- - Tracy Morgan reveals he owns 'the deadliest thing on the planet'

Patrick Ryan, USA TODAYFebruary 16, 2026 at 5:00 AM

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NEW YORK — Name a more chaotic duo than Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe. We'll wait.

The “Saturday Night Live” funnyman and “Harry Potter” wizard have teamed up for NBC’s delightfully absurd “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” which premieres Feb. 23 (8 ET/PT, before moving to Mondays at 8:30 ET/PT on March 2). The sitcom follows an outrageous ex-football star named Reggie (Morgan) as he forges an unlikely bond with Arthur (Radcliffe), a neurotic filmmaker who’s tasked with making a documentary about his life.

“We’re like Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz!” Morgan proclaims to USA TODAY, seated in an office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza on a recent morning. “You feel the chemistry? In real life, do you see it?”

“You better say ‘yes,’ ” Radcliffe says winkingly. “You’re not leaving here until you say ‘yes.’ ”

Arthur (Daniel Radcliffe, right) sets out to help the disgraced Reggie (Tracy Morgan) rehabilitate his image.

"Reggie Dinkins" reunites Morgan with “30 Rock” producer Tina Fey and writer Sam Means, who co-created the series with Robert Carlock.

“Tracy came to us a little while ago and was interested in getting the band back together,” Means explains. “Of course, we leapt at the chance because Tracy is uniquely hilarious and someone we love working with.”

The show exists loosely in the “30 Rock” universe, and diehard fans will pick up on callbacks and cameos from Fey’s Emmy-winning sitcom. But Morgan isn’t one to spoil any specific jokes or Easter eggs.

“I’m not giving you that! It’s got to be a pleasant surprise,” he says playfully. “I don’t care if you’re a reporter – I want you to get the popcorn and the Goobers and watch!”

Morgan, 57, and Radcliffe, 36, tell us more about their odd-couple comedy:

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

"The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" is a mockumentary-style family comedy starring Tracy Morgan, left, and Daniel Radcliffe.

Question: What do you recall about the first time you met?

Daniel Radcliffe: We met at the table read and you said something to me that I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t say, but it was funny.

Tracy Morgan: You know how much a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice!

Radcliffe: That was not the joke he made. It was … different (laughs). But I remember Tracy had all the actors and writers over to his house the night before we started filming.

Morgan: We sat around and ate. Let’s break bread! I wanted us to feel like a family.

Reggie has a football made from the original Miss Piggy. What’s the craziest impulse purchase you’ve ever made?

Morgan: I spent $4 million on a LaFerrari.

Radcliffe: Can we talk about the glass from the Titanic? How did you get that?

Morgan: I was on “30 Rock” when I got that. I won it in an auction. I also have one of Michael Jackson’s gloves in my living room. I paid like $100,000 to get it. How many people could say that?

Radcliffe: Your house could be a museum.

Morgan: I’ve got my book of life. I did “Finding Your Roots” on PBS and that’s when I found out Nas was my third cousin. That is the most precious thing – besides my children – in my life. After I got hit by the truck (in 2014), I wanted to know who I was before I leave this Earth. So I found everything out.

Radcliffe: He has many exotic fish; a piranha tank in the pool table. When I came to your house, you pointed at the tank on the wall and said, “Everything in that is deadly.”

Morgan: I have a 20,000-gallon shark tank in my backyard. I like to hoard things that could possibly kill me (laughs). I have three cone snails: one out in the shark tank, and two inside the house that are my daughter’s. It’s the deadliest thing on the planet; there’s no cure. It could kill a blue whale, and I have three of them.

Who’s a “30 Rock” character you’d like to see come into the fold in a potential Season 2?

Radcliffe: Dr. Spaceman could be fun.

Morgan: Dr. Spaceman was my guy, but my best episode is when I got to sing with Gladys Knight. I love that episode – and “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.”

Radcliffe: What about if Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) could come in?

Morgan: I’d love him to make an appearance! That’s NBC family. When you had Tracy and Kenneth together? That was crazy. But I’ve been teamed up with some good people. These are folks, like Tina and Robert, that know how to use my humor.

Radcliffe: They write for you so brilliantly, and they pick up on stuff from your life that you just mention to the writers.

Morgan: All I’ve got to do is say stuff and it appears in the script!

Have you ever been asked to make a documentary about your lives?

Morgan: I’ve been approached, but I’m still writing my book. I don't think I'm ready to do that. When I'm older and I see life in a different perspective, maybe. I mean, I’ve been hit by trucks and stuff.

Radcliffe: You should make that documentary one day, honestly.

Morgan: Yeah, but I’m still living it! I’ve got a brand-new TV show!

Tracy Morgan, left, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood.

Which actor would you want to play you in a biopic?

Morgan: Michael B. Jordan.

Radcliffe: Hell yeah. Obviously, Elijah Wood would play me. We get mixed up a lot.

Morgan: You don’t want Anthony Perkins? Is he still around? “Clarice! Clarice! Put the lotion in the basket!”

Radcliffe: Wait, Anthony Hopkins? You know what? Yes, I want Anthony Hopkins to play me in the biography starting from childhood (laughs). But no, no one's asked ‒ and I won't be making one!

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tracy Morgan has a shark tank in his backyard, one of MJ's gloves

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