Did Reggie Dinkins Score In His Debut? Grade The Premiere Of Tracy Morgan's NBC Sitcom

Will Reggie Dinkins be able to get back in the game after a costly fumble? That's the question behind Tracy Morgan's new NBC sitcom "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins."

Sunday's early premiere (the show will formally debut on February 23) introduces us to Morgan's character Reggie, a former NFL superstar who won two MVPs before losing it all in a gambling scandal. "That's a bummer," though, Reggie tells filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe), who Reggie hired to make a documentary about him to clean up his image. Reggie doesn't want to dwell on his mistakes, and he puts on a phony front as he supports his son Carmelo's studies: "Books are brain movies!" We also meet Reggie's freeloading pal Rusty (Bobby Moynihan), who lives in his basement, and his ex-wife Monica (Erika Alexander), who still serves as Reggie's agent and business manager even though they split up long ago.

Monica thinks the documentary is a bad idea and worries that Reggie will "show his whole ass to the world." (Reggie doesn't mind, though: "You're welcome, world. I've got a donk.") His endorsements have dried up, but Monica has an interview at a high-end sports agency that she thinks could help them both. Meanwhile, we find out what caused Reggie's precipitous fall: He called into a sports show after a big win and accidentally revealed he bet on the game. That led to a lifetime ban from football, even though Reggie insists he only bet on himself. (Yeah, isn't that what we're all supposed to do these days?)

Monica confronts Arthur, demanding to know if the award-winning documentarian will make Reggie look like "a tragic loser." But Arthur has problems of his own: The NFL won't let him use game footage in his film, leaving the entire project in limbo. Monica gets fed up with Reggie not listening to her advice and quits, and Arthur quits the project, too. Plus, Reggie volunteers to recreate the game footage in his backyard, but he's gained a few pounds since his playing days. At least he still has a solid bond with his son Carmelo, because, as he puts it, "a son is just a homie you make."

Monica goes to her meeting with the big sports agency, and they congratulate her for cutting ties with Reggie, calling him "dead weight." They also laugh when she brings up Arthur's name, revealing that Arthur torpedoed his career after having a breakdown on a Marvel movie that never got released. Even Reggie's new girlfriend thinks he should bring Monica back, so he heads to Monica's meeting with a boombox blasting his ill-advised rap album that she convinced him not to release. She tells him she rejected the agency, and they find a despondent Arthur at a bus station, bemoaning that "I can't even sell out properly." Monica decides that these two can understand each other because they've both messed up — and they both deserve a second chance.

Give the "Reggie Dinkins" premiere a grade in our poll, and then tell us in the comments if you plan to keep watching.