RIOTUS

Tracy Morgan is one of my favorite comedians ever, and I feel he’s one of the most beloved working today. I first noticed him back when he was on a little-known sketch comedy series called Uptown Comedy Club, and his guest appearances on Martin as Hustle Man. While he was on other big shows later, like Saturday Night Live and then 30 Rock, neither show was my thing at that time. When I did watch, he was by far my favorite part of the show. For me, while he’s great in the film roles he’s been in, it’s on television where he shines the most, and his new show, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, is one of the best new sitcoms I’ve watched in the last few years.

Morgan stars as the titular Reggie Dinkins, a former NFL football player who fell from grace because of a gambling scandal at the height of his career. Now he has a plan to redeem himself by making a documentary of his life with director Arthur Tobin, played by Daniel Radcliffe, who’s also coming off a downturn from a failed Marvel movie. All this is a surprise to Reggie’s ex-wife and manager, Monica, played by Erika Alexander, who doesn’t trust Tobin at first. Still, all three come together in understanding that it can end up being the best for everyone.

So the faux documentary as a format for a sitcom is pretty much the standard format these days, and it’s hard to find new ways to make it work to set it apart from the greats of the last twenty-five years and of other current hits like Abbott Elementary. Yet here, in The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, the director excellently adds the character into the story. No more are they unseen and unspoken camera here through Radcliff’s Tobin, we get a character that is hilariously parallel to our titular one. While I know Radcliff has been on a run of taking on quirky film roles, I just wasn’t ready for just how funny he can be, because here he makes me laugh out loud each episode I watched. He’s able to keep up with Morgan and a legendary sitcom vet, Alexander.

Man, I have to say it’s so delightful to see Erika Alexander on my TV again in a sitcom. Here, playing the straight person to a whole wild bunch of characters, Monica has her little quirks while still at times being the reasonable and sensible mother character you see on sitcoms. Even when dealing with Reggie’s too-young-for-him fiancée Brina (Precious Way), which you’d expect to go into a more antagonistic thread, but here, especially with the great chemistry between Alexander and Way, you get sometimes a big sister/little sister dynamic and at times a mother and daughter dynamic. When these two have stories together, it’s some comedy gold there.

Jalyn Hall plays Carmelo, Reggie and Monica’s son, who usually has some great looks at the camera moments and good sarcastic bits. Hall, who is known for his work on The CW’s All-American, seems to be having fun stretching his comedy chops after growing up in a teen drama for years. There’s not much tension to his character, even though the show alludes to it at times regarding his parents’ wishes for him versus his own wants. I’m not the biggest Bobby Moynihan fan, but here he plays Reggie’s best friend and former teammate who lives with him and is a comedic sidekick foil. His over-the-top punchline focus in the episode could be overkill, but it’s just enough to break points from scene to scene. His slapstick physical comedy gags did work for me throughout the season.

There are some great guest stars in this show. Ronny Chieng is great as a rival for Monica in her management business. He excels at being obnoxious bad guys in stuff. Megan Thee Stallion is fantastic in the few times she appears in the show and does quite well with Daniel Radcliffe when they are in scenes together. I haven’t really talked much about Tracy Morgan, but as I said earlier, this is one of the best things he’s done in years. He leads this show with the right amount of heart and over-the-top ideas you’d expect from a character he’d play. A complete aloof rich guy that lives in the nostalgia of his past greatness, you can see the unfulfilled part of his life because of one mistake. Reggie is hilarious, but the sadness of his desire not to be forgotten centers the show on something easy to get. Morgan and Radcliff are great, and having their characters both having to dig their way out of this shame they both have while learning to be friends and trust each other.

I love seeing Morgan and Alexander together, and it’s wild that I don’t think they’ve been on the same show or movie together before. Seeing these two interact in the show is like watching D-Wade and LeBron play together in Miami; both are excellent and know exactly what to do with each other in a scene and play right to the camera at the perfect time. I love sitcoms; it’s one of my core types of shows I watch week to week on TV, and while they are getting rarer to see, it’s good to see such a strong new one appear on NBC, which is a welcome addition to the TV landscape. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is definitely a show to watch each week for some great laughs.