Tracy Morgan, left, plays disgraced sports star Reggie Dinkins and Daniel Radcliffe is award-winning documentary filmmaker Arthur Tobin in new NBC comedy series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.Scott Gries/NBC/Supplied
It takes a few episodes to figure out what The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins wants to be, and a little longer to decide how you feel about it.
The NBC comedy (available on CTV in Canada) follows the now-comfortable mockumentary format in which characters break the fourth wall, smirk at the camera and narrate their own missteps. However, unlike The Office or Abbott Elementary, there is no officeplace. Cameras follow a disgraced sports star attempting to mount a career comeback through film.
That athlete is Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan), a former NFL star whose penchant for gambling landed him an early exit from the pros. Thanks to his ex-wife agent, Monica (Erika Alexander) he’s been sustaining his lavish lifestyle through endorsement deals. But the money is running out so Dinkins hires award-winning documentary filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) to follow him around and resuscitate his career.
Precious Way, left, as Brina and Bobby Moynihan as Rusty Boyd.Scott Gries/NBC/Supplied
If you’re familiar with Morgan’s style of comedy, the project is very much him doing his thing. The character has a good heart, but is ultimately selfish and doesn’t think about those around him. He tries his best and makes up for his shortcomings with confidence, but he’s never had to work at getting what he has. He maintains a solid relationship with Monica and their son, Carmelo (Jalyn Hall), while his fiancée Brina (Precious Way) floats in and out. There’s also his best friend and self-proclaimed historian, Rusty (Bobby Moynihan), who lives in his basement and partakes in the hijinks.
It’s the integration of Radcliffe as Arthur that gives depth to the trove of stereotypical characters, adding an everyman perspective to the chaos while also participating in it at times. Arthur brings an anxious sincerity that grounds the series whenever it threatens to drift into sketch territory. He isn’t just reacting to Reggie’s outlandish personality but recalibrating the overall tone. Arthur is desperate to be taken seriously again after his own professional implosion, and it mirrors Reggie’s in quieter ways that bond them for the audience, specifically when their comebacks border on delusional.
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That’s not to say that Arthur can’t be quirky, too, whether he’s wildly batting tennis balls on the set of a superhero movie or comparing the art of interviewing to jazz, complete with sound effects. For an actor who grew up as Harry Potter, Radcliffe’s commitment to bits through projects like these go a long way to defining a solid career.
A few episodes in and it’s clear that Reggie isn’t looking to rebuild his career, he’s trying to edit it. Sometimes, that means the jokes are repetitive or the lessons, such as learning to apologize, are oversimplified. But, like most comedies, it takes a while for the characters to click, and by the end of the 10-episode run, the viewers become a part of that world, with all its inside jokes and quirks.
From left: Radcliffe, Erika Alexander as Monica, and Morgan.NBC/Supplied
The mockumentary framework helps achieve that, particularly when it winks to the audience with a joke about The Office or breaks the fourth wall. This is presented as an unedited doc that captures all of those moments in between and feels more intimate than a polished product would. Add in flashbacks to Reggie’s short career (distinguished by the mustache he wears) and it’s a fast-moving and easy watch that takes you away from the real world for a little bit.
What ultimately defines The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is its tonal balancing act. It wants to be a redemption story, a satire of sports celebrity and a workplace comedy wrapped inside a documentary conceit. That’s an ambitious ask, but with Robert Carlock (30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Sam Means (Girls5Eva) at the helm, it works.
By the time The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins finds its groove, it becomes less about a comeback and more about the awkward, often humiliating process of self-reinvention with a solid but unlikely duo at the centre of it all. That doesn’t make it essential viewing, but it’s an escapist and fun comedy that never takes itself too seriously, and that’s something we could all benefit from in this world.