The actor-comedian will guest-star in NBC’s new football series.

Craig Robinson joins The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins as Tracy Morgan’s rival (exclusive)

The actor-comedian will guest-star in NBC's new football series.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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January 15, 2026 1:00 p.m. ET

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Craig Robinson; Tracy Morgan in 'The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins'. Credit:

Jamaal Murray; Scott Gries/NBC

There's a new heated rivalry coming to our TV screens.

*The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins* has recruited Craig Robinson to guest-star, ** has exclusively learned.

The actor-comedian will play Jerry Basmati, the longtime rival of disgraced football star Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan). The two athletes first butted heads when Reggie was the star player of the New York Jets, and Jerry still carries a grudge today. He'll do anything to prove he's better than Reggie, both on and off the field.

Meanwhile Jerry's glamorous, passive-aggressive wife Tisha Basmati (played by *Saturday Night Live *alum Heidi Gardner in two episodes) hates Reggie's ex-wife/current agent and business manager Monica (Erika Alexander) just as much as her husband hates Reggie.

"They come in and cause trouble," co-showrunner Sam Means tells EW of Jerry and Tisha. "We have a lot of fun with them."

Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe on 'The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins'.

Scott Gries/NBC

Alexander says Robinson is "excellent" in his role.

"He's his own long-running joke," she adds. "He's a great nemesis and also version of what Reggie could have. I love the energy he brings — he's a master of his craft, a total legend. We spent our time in between scenes singing '80s love duets."

*The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins *centers on the titular former NFL superstar who was banned for life from the league after accidentally revealing he bet on his own New York Jets games, resulting in the team's downfall. Reggie hires award-winning filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) to move into his home and make a documentary about his life and career in the hopes it will win back the respect of his fans, peers, and family — and ultimately help him achieve the impossible dream of getting into the Hall of Fame. But he'll have to own up to his past mistakes first.

How Tracy Morgan's 'The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins' connects with '30 Rock'

Heidi Gardner, Anna Camp, and more join NBC comedy 'Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins' (exclusive)

The NBC comedy also stars Bobby Moynihan, Precious Way, and Jalyn Hall. Other guest stars previously announced by EW include *The Daily Show*'s Ronny Chieng, *L.A. Law*'s Corbin Bernsen, and *Pitch Perfect *alum Anna Camp.

Robert Carlock and Means serve as co-showrunners, writers, and executive producers, with Morgan, Tina Fey, Eric Gurian, and David Miner executive producing.

After breaking out as a stand-up comedian, Robinson became best known for his role as Darryl Philbin in *The Office *and Doug "the Pontiac Bandit" Judy in *Brooklyn Nine-Nine*. He executive produced and starred in two seasons of Peacock's comedy series *Killing It*. Other TV appearances include *Mr. Robinson, The Cleveland Show, Ghosted, *and* The Masked Dancer. *

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He has also starred in many films, including *The Bad Guys *franchise*, Knocked Up, This is the End, *the *Hot Tub Time Machine *franchise, and more. In addition to his stand-up solo acts, he also tours with his band, the Nasty Delicious.

*The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins* kicks off with a special premiere on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT or immediately following the NFL playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears. The series returns with two episodes (an encore of the pilot followed by the second episode) on Monday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, before moving to its regular time slot the following week on Monday, March 2 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Comedy”