Tracy Morgan’s new series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins has more than a few things in common with 30 Rock: 1) It’s a sitcom, 2) created by Robert Carlock, the 30 Rock showrunner (and Sam Means, with 30 Rock creator Tina Fey executive producing) 3) on NBC and 4) exists in the same universe as Jack Donaghy, Alec Baldwin’s 30 Rock scene-owning NBC executive.
Carlock told EW that his new series, which follows the titular disgraced former New York Jets star (Morgan) trying to make amends after being banned for betting on his own games, has a whole bushel of nods to their classic one.
Like, ”We just had a scene where they were pouring Donaghy Estates champagne,” Carlock said. “We asked our graphics and prop people to hunt that down, which they did immediately, so we had Donaghy in there.”
Donaghy Estates champagne was Jack’s awful-tasting sparkling wine from the very first season of 30 Rock, now nearly 20 years ago. Either Donaghy Estates has (somehow) survived for two decades, or Dinkins put away a case or two for a special occasion.
“There’s a lot of rewards for paying attention,” Fey said of the 30 Rock Easter eggs hidden in plain sight in Dinkins. “This is like the Severance of comedy.”
“I’d like to live in a world where Kenneth Parcell [Jack McBrayer] is running NBC as well,” Carlock said. “But that might not be for another couple hundred years in the 30 Rock timeline, right?”
I mean, if Jack Donaghy could do it …
“We are always trying to do those little things without breaking everything,” Carlock continued. “But yeah, I’d like to think that The Girly Show is still on, and it should be on their TV.”
It was the time Carlock, Fey and Morgan spent doing 30 Rock that brought us The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins. Morgan yearned for more.
“I didn’t want 30 Rock to be over,” Morgan said.
So in January 2024, Morgan sought to get the group back together — but not with a reboot or a continuation series, rather an entirely new premise. Dinkins’ plan to get back in the good graces of fans — and to ultimately make the NFL Hall of Fame — is in the hands of documentarian Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe). Tobin has his work cut out for him.
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, which also stars Erika Alexander and Tracy’s/Tina’s/Robert’s fellow Saturday Night Live alum Bobby Moynihan, premieres on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, at 8 p.m. on NBC.
