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Two things that you can always count on when Tina Fey and Robert Carlock make a sitcom is that there will be plenty of funny moments big and small, and that the casting is spot on. We get both of these things in the new NBC series The Fall And Rise Of Reggie Dinkins.
THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: As we see Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan) walk on a lit up football field, with the opening credits of his documentary rolling, we hear him say, “Football was never just a game for me. It was my life.”
The Gist: Reggie Dinkins is a former star NFL running back who eventually played for the New York Jets, but in 2005 he ruined the Jets’ season when he was given a lifetime susupension; as we see later in the episode, he mistakenly called into a SportsCenter-style show and talked to host Brett Mann (Michael Kosta) about his wagers on the AFC Championshi game, thinking he was talking to his bookie.
Reggie has hired documentary filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) to make a documentary about his life, as part of his effort to rehabilitate his image. He shows Arthur an empty Lucite case with a hanger in it, where he wants his yellow Hall of Fame blazer to go. He also has his buddy Rusty Boyd (Bobby Moynihan), who lives in his basement and serves as Dinkins’ “archivist,” spout memorized praise on his behalf.
Arthur doesn’t like all of this, as he wants to see Reggie in his everyday life with his young wife Brina (Precious Way) and his teenage son Carmelo (Jalyn Hall). For his part, Reggie thinks that anything that examines the scandal or any of the more depressing parts of his life is a “bummer.”
When Monica Reese-Dinkins, (Erika Alexander) Reggie’s ex-wife who is still his agent, walks in to see Arthur and his film crew, she understandably comes close to blowing her stack. She has always looked out for Reggie, even through his scandal, and she thinks the documentary is a bad idea.
She’s so frustrated she decides to finally quit being Reggie’s agent, right as she interviews with a big talent agency. When the agency’s president, Barry Hu (Ronny Chieng), hears about the documentary, he shows her unreleased footage of Arthur having a meltdown on the set of a Mavel film he was supposed to direct. This is when it clicks in for Monica: Arthur knows exactly how it feels to have to rebuild a career from a humiliating low point.
Photo: Scott Gries/NBCWhat Shows Will It Remind You Of? Co-created by Robert Carlock and Sam Means, with Tina Fey as one of the executive producers, The Fall And Rise Of Reggie Dinkins has the same feel as other Fey/Carlock series like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Our Take: Just like with every Fey/Carlock series, the funny lines in The Fall And Rise Of Reggie Dinkins come at lightning speed, with mumbled asides almost funnier than most of the bigger gags.
While the mockumentary format of Reggie Dinkins has been done to death, at least we know the parameters of the format here; it’s not just a documentary crew devoting years to a project of unknown origin. The film crew never seems to listen to Arthur when he tells them not to film personal moments that he’s having, while Arthur completely ignores anyone in Reggie’s circle telling him to leave something out, like when Reggie mentions Carmelo’s “fart medicine.”
Another hallmark of a Fey/Carlock sitcom is casting, and how they can make unexpected combinations of actors work well toghether. We already know that Morgan is at his best in Carlock’s (and Fey’s, on SNL and 30 Rock) hands, where he’s given lots of crazy “Tracyisms” to spew but also has plenty of moments where he can actually be human and not a cartoon. We also know how funny Radcliffe has been in recent projects like the Kimmy Schmidt interactive movie and Miracle Workers. But they work great together, and having Alexander in the middle of them makes for an experienced trio that whose confidence in the material is evident.
We watched the four episodes that NBC made available for review, and are happy to see that Carlock and Means are giving time for us to get to know not only Reggie and Arthur, but Monica, Rusty, Carmelo and Brina, too. In one episode, for instance, Monica tries to get back out there to date, and uses Rusty as her “Hitch” to get on the apps. But Carmelo can’t stand to see “my mommy” on dates, even though he’s a teenager and Monica and Reggie have been divorced since he was five.
Photo: Scott Gries/NBCPerformance Worth Watching: Radcliffe isn’t exactly a revelation as Arthur, as we’ve mentioned, but he certainly has a chance to cut completely loose here, and we see that in the scenes where he melts down amongst the tennis balls on the set of the CGI-heavy Marvel film.
Sex And Skin: None.
Parting Shot: As Reggie, Monica and Arthur decide to keep going with the movie, Reggie forgets a scene he had set up for his version of the doc (yes, he wanted to create scenes where he looked like a hero), which invlvolved Rusty being tied up and drugged.
Sleeper Star: Bobby Moynihan has had a productive post-SNL career playing sidekicks that parachute in and say funny stuff. He’s well-suited to play the uncouth and not-overly-bright Rusty.
Most Pilot-y Line: The agency that Monica was interviewing with is called IDK, which is the texting acronym for “I Don’t Know.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. The Fall And Rise Of Reggie Dinkins is as reliably funny as any Fey/Carlock production, with smart writing and a great cast.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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