MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The NBC comedy "30 Rock" received more than 100 Emmy nominations during its run. Now part of the team behind that series is back with a new show.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) The fall and rise of Reggie Dinkins.
MARTIN: "The Fall And Rise Of Reggie Dinkins" stars "30 Rock" and "Saturday Night Live" alum Tracy Morgan.
ROBERT CARLOCK: He plays Reggie Dinkins, a former NFL superstar who was disgraced in a gambling scandal and is trying to sort of put his life back together by making a documentary about himself, as athletes often do.
MARTIN: That's writer and showrunner Robert Carlock, who's also an alum of "30 Rock" and "Saturday Night Live." Tracy Morgan's character gets kicked out of pro football after this scene when he doesn't realize he's being interviewed live on the air.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Reggie Dinkins, you straight owned Indie today. How does it feel to be Super Bowl bound?
TRACY MORGAN: (As Reggie Dinkins) Better for me than you because you owe me 250k. A hundred for the win, a hundred for going over 200 yards and 50 for scoring more than one touchdown.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Are you saying that you gambled on the game?
MORGAN: (As Reggie Dinkins) Very funny. You know I bet on every game. You're my bookie. Now, what's the phone number for that live TV interview I'm supposed to do?
MARTIN: Ouch. So...
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: OK, but what I think about, though, NFL players sometimes struggling with life after their playing days - sometimes during their playing days, too. But I don't always think comedy. It's often pretty tragic. And I was just wondering what was it about the Reggie Dinkins idea that said comedy to you?
CARLOCK: Right. What we were really enjoying after talking to Tracy about some very general ideas was this sort of deluge of athlete, kind of self-funded, self-produced often, documentaries. The idea of any documentary where the subject's name is in the credits is always kind of funny to me. You immediately have this different narrative that's happening underneath. And I think part of what was funny to us was, first of all, just struggle and flaws are funny to us. Being confident and wrong is one of our favorite things.
And the confidence to make the movie to kind of expiate your sins, as if that can do it. And maybe it can. That's the question sort of we're asking at the heart of the - he's reviled publicly by we keep having the same Jets fan run into him over and over again throughout the first season, just reminding him that he's hated by the people he wanted to love him most. He was on the verge of bringing the Jets their first Super Bowl since Joe Namath, a task that...
MARTIN: Why did you have to hurt me like that? I'm from New York. I'm a Jets fan. I was just - like, it just pierced me.
CARLOCK: (Laughter) I mean, we chose the Jets for that reason, Michel. And so, well...
MARTIN: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS")
DANIEL RADCLIFFE: (As Arthur Tobin) Without you, your teammates lost the Super Bowl to Seattle 61-2. You were dropped by Progresso soup. Your episode of "Ghost Whisperer" never even aired?
MORGAN: (As Reggie Dinkins) Yeah, and that really messed up Melinda's season arc, OK? That's not what this documentary is about, dude.
RADCLIFFE: (As Arthur Tobin) Like I told you on the phone, we don't really know what this documentary is about yet. It will emerge.
MORGAN: (As Reggie Dinkins) And I told you this was a puff piece - OK? - that I'm paying for. None of this is going in the documentary. Now, I want you to come film me dunking on a regulation 10-foot hoop.
(SOUNDBITE OF BALL BOUNCING)
MORGAN: (As Reggie Dinkins) Shoot me so you can't see the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) OK, come down. My turn.
MARTIN: So the director of the documentary is played by Daniel Radcliffe. It's kind of an inspired choice.
CARLOCK: Oh, my gosh.
MARTIN: Like, where did you guys come up with this idea?
CARLOCK: You know, there are people - there aren't a lot of them - that we kind of watch make interesting choices. You know, coming out, you think of Daniel in a certain way, most people do, a certain project. And...
MARTIN: Why are you not saying what it is?
CARLOCK: (Laughter).
MARTIN: It's "Harry Potter." Is it a bad word?
CARLOCK: "Harry Potter" hurt my friend (laughter).
MARTIN: No, but I'm just curious, like, why are you avoiding saying that?
CARLOCK: I don't know, that's a very good - that's a really good insight, Michel.
MARTIN: But it's interesting to see him in this role. It's just fun to watch him do this thing, you know?
CARLOCK: Yeah, because he's a guy who takes his - Daniel does - his craft very, very seriously. But he doesn't take himself seriously. And he likes to say yes. And he likes comedy a lot. And I do think he responded to, you know, how funny the show is, if I may.
MARTIN: Well, I think Erika Alexander's character as Reggie's former wife, who is still his manager...
CARLOCK: Right.
MARTIN: ...Is interesting, too, because she's been part of the myth creation, too. And it really shows that she was a part of helping him get to that level. And I thought that was really interesting. Having interviewed a number of football wives in my time, I don't think they get enough credit.
CARLOCK: Right. I mean, and that - you know, this isn't fair to the women you're talking about. But part of our inspiration was LeBron James' longtime manager, Maverick Carter, who was someone he grew up with and who a lot of people (laughter) dismissed and sort of scoffed at. Oh, here's this guy - he has this friend of his from Akron, Ohio, who's going to run his empire. And he's done an extraordinary job. And we thought that was an interesting story. And there are, of course, a lot of women who've occupied that same space.
MARTIN: So you worked on this series with Tina Fey.
CARLOCK: Right.
MARTIN: It's been a fruitful relationship. The two of you were at "Saturday Night Live" together. You were behind "30 Rock" together. Did "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." What is it about this partnership that works so well?
CARLOCK: Yeah, at "Saturday Night Live" is where we first worked together, together. That was in a previous century. And I was producing Weekend Update when she started doing it. And, one, there's a comic sensibility that isn't a complete overlap, which is good. I think we push each other in a good way. There's a sense of, like, let's get the job done that not everyone has in this business.
MARTIN: Is either of you a sports fan or a football fan?
CARLOCK: We both are.
MARTIN: Really?
CARLOCK: I mean, you know, she's a Philly girl. And we actually went to the Knicks game with Tracy just last week, which is an experience unto its own. And it's fun to watch the Philly come out a little bit as she starts to get a little salty with the refs.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: You also worked with Tracy Morgan before on "30 Rock" and "SNL."
CARLOCK: Yeah.
MARTIN: You know, people might remember that he was in a serious car collision back in 2014.
CARLOCK: Right.
MARTIN: He suffered a traumatic brain injury. I was under the impression that recovery from something like that could be lifelong. I mean, but he carries a lot of the show. So I was just wondering if you've had to change the way you work with him since the "30 Rock" days. Or is he really back to himself?
CARLOCK: Yeah. Having seen him shortly after the accident, and then months later, it's remarkable the recovery he's made. And he's worked very hard at it. You know, I can't speak to his energy levels or how he feels day to day, but it's really so fun to be working with him again, and again, having seen him shortly after the accident, to remember that and see how far he's come and how well he is.
MARTIN: Well, I think fans of his will be excited to see him doing so well. He's got some, you know, classic Tracy Morgan eruptions.
CARLOCK: (Laughter).
MARTIN: You know what I mean?
CARLOCK: I do know what you mean. I've made a lot of money off of it, yeah (laughter).
MARTIN: That's Robert Carlock. He is the showrunner of the new show "The Fall And Rise Of Reggie Dinkins." It's on NBC tonight and streaming on Peacock. Robert Carlock, thanks so much for joining us.
CARLOCK: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF JEFF RICHMOND'S "PAGE OFF INTRO / THEME FROM 30 ROCK / KENNETH CHOKES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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