The 30 Rock Team Is at the Top of Its Game in NBC’s The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins

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Around 2010, a perfect Thursday night meant watching NBC’s incredible comedy block: The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and Community. All four shows are now considered classics, but The Office and Parks and Rec especially changed the world of sitcoms – things haven’t been the same since they went off the air. These shows inspired a wave of feel-good, subtly progressive mockumentaries like Modern Family, Abbott Elementary, and St. Denis Medical. Last year, Peacock tried to recapture that magic with The Paper, a spinoff of The Office, but it felt surprisingly old-fashioned.

I’ve always loved comedies like 30 Rock and Community that are fast-paced, a little chaotic, and full of inside jokes, so I’ve been hoping for something similar. I’m thrilled to say that The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins – a new NBC sitcom starring Tracy Morgan and co-created by Robert Carlock (who worked with Tina Fey on 30 Rock) – feels like a worthy successor. While 30 Rock was a spin-off of Saturday Night Live, this show cleverly draws inspiration from the world of the NFL. Surprisingly, it also borrows a lot of what made The Office so funny.

At the heart of this comedic series is a group of wonderfully mismatched characters – anxious people, naive souls, cynics, and those who are simply out of touch with reality. Actor Tracy Morgan plays Reggie, a former football star trying to rebuild his life after a disastrous live TV confession twenty years ago about betting on his own game. Haunted by shame, Reggie hides away in his mansion, which he’s managed to keep thanks to the smart business moves of his manager, agent, and ex-wife, Monica (played brilliantly by Erika Alexander). They co-parent their innocent teenage son, Carmelo, and Reggie’s unconventional family also includes his aspiring musician fiancée, Brina, and his goofy, down-on-his-luck best friend, Rusty, who lives in the basement.

Reggie, wanting to improve his public image, hires acclaimed director Arthur Tobin – known for his work with Daniel Radcliffe – to create a positive documentary about his life. However, Tobin refuses to simply create a promotional piece, valuing his integrity as a filmmaker. Monica questions whether Tobin, a sophisticated Englishman, can truly grasp Reggie’s complicated story of rising from poverty to fame and then scandal. Ironically, Tobin understands career downfall all too well, as a funny, shaky video reveals his own on-set meltdown during a Marvel film. Ultimately, everyone involved is searching for a chance to rebuild their life and career.

Reggie Dinkins is a comedy presented as a documentary, but with a twist – the director appears on screen as a character. Like Parks and Recreation, it features a group of endearing characters. While it has amusing antagonists – like Reggie’s rival, a surprisingly cutthroat former NFL player named Jerry Basmati – the show lacks the sharply cynical characters found in other comedies. Reggie’s team is simply a group of genuinely good people.

It’s possible the show’s creators were smart to release it now, at a time when real-world problems make it difficult to enjoy fictional villains. While funny, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – a comedy about a woman rebuilding her life after years of captivity and abuse – isn’t something I’m planning to revisit anytime soon.

Despite its fast-paced, over-the-top style, the show still feels surprisingly relevant today. The quick cuts to things like amateur videos, silly commercials, and a loud, sports debate show perfectly capture how we experience things through screens. The show continues to be filled with references to pop culture, diving deep into topics like Russell Crowe’s band and the Korean feminist movement 4B. Reggie is obsessed with a ridiculous procedural drama called FDNY: Chicago (narrated in a serious tone: “In the New York Fire Department, there’s a special unit that fights fires in Chicago”). While it might be impossible to recapture the magic of 30 Rock at its best, Reggie Dinkins is already proving to be an impressive return to form.

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2026-02-21 00:06