The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins

The comedy series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins stars Tracy Morgan as a disgraced former football star and Daniel Radcliffe as a documentary filmmaker who team up to make a movie. The NBC/Peacock mockumentary sitcom also stars Erika Alexander and Bobby Moynihan, with creators who come from shows like 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Girls5eva – and the joke density bears that out. The show is back for a second season, so today we’re revisiting our conversation about the series. If you need more great ensemble comedies, check out these episodes: ‘Widow’s Bay’ is an island in the scream https://www.npr.org/2026/06/16/nx-s1-5855729/widows-bay-is-an-island-in-the-scream Lisa Kudrow returns in 'The Comeback,' and we did need to see that https://www.npr.org/2026/04/01/nx-s1-5766473/lisa-kudrow-returns-in-the-comeback-and-we-did-need-to-see-that Gen Z awkwardly transitions into 'Adults' https://www.npr.org/2025/06/04/1253616108/gen-z-awkwardly-transitions-into-adults Connect with Pop Culture Happy Hour: Letterboxd https://letterboxd.com/nprpopculture/ / Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pchh Our weekly newsletter https://www.npr.org/newsletter/pop-culture Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org http://plus.npr.org/. See pcm.adswizz.com https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This message comes from Capella University. That spark you feel? That's your drive for more. Capella University's Flex Path learning format lets you earn your degree at your pace without putting life on pause. Learn more at capella.edu.

• 0:15Speaker 01

  I'm a Carlock head, a Carlocky, and I'm locked in for Carlock. So, you know, I had a good feeling. I was optimistic. You tell me Girls 5 Eva. I'm like, obviously, I'm gonna watch all of that. That's my new personality. You tell me football player, I'm like, well, I'll give it an episode. Or 10.

• 0:36Glen Weldon?

  The comedy series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins stars Tracy Morgan as a disgraced former football star and Daniel Radcliffe as a documentary filmmaker who team up to make a movie. The twist, Radcliffe's filmmaker, has also been publicly shamed, and the documentary we watched getting made is his attempt to put the past behind him. I know what you're saying, another documentary sitcom. Well, what if I told you that the co-creators and showrunners come from shows like 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Girls 5 Eva? And that the joke density kind of bears that out? The show just returned for its second season, so we thought it was a perfect time to revisit our conversation about the series. I'm Glen Weldon, and today, in this encore episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, we're talking about The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.

• 1:20Glen Weldon?

  Joining me today is one of the hosts of NPR's Code Switch podcast, Gene Demby. Hey, Gene.

• 1:25Speaker 03

  What's good with you, Glenn?

• 1:26Glen Weldon?

  It's so good to see you. And with us is culture writer Margaret H. Willis. And also great to be seen. Hey, Margaret.

• 1:30Speaker 01

  Such a joy to be here, Glenn.

• 1:32Glen Weldon?

  I'm glad you're here. In The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, Tracy Morgan is Reggie Dinkins, a former New York Jet who was banned from the NFL for gambling. Daniel Radcliffe is Arthur Tobin, an Oscar-winning documentarian whose implosion on a major film set went viral, destroying his career. The two men need each other, so Arthur embeds himself in Reggie's palatial mansion to make a documentary about him. Reggie's high-strung ex-wife is still his manager. She's played by Erica Alexander. Reggie's former teammate Rusty lives in his basement. He's played by the great and good Bobby Moynihan. Robert Carlock is one of the showrunners. He was the showrunner on 30 Rock and Kimmy Schmidt. Sam Means is the other. He wrote on 30 Rock, Kimmy Schmidt, and Girls 5 Eva.

• 2:14Glen Weldon?

  The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins airs on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock, because that's the new normal. Margaret, what'd you think?

• 2:22Speaker 01

  I loved this show so much. The only thing that slowed me down when I was watching it is that I did have to keep stopping and like looping other people into it. I'm a Carlock head, a Carlocky, and I'm locked in for Carlock. So, you know, I had a good feeling. I was optimistic. You tell me Girls 5 Eva. I'm like, obviously, I'm gonna watch all of that. That's my new personality. You tell me football player, I'm like, well, I'll give it an episode. Or 10, in this case, because I certainly watched the whole season. I've watched a few episodes multiple times. And two things here, I feel, are exceptional. One, there is the Carlock joke density and joke success. And the other thing that really, really, really delights me about this show is Daniel Radcliffe.

• 3:07Speaker 01

  I've known that he had something like this in him for a long time, because he's from the Carrie Fisher school of using F-U money and cultural cachet from one big franchise to sort of make whatever career you want for yourself. He's done an incredible job. He's done so many cool projects. He's demonstrated that he's a very good comedy guy. But him and his commitment to a bit, combined with the kind of bits a Robert Carlock-led writing team can come up with, is just delicious.

