NBC‘s “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins“ is dubbed a comedy, and the laughs come a mile a minute, but what seems to have stuck with viewers is that the characters and situations are relatable. That’s not an accident. It’s the whole design.
The freshman comedy follows disgraced former football star Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan) as he teams up with a disgraced filmmaker (Daniel Radcliffe) to salvage his legacy and, along the way, his family.
This offering became the surprise juggernaut of the 2025-26 broadcast season. The premiere drew more than 14 million viewers, making it the number-one comedy telecast of the season across all broadcast networks and the top new comedy of the year in the 18-49 demographic. NBC has already renewed it for a second season, arriving on NBC and Peacock this November.
This show has a cast built on serious pedigree: Tracy Morgan, Daniel Radcliffe, Erika Alexander, Bobby Moynihan, Precious Way and Jalyn Hall, with co-showrunners Robert Carlock and Sam Means, and Tina Fey among the executive producers.
I sat down with Jalyn Hall, who plays Carmelo (Tracy Morgan’s son on the show), and co-executive producer Phil Augusta Jackson, the creator and writer behind NBC‘s “Grand Crew,” and a writer on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Insecure” and “Key & Peele.” I had three things I wanted to know: what the show means to them, how they each approach the work through their own lens, and where they see the story going. We didn’t quite get to all three. What we got instead was better.
Reggie Ponder: Before getting into the heavier stuff, I wanted Phil to demystify a title most viewers skim right past in the credits.
Phil Augusta Jackson: As a co-executive producer, in addition to writing an episode or episodes, I will also contribute to other creative aspects of the show at a high level. And that is doing and contributing to anything that the showrunners, Robert and Sam, need me to do. On any given day, that could be splitting off and helping run a room to break episode 203. That could be, “Okay, we need you to take a room and punch up this section while we handle some other stuff,” because as a showrunner, a million things are happening at once. As a co-executive producer, it means I’m contributing to the writing at a high level, but also contributing to the creative choices being made in the show at a high level as well.
Reggie Ponder: Given Phil’s impressive resume and Jalyn’s stellar career at just 19, I was very interested in what this show means to them beyond just the next gig.
Phil Augusta Jackson: This show means a lot to me, for a particular reason. I think it is the Tracy Morgan of it all, and the Erika Alexander of it all, and the Danny Radcliffe of it all. It’s the cast.
I’ve been fortunate to write on a lot of incredible shows, and this one is also a very incredible show. But I was watching “Living Single” as a kid growing up. I was watching SNL. I was watching Tracy Morgan on TV. I was obviously very familiar with Daniel Radcliffe and his career when I was growing up. And so, to work on a show where those folks are all together, and then getting the chance to meet Jalyn and Precious, I already knew Bobby through UCB in New York (the Upright Citizens Brigade, a famous improvisational and sketch comedy theater and training center) and I performed with him a bunch, this show is a creative dream come true, because of the talent involved.
There’s a little bit of nostalgia attached to it for me from my childhood, and a lot of dream fulfillment as far as the type of show that it is and the volume of jokes and the quality of the product, to be honest.
Reggie Ponder: Jalyn is known for being a serious actor with roles in the series “All American” and movies like “Till,” and in interviews he’s talked about how it was refreshing to go on the comedic side. I wanted to know how he approaches a show that purports to be funny when in reality the issues and circumstances are important and seriously heavy.
Jalyn Hall: Yeah, for sure. I think that was really important for me particularly, because I do think that in a lot of the interviews I do, when they ask questions about it, I can probably definitely bring it to more of a grounded and dramatic place, which is very, very comedic. But at the same time, I feel like comedy is a great vehicle for, like you said, a greater message. Redemption, family unity, growing up, individuality. These are all things that we tackle in everyday life, and it may not come so funny, you know? But I think that when people have a great way to take that information in, with it being in a positive manner is very important to me.
And what I love about it is, my mom, it’s been my mom and me forever. That’s my dawg right there, my best friend. And she’s now getting back into dating.
Phil Augusta Jackson: Yo, you’re putting her on blast, and she’s right over there.
Jalyn Hall: Yeah, she’s right over there, behind the camera. And she’s now getting into dating, and then I look at what they have written, and, unbeknownst to them, I went through this in my real life. So the episode where Carmelo is like, “Oh, my God,” well, Monica is about to start dating; it’s like, well, I didn’t really care when my dad did it, but it’s different because it’s my mom. So applying that to the script in a way that’s funny but also very pointed, because it’s coming from a very real place, I can’t thank them enough for giving me that opportunity.
Naturally, I wanted Phil to chime in on how do you hold “funny” and “serious” in the same space.
Phil Augusta Jackson: I think I like it particularly when you find the funny in a premise that could be serious. There is a drama version of this show, but this is actually a version where it’s packed with jokes. But to your point, life is very serious in general, and I think stories about redemption, like Jalyn’s talking about, are typically serious things. But in our everyday lives, even when we have serious stuff going on, it feels like we find opportunities to laugh, which just means that there’s always a comedic opportunity to take something serious and really find the humor in it. And I think, in a way, having a premise that’s serious but a show that is so packed with jokes is kind of a really nice sweet spot that you don’t get in a lot of shows. Serious in conceit but very, very funny as far as concept and delivery, I think that’s what makes the show work.
