The 30 Rock Twist in Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe’s New Series
Tracy Morgan returns to NBC with The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, reuniting the 30 Rock creative team and setting the new comedy in the same universe. With Daniel Radcliffe aboard, the ties between the two shows run deeper than nostalgia.
Tracy Morgan has a new NBC comedy, and if you mainlined 30 Rock back in the day, this one is built to ping your nostalgia radar on purpose.
The setup
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins pairs Morgan with the old gang: Robert Carlock and Sam Means are co-creators, Tina Fey is executive producer, and Morgan is front and center. The show follows Reggie Dinkins, a former NFL star who gets banned for betting on his own team. To rehab his reputation, he brings in a documentarian, Arthur Tobin, played by Daniel Radcliffe.
So... is this basically 30 Rock adjacent?
Pretty much. The creative team is the same, and they sprinkled in deliberate nods that tie this show to the 30 Rock world. Radcliffe, who grew up watching 30 Rock, kept spotting familiar jokes, props, and set details while filming. The creators confirmed they put those there on purpose. Think deep-cut props rather than a full-on crossover.
"It'll be a real test for the people of TikTok to see if they, 1., find the show on broadcast, and 2., if they can find the 30 Rock Easter eggs."
That was Tina Fey, who also teased that the season is peppered with hidden 30 Rock bits. One example: a Donaghy Estates bottle pouring champagne, which is a very specific wink at Jack Donaghy. The team likes tucking these in without bending the plot around them.
Morgan as Reggie vs. Morgan as Tracy Jordan
Carlock joked that Reggie Dinkins is close enough to Tracy Jordan that, at some point, you could imagine Tracy Jordan playing Reggie — not that Reggie would notice. Morgan is not sweating the overlap. He called the connective tissue a smart move and says the show feels both comfortingly familiar and actually moving forward.
About that Tina Fey cameo
Morgan wants it. Fey wants it. Season 1 didn’t get it. She was too tied up with her own filming schedule to even squeeze in a cameo. File under: maybe later.
- Creators: Robert Carlock and Sam Means (co-creators), Tina Fey (EP)
- Stars: Tracy Morgan as Reggie Dinkins; Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Tobin
- Premise: Ex-NFL star banned for betting on his own team hires a doc filmmaker to clean up his image
- Shared DNA with 30 Rock: Intentional Easter eggs, familiar jokes/props, Donaghy Estates champagne cameo
- Tone connection: Reggie echoes Tracy Jordan by design, per Carlock
- Cameo watch: No Fey in Season 1 due to scheduling, hope remains for the future
- Premiere: February 23 on NBC