For years after it ended, sitcom fans were looking for a worthy successor to 30 Rock, the NBC workplace comedy from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock famous for packing in an incredibly high number of jokes per minute…and they found it, in a Netflix show from Fey and Carlock called Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. It ran for four seasons in the late 2010s and it was great.
But after that ended, fans needed yet another successor, and it looks like one has arrived. Created by Robert Carlock and Sam Means (with Tina Fey executive producing), The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is airing its first season on NBC and Peacock right now. It’s a hysterical comedy that deserves way more attention.
The Synopsis of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
Tracy Jordan and Harry Potter, together at last
The show follows former football star Reggie Dinkins, played by 30 Rock veteran Tracy Morgan. Dinkins once played for the New York Jets but lost his career when it came out that he was gambling on his own games, inspiring TIME magazine to name him Man of the Year (“But Like When We Gave It To Hitler,” the subhead clarifies). He’s managed to hold onto his wealth thanks to the canny management of his hard-working ex-wife Monica, played by Cosby Show and Living Single veteran Erika Alexander. In order to get back into the good graces of the public, Reggie hires Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) to make a movie about his life, fully intending for it to be a puff piece. But Arthur, who has pretensions of artistic integrity, wants to go deeper.
That’s the basic hook of the show. At first, it looks like Arthur has the upper hand over the washed-up Reggie, but they’re on more even footing than it seems, since Arthur became unemployable after having a nervous breakdown while directing a Marvel movie. (“I am not an organ donor!” he screams after falling down in the viral video of his meltdown. “Do NOT take my organs!”)
The combative bond between Reggie and Arthur gives the show a heart, but like any sitcom, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins lives and dies on the strength of its cast and its jokes. And in this case, they’re both excellent.
The Cast of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
Comedy dream team
Tracy Morgan has a way of delivering lines that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone accurately imitate or describe. I dare AI to recreate him. He’s blunt and loud almost to the point of it being too much, but pulls back just enough so there’s sufficient space for a laugh. Carlock, who worked with Morgan for years on 30 Rock, knows to give him counterpoints to play with, like how Reggie will reveal in the middle of a big dense speech that he also has a deep knowledge of the Latin language. Morgan always makes it work.
Morgan is ably backed up by Saturday Night Live veteran Bobby Moynihan, who plays Reggie’s live-in burnout best friend and former teammate Rusty. Alexander brings a classic sitcom steadiness to the role of Monica, who often gets saddled with the job of reacting to everything around her so we know how wacky it is. That said, she also gets plenty of moments to shine, like when she goes to a wine bar and makes flirty eyes at a handsome guy across the room only to realize there’s something very wrong with him. “Oh my god, he’s dead!” the waitress yells. “No one drink the pinot grigio!” Of course, we end on Monica dribbling her swallow back into her glass.
And then there’s Daniel Radcliffe, who so far is stealing the show as Arthur, who’s all wiry limbs and wide-eyed neurosis. Since finishing out the Harry Potter movies, Radcliffe has made sure to go far off the beaten path when looking for new roles. He’s done sitcoms before, like the underrated period comedy Miracle Workers, but The Fall of Rise of Reggie Dinkins is a bit more mainstream, so this could be the first time a lot of people see Radcliffe’s comedy chops. He’s great at the physical comedy bits (if that was actually him and not a stunt double, I am impressed with his parkour abilities), and gives great deadpan line readings, like when Arthur describes how his ethics as a documentary filmmaker preclude him from getting involved in the lives of his subjects, no matter the circumstances. “Once when I was making a nature documentary I watched a sloth kill itself,” he says in one episode. “It took four days. I don’t know where it got the gun.”
Rounding out the cast are younger performers like Precious Way as Reggie’s influencer fiancé Brina and Jalyn Hall as his son Carmelo, who finds it hard to play high school football with such an infamous dad. “I take more crap than anyone, and there’s a kid on our team named Osama Epstein,” he complains.
The prognosis of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
Season 2 or we riot and/or complain on the internet
Like 30 Rock, the humor in The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins leans towards the absurd. It technically takes place in our reality, but if our reality chugged a bunch of Red Bull right before coming onstage. The jokes come fast and furious, and 30 Rock fans will be pleased to know that the writers are still making up fake TV shows that sound just slightly more insane than what’s actually popular these days, like a fake true crime docuseries called Blonde, White, and Gone. “She’s blonde, and white, and yet, she’s gone,” the narrator tells us.
The first season of the show has 10 episodes, with new ones airing linearly on Mondays and becoming available to watch on Peacock some time later. NBC hasn’t said whether they’re going to renew the series yet, but with actors and jokes this strong, it’d be a crime not to.
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The final two episodes of The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins Season 1 will air together on Monday, April 13. The show is definitely one of the best reasons to fire up Peacock to come along in a while, beating out games and short videos. It remains to be seen whether this show can eventually take its place in the sitcom hall of fame, but it’s got everything it needs to go the distance, so long as it’s given the time.
Release Date
January 18, 2026
Network
NBC
Directors
Rhys Thomas
Cast
Daniel Radcliffe
Arthur Tobin
Susan Varon
Upper West Side Woman
Tracy Morgan
Reggie Dinkins
Bobby Moynihan
Rusty Boyd