Reggie Ponder: I wanted to know how they each approach the job when the lens is bigger than just the script, knowing the work is going to land on Black audiences and, whether they set out to or not, shape culture.
Phil Augusta Jackson: That’s heavy. That’s what you think about. I think, personally, it’s two things that feel like they’re very separate. For me, one, I treat the job very seriously. And, just to be candid, there are fewer Black writers than there are white writers. And so with this opportunity, I want to make sure that I’m putting my best foot forward so that hopefully I can open the door for more people who look like me moving forward. So, from a personal perspective, that’s me showing up to work early, doing whatever the show needs at any given moment.
The other half of it, I think it’s just working with the concept and the actors that we have. We don’t necessarily go into the breaking of episodes like, “Okay, this is how we’re going to shape culture.”
Reggie Ponder: Phil was either being naive or modest. It just felt like he was underselling the impact on culture, so I pushed back, exclaiming that they are impacting culture.
Phil Augusta Jackson: That’s really nice to hear, which is an incredible feeling to hear it from you. I think what we’re trying to do is make a funny show that features a Black family. And as a result of making the funniest thing that we can, the hope is that it’s reaching people and it’s resonating with them, and it seems like it is. And hopefully, in Season 2, we keep growing it.
Jalyn Hall: Indeed.
Jalyn Hall: In approaching the job, I think I’ve been very pointed in making sure that I have a general connection to the script, to the vehicle, to the project. So, waking up every day, giving a thousand percent to being the creative and embodying the character that they need me to create. But as far as it being an impact on Black people, I feel like sometimes we can assume that making an impact or conveying a story is trying to do it. Like, okay, “we’re going to be super woke here, or we’re going to shove this in your face.” And sometimes, tastefully, that is good. But then other times, like this, you just have a Black family just being a Black family. A lot of the impact that people say Black shows have on the world is one that it’s not trying to have. We can look back, and it’s like, people just watch us do our thing, and they’re like, “Yo, that!” It’s not like, “Yo, I’m teaching you.” It’s like, I’m being me, and that wave catches on. So I feel like we have a lot of that in the show, where we’re just trying to make a great, funny, of course, Black-centered family. And whatever the world takes away from it, whether it be positive or whether it be informational, so be it.
Betting on Themselves
Reggie Ponder: The success of the show had me planning a third question about where the show could go in a potential third season. We’re all trying to get a scoop, but the fall of Reggie Dinkins was due to him betting on himself illegally, with the rise having him bet on himself confidently, so having these two men passionately talk about what the show means to them made me pivot and ask about a time they bet on themselves in their rise.
Phil Augusta Jackson: I was an advertising executive. I was going to go to law school. I always had creative aspirations but didn’t really know how to achieve them, or whether they were actually realistic, feasible dreams. But I decided not to go to law school. I think that was a version of me betting on myself. Also, thank goodness I didn’t go to law school. I just don’t think I would be happy right now if I were me, but a lawyer. That’d be crazy. Shout out to all the lawyers, though; shout out to all the lawyers that enjoy being lawyers. We need lawyers. But I’m so glad that I’m not one, and that I bet on myself and tried to pursue this creative journey. That’s my version of going for it.
Jalyn Hall: And I think that, in conjunction with that being an Atlanta native, growing up here I would’ve, of course, gone through the pipeline of going to school and going to college and everything like that. But at a very young age, I was just like, “Yo, Mom, I’m going to be inside the TV,” you know? And more than that, just an entertainer in general, creative in general. And just as much as I bet on myself, my mom bet on me. And we continued throughout the journey. And I think the day we moved to LA, we definitely went broke in LA, which is very easy to do, and it’s only gotten worse. I was just like, “Mom, just give me one more week, and I promise, I promise, I know it in my heart I’m gonna book something and we’re gonna thrive.” And in that week, I had booked two jobs, and one of those jobs happened to be “All American.”
Reggie Ponder: Before we wrapped, I let them do what any good publicist would want: plug the show.
Jalyn Hall: If you haven’t already, please go check out “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” Season 1, right now streaming on Peacock. Season 2 is coming to NBC and Peacock very, very soon, November 2nd.
Phil Augusta Jackson: November 2nd, 2026: Season 2 of “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.” Check it out.
Jalyn Hall: Be there.
Phil Augusta Jackson: 8:30 PM.
Reggie Ponder: What stood out to me was that both of these men were proud to be Black men navigating the industry but refused to be burdened by the responsibility of being Black. While they accepted that responsibility, they were not constrained or defined by it. Both were about excellence, and how that, in and of itself, elevates the culture.
“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” was, in a way, representative of how they approached their craft: be the best version of yourself in this moment. Where Reggie Dinkins has flaws, the show has found a way to laugh at what life brings you, or you bring to your life (as in the case of Dinkins), and embed lessons along the way.
It is evident that the writers, producers, and cast have found a way to highlight family in the process of becoming one. And that seems to have helped them reach more people than almost anything else on broadcast television in their freshman season.
Isn’t it interesting how one’s fall has made such a big impact as people anticipate the rise? Again, Season 2 of “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” premieres November 2nd on NBC and Peacock at 8:30 PM.