• 3:40Speaker 04

  Interviews are like jazz. You have to improvise, feel it out, like, wow!

• 3:52Speaker 01

  There are some things that can't be clipped, because they are physical. But his skill in delivering this material and the quality of the material. We know that he is a documentary professor. He teaches documentary filmmaking at the University of Maryland. But what we don't know until he needs to send his posters back to his office is that he works at...

• 4:11Speaker 04

  You can mail my posters back to me at the University of Maryland Center for Documentary, Anime, and Pornography.

• 4:16Speaker 01

  That's a great joke. I'm dying. I'm weeping. I'm texting it to my friends. Congratulations, you have a great new show ahead of you.

• 4:23Glen Weldon?

  There we go. Okay, that's Margaret. Gene, you are the closest this show is ever gonna come to a sports guy.

• 4:30Speaker 03

  I mean, Stephen, too.

• 4:32Glen Weldon?

  I mean, Stephen Thompson, sure, but you are a football guy. What'd you make of this?

• 4:36Speaker 03

  So, real quick, do you think Daniel Radcliffe was doing his own stunts?

• 4:40Glen Weldon?

  I really don't.

• 4:41Speaker 03

  That was one of the notes that I made.

• 4:43Speaker 01

  I believe it of him.

• 4:44Speaker 03

  He jumps over a car at one point, and I was like, wait, did he jump over the car for real?

• 4:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, I believe it.

• 4:48Speaker 03

  So, I thought the show was a good hang. I don't think I was as high on it as you are, Margaret, but I really dug it. I mean, like, it's one of those, you both have commented on how joke density is. And every episode, at one point, I like cackled out loud or something. Like, I just laughed really, really hard. I was finishing up the last couple of episodes last night. My wife had gone to bed, and I was like, oh, that was really loud. There was also like these sort of stretches, like, oh, this is fun. Like, nothing sort of, sort of stuck to me. Although, like, I have a lot of love for the cast. Like, I love Erika Alexander so much, so much. She's one of those people, like, why isn't she in more stuff? There's that weird, like, Tracy Morgan has this very strange way of reading lines that, like, is one of those things, like...

• 5:28Glen Weldon?

  Absolutely.

• 5:28Speaker 03

  I think we, like, are used to it now, but it's still, like, it's just so, like, weirdly, like, disconcerting sometimes. Like, it's so funny, right? It's like, it's funny, because like, if someone else said this, this would not work, because it's like the way that words come out of his mouth that, like, that makes these things work.

• 5:43Speaker 05

  I devoted my whole life to entertaining you people. Are you not entertained? Gladiator. Nice. The only thing this country loves more than a hero is ten one down. Mm-hmm. Tiger Woods, y'all.

• 5:56Speaker 03

  Because it is like a very joke-thank show. And it felt like sometimes there were these, I love a good stupid digression.

• 6:01Glen Weldon?

  Cutaways, yeah.

• 6:02Speaker 03

  I love that kind of stuff. But it also felt like the way the season ends, that nothing really kind of happens, like, you know? And so, oh, no, we got to do this all again, and like, we got to get the game back all together. And I was like, I didn't mind hanging out with these people, but it didn't feel like there was, like, it was making a compelling argument for, like, dun, dun, dun, like, let's come back for this, like, crew of very, like, you know, zany people, like, in their, you know, shenanigans next season. Although, like, you know, again, like, they all get moments to shine. Like, Bobby Moynihan is one of those people who just sort of, like, he's like, just like flits around the edges and makes things better, you know what I'm saying? I just, I don't know, like, I liked so much of this show, and it felt like a good hang, but it didn't, like, really, like, stick to my ribs, you know what I'm saying?

• 6:40Glen Weldon?

  Yeah, that's a good point. All right, we've got more thoughts about The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins after the break. This message comes from Cook Unity, the first chef-led meal delivery service where every meal is handcrafted in local micro kitchens, not mass-produced in large facilities. With hundreds of dishes to choose from and over 10 different dietary preferences, like high protein, low sodium, GLP-1, and more, taste what happens when real, award-winning chefs make fresh, small-batch meals just for you. Go to cookunity.com/happyhour or enter code HAPPYHOUR before checkout to get 50% off your first order. This message comes from NPR sponsor, the Capital One Venture X Business Card.

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• 8:44Glen Weldon?

  And we're back. This show could have been, from the premise, you think the overarching thing is it's somebody going to be trying to wrest control of the documentary that's being made about them. We're getting a lot of documentaries now where the subject is the executive producer. If it was about an overarching struggle, I think that might be a little less Karlockian. Because again, this is a joke engine, this show, as opposed to an arc, right? And also, let's be real, like, if we're going to still be doing sitcom mockumentaries in the year 2026, we should stop with the Office Parks and Rec formula of pretending that the crew doesn't exist. And the fact that we're making the show explicitly about the interaction between the crew and the subject, I feel like that's overdue. I'm here for it.

