The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, on NBC

Poor New York football fans. Recent years have been tough and there is plenty of blame to go around. At least in this show, Jets fans can focus their anger on one man. That would be All-Pro running back Reggie Dinkins, who was banned for gambling right before the Super Bowl, which the Jets went on to lose—badly. Dickins still wants the color commentary gigs and his rightful place in the Hall of Fame, so he hired semi-disgraced documentarian Arthur Tobin to rehabilitate his image. It might just work, but not in the way he hopes, because the embarrassing moments Tobin captures, of both Dinkins and himself, could go along way towards humanizing them in creators Robert Carlock & Sam Means’ The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, which starts its regular run tomorrow on NBC.

This is not an American remake of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, despite the weirdly similar titles. This Reggie is essentially the Pete Rose of football. He says he only bet on himself, but his media apology tour was a disaster. Initially, his ex-wife manager Monica Reese-Dinkins was against hiring Tobin, but she starts to warm to the filmmaker and his methods in the second episode, “Nittany Means Big.” The title refers to a disastrous prank Reese-Dinkins covered up for her then fiancé during their college years. It is an example of the show’s football references, which should be sufficiently specific for fans, but not too deep in the weeds for more casual viewers.

The pilot, which previously premiered after an NFL playoff game is very much a getting-to-know-you episode, introducing Dinkins, his ex, their son Carmelo, and his influencer fiancée, Brina, as well as his wacky “neighbor,” Rusty Boyd, Dinkins’ best friend (the former back-up kicker), who lives in his basement. We also learn about Tobin’s disgrace, when a video of his meltdown trying to helm a Marvel movie starts going viral again.

Frankly, the next three episodes are somewhat sharper and funnier than the premise-setting pilot. The title of episode three, “Put it on Your Cabbage,” refers to an amusing subplot, wherein Dinkins loses his final endorsement. It also allows co-leads Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe to build some chemistry as their characters both endure public humiliation, at a New Jersey restaurant and a documentary film festival. (Those scenes were filmed on location outside the Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center.)

“Save the Cat,” written by Grace Edwards, features a funny guest appearance by Corbin Bernsen as Dinkins’ bitter former coach Duck Donovan, who will hopefully become a recurring character. Bobby Moynihan also mines plenty of humor from his schlubby Boyd tutoring the reluctant Reese-Dinkins on dating app strategy.

Fall and Rise generates some decent comedy and the way it pulls Tobin into the mayhem distinguishes it from all the other mockumentary sitcoms also airing on NBC (in which the supposed filmmakers remain safely off-camera). In comparison, St. Denis medical succeeds with the mockumentary device, but it is so well-written, it might be just as good as a standard multi-camera production. On the other hand, Stumble would likely work better without it, while the flat The Paper probably wouldn’t be very funny either way.

St. Denis Medical is still the funniest network sitcom in years (maybe decades), but the Dinkins cast establishes some memorably colorful characters and maintains a nice comedic rhythm. Fall and Rise is safe, but it periodically shows flashes of healthily pointed attitude. It does what sitcoms should do. Recommended on the basis of the first four episodes, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins airs its first two episodes tomorrow (2/23) (and stream the next day on Peacock).