The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins TV Review: Daniel Radcliffe and Tracy Morgan score with this mockumentary comedy

Plot: Disgraced former football star Reggie Dinkins is on a mission to rehabilitate his image with the help of award-winning filmmaker Arthur Tobin. In order to earn back the admiration of his fans and the respect of his family, Reggie will also have to confront the ghosts of his past.

Review: Back during the NFL playoffs, NBC aired a special screening of the pilot episode of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, the new sitcom from Robert Carlock and Sam Means. Executive produced by Tina Fey, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins blends the successful mockumentary format seen in The Office, Modern Family, and Abbot Elementary. Enlisting 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan in the title role and bringing in Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe alongside him, this sitcom is another surreal and hilarious show that takes aim at the National Football League in the way that Tina Fey’s 30 Rock skewered NBC and its various parent companies. Co-starring Erika Alexander and Saturday Night Live veteran Bobby Moynihan, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is the best network sitcom in a long time.

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins follows the title football star years after being unceremoniously banned from the NFL. After a career of fame and celebrity, Reggie (Tracy Morgan) is desperate to remove the stain on his legacy and get back into the public’s good graces. With his best friend and former teammate Rusty (Bobby Moynihan) on board to help, Reggie hires documentary filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) to film a documentary about his career and journey back to the NFL. Reggie’s manager, Monica (Erika Alexander), who is also Reggie’s ex-wife, is against the documentary and what it could reveal about the former player’s life. In Reggie’s corner are his young fiancée, Brina (Precious Way), and his son, Carmelo (Jalyn Hall). As Arthur tries to create a special image of Reggie, the ensemble grows closer while pursuing various schemes and ploys to show the world that Reggie is more than a degenerate gambler who was caught betting on NFL games.

Having seen all ten episodes of the first season of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, I know a couple of things for certain. First, I know that Tracy Morgan is hilarious at playing variations of the same character. Reggie Dinkins shares a lot in common with his 30 Rock character, Tracy Jordan, and his The Last O.G. role, Tray Barker. Morgan has a distinct delivery he honed during his tenure on SNL, and he keeps a lot of his 30 Rock demeanor while playing Reggie. Reggie, as a former athlete, has a slightly different vantage point, but his obliviousness to certain common courtesies remains. The biggest difference is the documentary-style approach in this series, which shows us Reggie on and off camera and just how similar he is in both capacities. Secondly, this series confirms just how hilarious Daniel Radcliffe is. Known for his iconic movie roles and his ability to sing and perform on stage, Radcliffe expanded his comedy resume here after four distinct roles on the TBS sitcom Miracle Workers. Radcliffe plays Arthur Tobin as a take on countless filmmakers who have made the jump from indie cinema to big studio filmmaking, with a very specific jab at Marvel Studios films that factors into why Arthur has decided to take on Reggie’s documentary project. Both Morgan and Radcliffe have radically different approaches, but they work well together.

Each episode of the series follows an overarching narrative throughout the season as Reggie and Arthur work to make the documentary, but the episodes also stand alone and can be enjoyed independently. With roadblocks and schemes factoring in from episode to episode, we get to know the backstory about both of the main characters, as well as Bobby Moynihan’s Rusty and Erika Alexander’s Monica. Moynihan is great as a broadly comic supporting player, while Living Single veteran Alexander allows Monica to play things straight but also get involved in some of the zanier subplots. All ten episodes offer memorable moments that rival later seasons of 30 Rock and Parks & Recreation, since these actors feel like they have a good grasp of who their characters are. Both Precious Way and Jalyn Hall offer fun supporting roles that add to the plot rather than serve as mere backup characters. Way portrays Brina as a fully rounded character, not a trophy girlfriend, while Jalyn’s Carmelo gets to add some fun asides and candid interviews that flesh out each episode. The entire cast gets a decent amount of screentime to shine, and everyone is up for the goofy humor as much as the natural comedy of the story itself.

While Tina Fey does not have any direct writing or creative input on The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, the series feels like a natural successor to both 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Co-creators Robert Carlock and Sam Means both worked on those aforementioned comedies and imbue this series with the same sense of humor. Writing three episodes together, the rest of the writing team includes Phil Augusta Jackson, Meredith Scardino, Evan Susser, Grace Edwards, Auguste White, Mamoudou N’Diaye, Neda Jebelli, Bradley Gill Lewis, and Vivianne Nguyen, who boast experience writing for Parks & Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Insecure, Key & Peele, Space Force, The Four Seasons, and more. Led by director Rhys Thomas (Documentary Now!), The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins follows the expected structure of a half-hour network sitcom but plays as if it could have easily been a streaming project. The comedy pushes the envelope without being unnecessarily crass, making fun of professional athletes as much as it does of the NFL itself. Thankfully, the NFL has a sense of humor and allowed the use of its logos and insignias, which has given the series much more credibility.

While many were underwhelmed by The Paper as a successor to The Office, I appreciate how The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins follows in the footsteps of 30 Rock but differentiates itself in many ways. Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe are a comedy duo I never expected to work as well as they do, but their chemistry and charisma elevate this show to the point of deserving your attention. You don’t have to be a football fan to find this series funny, but sports buffs will get a lot of the references peppered throughout the series. At just ten half-hour episodes, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is worth watching week to week and is an easy candidate for a multi-season run. The entire ensemble is great and brought a lot of laughs that I didn’t know I needed. I would say check this out as it airs to incentivize NBC to bring it back for multiple seasons, but The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is definitely going to be an easy binge once it hits Peacock.

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins premieres February 23rd on NBC.