• 9:22Speaker 05

  We pull this off, people gonna see me in a whole new light, like they did at the Pharrells movie. Did you know he grew up Lego?

• 9:30Glen Weldon?

  We've all mentioned Tracy Morgan. He is such a singular comic presence. Every comic has a Tracy Morgan, because you can. Because again, his line delivery, his whole affect is so weird. He doesn't read his lines. He declames them. And here's the thing, that me, as a comedy nerd, what fascinates me is that he will often take a breath in the middle of a punchline, which shouldn't work. Comedy is all about timing, right? It depends on rhythm. And yet, he breaks that fundamental comedy rule. And what you end up with, he comes off as somebody, in just about every role he plays, he's somebody who comes off as clueless but not stupid. And I can't define what that distinction is for you.

• 10:15Glen Weldon?

  If you ask me to, I will just point at Tracy Morgan, because that's what I think he's doing.

• 10:20Speaker 03

  A thousand percent.

• 10:20Glen Weldon?

  And Daniel Radcliffe can do comedy. You guys should check out a show, Miracle Workers, if you haven't. He's so good on that show. He's been doing this kind of comedy. This is the kind of comedy he's made for, which is kind of high-status guy brought low. But I'm going to take a little bit of exception with some of the things you said. I do think this show is a joke engine. I also think it's deliberately pitched to be a bit more grounded, a bit lower key than thoroughly goofy shows like 30 Rock and Kimmy Schmidt. Now, every show in the history of existence is less goofy and lower key than 30 Rock and Kimmy Schmidt.

• 10:51Speaker 01

  Right.

• 10:51Glen Weldon?

  Because those are joke engines first and character comedy second. They're cutting the joke density a bit with baking powder. I don't know what you cut things with. But like, if Kimmy Schmidt is Greek yogurt, this is regular yogurt. And I wasn't buying that in the beginning, because pilot problems, right? There is clearly an attempt to give everybody a bit. Monica, the ex-wife, is uptight. Brina, the fiancee, played by Precious Way, is an influencer.

• 11:17Speaker 01

  Who's great.

• 11:17Speaker 03

  What are they fond of?

• 11:18Glen Weldon?

  She's great. But that's the extent of her character at first. But as the season progresses, I vibed with it. I got into the characters, because they were, they do the smart thing that sitcoms need to do with characters, is pair them off in different combinations. So they can kind of bounce off each other. Yeah, you think it's going to be about resting control as stock, but that would be a little too much conflict, I think, and a little too, I think there'd be a, an edge that this show is interested in. The show plays to the heart, more than that.

• 11:46Speaker 01

  It's not just the fake documentary thing that it's sort of biting from Abbott Elementary. I feel like it's also aiming for that type of heartwarming-ness. And I think it's getting more like a heart tepidness. Like, I'm rooting for all these characters, I like them, but like, the emotional moments aren't what I'm there for. But maybe that could change with time? Like, I like all of them, and I do like that they're just like, solidly decent people across the board. You know, nobody is craven. You know, and that's especially in the later seasons of 30 Rock.

• 12:17Glen Weldon?

  Craig Robinson's character, his nemesis, is cartoonishly evil, but that's, that's fun.

• 12:21Speaker 03

  Craig Robinson plays like a malevolent Michael Strahan figure.

• 12:23Glen Weldon?

  Yeah, that's true. That's true. Even though it's less joke dense, these jokes, Gene, I feel exactly the same way you do. Three or four times an episode, for me, you get these precious, diamond-hard gems, these jokes that I couldn't imagine it's taken this long in human civilization to come up with, because they feel like they've always been there, they've just been discovered. So the jokes are one thing. The other thing that brought me back every time, even when I, you know, we were getting some fakey emotional scenes that weren't really doing it for me, then Bobby Moynihan's Rusty would show up.

• 12:57Speaker 07

  Now, Reggie lets me live in his basement. You know, best friend stuff. I also run all of his social media. We went viral last week, because I had a rash on my neck, and a bunch of nurses reached out.

• 13:08Glen Weldon?

  And I think he is where I keyed in the most, because he strikes me as the kind of the vestigial tale of 30 Rock. Because, you know, he's giving you so much more than what's on the page. He is written pathetic and sad, and Moynihan's delivering that. But he's just funny and charismatic. So, I mean, I think in the early going, some of the actors are hitting their marks, delivering these lines, and there's, these are very quick scripts. And so you have to kind of, you want to hit your marks and deliver the lines. But Moynihan is just in his element here. I want to pelt that guy with Emmys. I think this guy is doing exactly what you need to do in this situation.

• 13:41Speaker 03

  I think about like Bobby Moynihan as this dude who's always done that thing. The very, very funny Tom Hanks skit from SNL.

