‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ Review – A Comedy Bruiser That Laughs At You, With You, And Then Again

Season one of NBC’s The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is a straight-up comedic assault in the best way. It is grounded enough to feel real, yet populated by characters who are so confidently out of touch that every bad decision makes perfect sense. The premise may not sound unique on paper, disgraced athlete attempts comeback, awkward documentary crew in tow, messy family orbit, but the execution is the hook. The show uses privilege, delusion, and image management as engines for character, not just easy punchlines. The absurdity is never the point. The absurdity is the pressure that reveals who these people actually are.

A Familiar Setup With A Sharp New Purpose

The show understands that a “simple” concept becomes fresh when it is used to deepen relationships. Reggie’s downfall and attempted reinvention do not function as a constant laugh track. They function as a mirror. Everyone around him is either enabling, cashing in, protecting themselves, or trying to love him through it. The documentary element feeds that tension in a way that lets the story stay small and personal even when the personalities are huge. The situations stay grounded, but the emotional logic stays gloriously deranged. That balance is hard. This season makes it look easy.

Intelligently Stupid, Stupidly Intelligent, And Proud Of Both

This is one of those rare comedies that can be audaciously smart and then immediately trip over its own shoelaces on purpose. It makes you work for a joke, then punishes you with the lowest-hanging fruit possible. It swings so hard you get comedy whiplash, delightfully hilarious and comedically painful, like your brain is laughing while your soul groans. My sides genuinely hurt. It is the kind of season where you pause an episode because you missed the next line laughing at the previous one, and when you hit play you get hit again.

Referential humor, cultural humor, race humor, the series does not shy away from anything. It does not pull punches, and it also does not treat taboo like a cheat code. The jokes come from character, insecurity, and ego, and that is why they land. It will also make you groan on purpose, then make you angry that you laughed anyway. That is a skill. This show has it.

Chemistry First, Then Chaos

Before we even talk about individual performances, the chemistry is the special sauce. The pairings feel intentionally odd. The personalities clash like cymbals. Even the dependent relationships are written as both toxic and weirdly tender. People bring out the worst in each other, then accidentally stumble into growth. The show understands that comedy is often just incompatible needs colliding, and it builds scenes where every character wants something slightly different, and nobody is emotionally equipped to ask for it like a normal adult.

Tracy Morgan As Reggie Dinkins

Tracy Morgan is exactly why this works. Reggie is loud, bruised, charismatic, and constantly one bad impulse away from self-destruction. Morgan makes him ridiculous without making him disposable. He sells the ego as armor, then lets the fear slip through the cracks. The season thrives on his ability to pivot from bravado to vulnerability in a single glance, then immediately ruin the moment with a line that should not be funny but absolutely is.

Daniel Radcliffe As Arthur Tobin

Daniel Radcliffe is a secret weapon. Arthur is not simply the “documentary guy.” He is a pressure point. He is both inside and outside the circus, which gives the show a built-in engine for discomfort. Radcliffe plays him with earnest intensity, awkward confidence, and a little bit of chaos in the eyes. He can make a scene feel like a sincere creative pursuit, then reveal it has been ego-driven nonsense the entire time. That push-pull is consistently hilarious.

Erika Alexander As Monica

Erika Alexander brings the grown-up voltage. Monica is sharp, protective, and strategically exhausted. She lives in the space between love and liability. Alexander plays her like someone who has managed too many crises to be impressed by another one, yet still cares enough to keep showing up. She delivers punchlines with precision, but she also anchors the emotional stakes. When Monica is done, you feel it. When she relents, you feel that too.

Bobby Moynihan As Rusty

Bobby Moynihan is comedy comfort food with a razor hidden inside. Rusty is the best friend you should not trust with your keys, your secrets, or your career, and yet he is somehow the most loyal person in the room. Moynihan plays him as a human side quest who keeps accidentally becoming central to the story. He is ridiculous, he is needy, and he is unexpectedly poignant when the show lets him be.

Precious Way As Brina

Precious Way is fantastic at playing the person who seems like she is just there to be “the fiancée” until you realize she has her own agenda, her own intelligence, and her own emotional math. Brina can be supportive and opportunistic in the same breath, and the performance makes that duality feel real, not villain-coded. She reads like someone who is sincerely trying to build a future while also refusing to miss a chance to protect herself.

Jalyn Hall As Carmelo

Jalyn Hall brings authenticity beyond his years. Carmelo feels like a real teenager trapped inside adult nonsense. He is observant, reactive, and constantly asked to carry emotional weight he did not sign up for. Hall nails the quiet “are you serious right now” energy that makes teen characters instantly lovable, and he also handles bigger moments with control. He is not just the kid in the room. He is the receipt.

A Mockumentary With Its Own Identity

The show plays with the mockumentary format in a way that feels like it wants to own it, not borrow it. It treats the documentary device as a narrative tool, not just an excuse for confessionals. The format becomes part of the joke and part of the tension, and the show even goes so far as to give its approach a name inside the story. That little bit of self-awareness is exactly the kind of flex this season loves, not a wink to the audience, but a dare.

The Only Real Knock, And It Is Barely A Knock

If I have to force critique, it is this. The comedy can read pompous at first. It feels like it wants to be “high brow,” like it is performing intelligence for comedy nerd approval. But as the season rolls on, it becomes clear that this is probably the trick. It lures the snobs in with cleverness, then makes them laugh at the dumbest joke imaginable, and it does it with confidence. The season finds itself more and more each episode, yet it is well-built from the jump and just keeps getting sharper.

The result is a show with a great premise, a ridiculous murderers’ row of talent, and the nerve to be funny however it wants. It does not beg you to laugh. It sets the trap, then slams it shut.

I give season one of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins a

9/10

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins had its special premiere on Sunday, January 18, 2026 at 10:00 p.m. ET and 7:00 p.m. PT right after the NFL playoff game. Soon, it officially moves into its regular weekly run starting Monday, February 23, 2026 with an encore of the pilot at 8:00 p.m. followed by a new episode at 8:30 p.m., and it continues airing Mondays at 8:30 p.m. for the rest of the season on NBC, with each episode streaming the next day on Peacock.

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Ready to meet Reggie Dinkins at his messiest, watch a documentary format get twisted into a joke machine, and feel your stomach hurt from laughing? Want comedy that dares you to keep up, then dares you to laugh at the obvious? Hit play, then tell me which character broke you first, and which line you had to rewind. Drop your thoughts below or @me.

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