The 30 Rock reunion of former star Tracy Morgan, creator, star and co-showrunner Tina Fey, co-showrunner Robert Carlock and writer Sam Means has been extended. The network has picked up the quartet’s single-camera comedy pilot, also starring Daniel Radcliffe, to series, which will be titled The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.
I hear the order is for 10 episodes. That typically indicates a midseason launch but NBC has not specified when the series will premiere. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is not on the fall 2025 schedule unveiled by NBC in conjunction with its upfront presentation today, which only covers September and October. It could debut as soon as November, Steven Kern, SVP Program Planning & Scheduling, NBCUniversal Entertainment, indicated during a pre-upfront press call Saturday.
In November, the network plans to add sophomore comedies St. Denis Medical on Monday at 8 PM and Happy’s Place in its old Friday 8 PM slot. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins as well as NBC’s two other comedy pilots which have not been filmed yet, Stumble, from Jeff and Liz Astrof and an untitled community center project from Sierra Teller Ornelas, are all contenders for the Monday and Friday 8:30 PM berths behind St. Denis Medical and Happy’s Place, with a decision not expected before the network sees the pilots in June, Kern said.
As previously reported, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins will not interfere with The Neighborhood spinoff series Crutch for Paramount+, which has Morgan in first position.
The then-untitled Tracy Morgan project landed a pilot order in early March. It was the first pilot greenlight at NBC this season, a month after the network was added to the purview of Pearlena Igbokwe who at the end of January became Chairman, Television Studios, NBC Entertainment & Peacock Scripted.
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins now also has became Igbokwe’s first new NBC scripted series pickup — and the network’s only new scripted series for the 2025-26 season so far.
There were multiple factors in play. Because of the timing of the executive restructuring late into the 2024-25 development cycle, NBC was late with its pilot orders, with only The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins finished in time for the upfronts. Additionally, NBC has scaled back its entertainment offerings to make room for the 180 hours of NBA programming next season, with no new drama series allotted for 2025-26.
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins follows a disgraced former football player (Morgan) on a mission to rehabilitate his image. In addition to Morgan and Radcliffe, the main cast includes Erika Alexander, Bobby Moynihan, Precious Way and Jalyn Hall.
The pilot’s writers Carlock and Means executive produce with Morgan, Fey, Eric Gurian and David Miner. Director Rhys Thomas also executive produces (pilot only). The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, Little Stranger, Bevel Gears and 3 Arts.
