie Dinkins” that is less prevalent in Fey’s Emmy-winning series.
“That’s what we wanted to do: just good old-fashioned TV,” Morgan said, sitting in a New York City restaurant during a photo shoot for TheWrap. “You want everybody to put their phones down and just watch TV in the living room — family together.”
Family is paramount for Morgan, the proud father of three adult sons and a teenage daughter. The “Reggie Dinkins” cast and crew is a continuation of that family — and Radcliffe occupies a special place therein. The “SNL” vet from Brooklyn and the erstwhile Boy Who Lived from across the pond didn’t know each other prior to filming the show, but they connected instantly. “Tracy and I obviously come from very, very different backgrounds,” Radcliffe said. “But we both just love what we do and being surrounded by really funny people.”
Morgan’s take on their chemistry? “It’s out of left field. Physically, he’s very funny — running in the scene with his headphones on, it’s hilarious. I liken it to Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton. Every night I go to sleep to ‘The Honeymooners.’ Their timing, that’s me and Daniel Radcliffe.”
Or, as Means put it: “They’re each other’s big brother.” To which Carlock quipped, “No one can quite figure out who the little brother is.”
Chronologically, of course, Radcliffe, 36, is the younger brother by 21 years. He grew up watching Morgan on “SNL” and “30 Rock” and previously worked with Carlock and Means on the 2020 TV movie “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend.” He remains in awe of his co-star’s singular comedic style.
“It’s crazy, what he can make sound not just hilarious but also like a thing that someone would actually say. Like, ‘Books are brain movies,’ a line from the pilot. Most actors couldn’t say that. And I remember reading that line and going, I can hear him saying it.”
Beyond sharing a love of comedy, the actors are deeply bonded friends. Morgan has spoken about the challenges he’s faced since his 2014 road accident, when a speeding, 40-ton Walmart truck hit his limousine on the New Jersey turnpike, killing his friend James McNair and putting him in a coma. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones, and still struggles with pain.
“I think particularly since his accident, there’s a part of him that just feels very lucky in general, and particularly to be on set,” Radcliffe said. “And I think for him to be back on set with a lot of the ’30 Rock’ team felt really fulfilling. I really care about him, and I want him to both be having a good day and be enjoying his life and his time on the show.”
The day before I met with the Reggie Dinkins team at the photo shoot, NBC announced that it was renewing the series for a second season. (A day before that, Radcliffe had been nominated for his second Tony Award for the one-man play “Every Brilliant Thing”; two years earlier, he’d won for “Merrily We Roll Along.”) The news seemed to put everyone on set in a good mood.
Waiting for his next setup, Morgan delivered “Star Wars” riffs that only he could dream up: Lando Calrissian is a fool for leaving “a good union job” with the Rebel Alliance to help the Dark Side. Darth Vader is a freeloader who leaves epic messages on his son’s answering machine (not voicemail): “Darth Vader started calling around there asking for money. ‘Luke, it’s me, your father, DV. Pick up, Luke!’” And tough for this Wookiee loyalist to hear, but hilarious all the same: “Chewbacca is a deadbeat. He’s behind on his child-support payments. Everybody knows it.”
Later, when Morgan and Radcliffe sat for photos together, I asked them each to name the best part of working with the other. “He can do what he can do, be as funny as he is and also be vulnerable,” Radcliffe said. “So it’s pretty f—ing cool to get to watch him work and be a part of that process.”
“The best thing about working with Daniel? He’s kind, he’s generous, he’s humble,” Morgan said. “We’re family. Whenever we’re in a scene together, when the director says cut, he’s always helping me up. He knows I got hit by a truck. He’s always there for me, always asks me, Am I all right? Am I OK? Making sure I’m not hurting in any way.” Morgan lowered his head before continuing softly. “See, that’s the thing about him. He gets me crying and breaking down.”
Gamely, Radcliffe jumped in. “And also, he takes me to Knicks games. No one else does that.”
Morgan snapped back into action. “Connected! He’s connected over there at the Garden,” he said, referring, of course, to the New York Knicks’ home arena, Madison Square Garden. “He’s not just a made guy with a crew of good earners. He’s related to the Gambinos on some level. Sammy squealed on him, but he beat the case. He’s got a lot going on. Don’t be fooled by this guy. I once heard him say, ‘You’re gonna be sleeping with the fishes.’”
This story first ran in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from the issue here.