• 13:47Speaker 01

  David S. Pumpkins?

• 13:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, the very funny David S. Pumpkin sketch. Glenn just made a face, this is a ridiculous sketch. And so much of that sketch works because Bobby Moynihan is just making stupid faces in the background, and just like, like, it's just very weird and like.

• 14:04Speaker 01

  You think that works because of Tom Hanks, but it works because of Bobby Moynihan.

• 14:06Speaker 03

  Because of Bobby Moynihan. Because like Bobby Moynihan, literally on the edges of the screen. And like, one of the things, like, just to go back to Tracy Morgan again, is like, I just remember when he first popped up, like, he was, you know, he's been around for a minute, but like, even way back in the day on Martin, like, he was, he played Hustle Man. His job was to come in and say completely outlandish stuff, and it was hilarious. And it's weird to see how like, that's evolved as he's gotten older. Because at first, like, when he first got to SNL, I was like, is he in on the, like, it feels like, it almost felt like sometimes like, he would maybe was being laughed at, and maybe wasn't in on the joke that he was being laughed at. And now, it's very clear that he like, has, like, sort of like, complete control of this thing that he's doing. This sort of very all-piloted thing that he's doing that we're like, very used to. And so, even in the early parts of 30 Rock, it's like, is he the butt of the joke here?

• 14:50Speaker 03

  And does he know that he's about the joke? It was like, very, this sort of uncomfortable thing, place where he's living. And that is not, he's evolved to the point where it seems like, that tension is some place that he's very comfortable. Like, to your point, Glenn, he's clueless but not dumb, you know?

• 15:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:03Speaker 03

  It's a very hard place to live, you know?

• 15:04Speaker 01

  I would clip a joke here, which is Arthur S. Tobin asking him, does he know what documentary means?

• 15:11Speaker 04

  Reggie, you know what the word documentary means, right?

• 15:14Speaker 05

  Well, I assume it's from the Latin word documentum, meaning lesson or instruction. I took Latin in college, because I thought it would help me meet Dominican chicks. But then I liked it.

• 15:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's a great line.

• 15:26Glen Weldon?

  This is one of those jokes, this is one of those diamond-hard jokes. Like, why hasn't anybody made that joke?

• 15:30Speaker 01

  It is very special to be able to deliver all parts of that joke, and have every bit of it feel equally plausible. Like, yes, you would think Latin would help you pick up Dominican chicks, but you would come to love it because you have genuine intellectual curiosity, and, you know, 40 years later, you'd still remember it.

• 15:48Glen Weldon?

  Yeah, I mean, him, him knowing Latin is a runner. Turns out to be a runner that comes up in the show. But he's called upon to do something he hasn't really been called upon to do in, in like, 30 Rock. I mean, like, he has to act. He has to be in a scene with another actor. And so the chemistry between Morgan and Radcliffe, that's what the show is built around. I'll be honest, I didn't always feel it. They're coming from two very different places comedically and theatrically, I guess, which is the hook. But I sometimes feel like, when they're not firing off jokes, and they just both need to be present in a scene together, I don't know if I always felt it. Was it there for you?

• 16:23Speaker 01

  No, I think that's true. I would, I would agree. I think it wasn't a distraction for me, but when I compare his dynamic with Arthur S. Tobin to his dynamic with the other actors on the show, like, he's got such a natural way with Brina, Precious Way, the dynamic with him and Erika Alexander is so good and well-established, but there, yeah, there's a little bit less connection.

• 16:46Glen Weldon?

  Yeah, but that's the point, right? I can't fault it.

• 16:49Speaker 01

  Sure, yeah. I just hope Robert Karlock's bid here for sort of like, broadly network-appealing show that still has jokes for me and Glenn and Gene in it. I really wish it success.

• 17:03Glen Weldon?

  And also, because so much of the show is based on what's happened in the past, we do get cutaways to the past, and we do, there is a wig budget, thank God. And there is a pretty solid wig budget in this show, and they're stupid visual jokes, but they always get me. I'm a simple man, and they always get me.

• 17:21Speaker 01

  I think it is very impressive that all three of us agree. We laughed aloud at this show while watching it alone.

• 17:26Glen Weldon?

  That's true.

• 17:28Speaker 03

  Absolutely.

• 17:29Glen Weldon?

  That brings us to the end of our show. Margaret H. Willis and Jean Deppi, thank you so much for being here.

• 17:33Speaker 01

  Thanks for having me, Glenn.

• 17:34Speaker 07

  Appreciate you.

• 17:35Glen Weldon?

  Of course. This episode was produced by Liz Metzger and Mike Katsev, and edited by our showrunner Jessica Riedy. And Hello, Come In provides our theme music. Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I'm Glen Weldon, and we'll see you all next time.

• 17:51Speaker 06

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