Calling all 30 Rock fans! Get ready for some blink-and-miss-it shout-outs as The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins arrives on NBC.
As the midseason premiere of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins approaches, 30 Rock fans may lock onto something that feels both delightfully fresh and strangely familiar. Executive produced by comedic powerhouse Tina Fey and co-created by 30 Rock show runner Robert Carlock and Sam Means, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is a certified must-watch for anyone who loves sitcoms, sports documentaries, and Fey’s immaculate pen.
The Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock legend boasts a comedic DNA that audiences instantly recognize, but the dynamite ensemble of Reggie Dinkins — featuring fellow 30 Rock alum Tracy Morgan, Daniel Radcliffe, Erika Alexander, and Bobby Moynihan — certainly helps usher in some exciting comparisons.
Just as he did on SNL and 30 Rock, Morgan’s side-splitting absurdity soars in his new role as Reggie, a disgraced former NFL star who seeks to revitalize his public image after a gambling scandal by hiring a blacklisted Hollywood director, Arthur Tobin (Radcliffe), to direct the sports film that will save his career. Arthur and Reggie are desperate to flip the narrative, but with both of them on astronomically different pages about the project, reclaiming their careers will be easier said than done.
Aside from the many familiar faces from 30 Rock, there are plenty of similarities between the two sitcoms. From the rapid-fire punchlines to the absurdist cutaways, it won’t take long for viewers to see that the 30 Rock writers have left their mark on Reggie Dinkins and have even dropped a few Easter Eggs for eagle-eyed fans.
Look out for 30 Rock Easter eggs on The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
Ahead of the Reggie Dinkins hitting NBC on February 23, showrunners Robert Carlock and Sam Means chatted with PopCulture.com about how much fun they had reunited with many of their former 30 Rock colleagues. Carlock has worked with Morgan since his time on SNL, so as soon as he learned Morgan was interested in a new project, the sitcom soon “snowballed” into a “little family” reunion among the 30 Rock alums.
“Tracy just kind of hinted that he was up for doing something — and we love Tracy,” Carlock said, revealing that once the show began to take shape, they decided the show lived within the same universe as 30 Rock and TGS (Liz Lemon’s fictional sketch comedy series).
Carlock teases that one of the Easter eggs that 30 Rock fans may clock is the presence of Donaghy Estates champagne, a nod to the sparkling wine label created by Alec Baldwin’s beloved character Jack Donaghy. Means reveals that another Easter egg that fans should keep their eyes peeled for in future episodes is a sign that hangs across from Reggie’s office for Sheinhardt Wig Company, the fictional parent corporation of NBC on 30 Rock.
“The office across the hall from his office is technically a Sheinhardt Wig Company [office],” Means shared. “There’s a sign on the door that you don’t even see.”
30 Rock ride-or-dies will be in no shortage of the hallmark punchlines and fast-paced humor while watching Reggie Dinkins, and thanks to the showrunners’ reverence for their time on the NBC sitcom, they seem eager to see how far they can push this Easter egg hunt, even if it’s just for themselves.
“It starts for ourselves,” Carlock said. “But it’s all hoping that someone will catch a glimpse and care.”