Aahana Swrup
Peacock’s sitcom ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ presents a mockumentary-style story about the titular character, who is an ex-NFL player with a career tarnished by a haunting scandal. At the height of his career in 2005, the footballer ended up inadvertently revealing his dark secret to the world: not only was Reggie Dinkins gambling on sports, but he was particularly placing bets on his own games. Naturally, in the aftermath of the revelation, his career tanked, leading to a lifetime ban from the NFL and a dwindling reputation.
Consequently, decades down the road, the former athlete decides to brush up on his public image by hiring a celebrated filmmaker, Arthur Tobin, to create a heartwarming documentary on him. However, once filming begins, he realizes he and Tobin have drastically different ideas of what the documentary should be like. The series delves into relevant topics of cancel culture and second chances through the characters of Reggie Dinkins and Arthur Tobin. However, do their on-screen careers have a tangible basis in reality?
Reggie Dinkins’ Fictional Narrative Shares Many Similarities with Real-Life Athlete Scandals
‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins’ presents a fictitious story without any direct inspiration from real life. It’s a work of fiction, created by Robert Carlock, Sam Means, and their team of screenwriters. Yet, even though the premise of the story, its characters, and their narratives are largely departed from reality, they retain a sense of familiarity. This is most evident in the characterization of the titular protagonist, Reggie Dinkins. Although the NFL player is a fictionalized element created in service of the narrative, his on-screen career as an athlete seems to share some stark resemblance to real-life sportsmen. For instance, the nature of the scandal surrounding his professional life is reminiscent of the actual story that unraveled around the baseball player Pete Rose in 1989.
From the age of 18, Rose has been a prominent name in the world of baseball. He first made his MLB debut in 1963 and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in the same year. With many titles to his name, the honor of the Most Valuable Player, and numerous accolades, the player remembered most fondly as a member of the Cincinnati Reds charted an impressive career. By 1989, he had retired from the field but remained in the game as the manager for the Reds. During this time, an investigation was launched against him by the commissioner of professional baseball regarding illegal sports betting. Although he denied all accusations, Rose was eventually banned from MLB for life. Furthermore, he received a fine of $50,000 and earned a five-month prison sentence for false tax returns.
Eventually, by 2004, Rose publicly confessed to the crime in his autobiography, ‘Pete Rose: My Prison Without Bars,’ co-written with Rick Hill. Still, he was heavily criticized by the media and the public about his perceived lack of genuine remorse. The former baseball player passed away in 2024, and in 2025, it was announced that he would be removed from the list of permanently ineligible players, a decision that makes him eligible to enter the Hall of Fame in the future. Even though Rose led a very different life, both private and professional, from Reggie Dinkins, the latter’s narrative seems to share many notable similarities with the actual athlete’s public scandal. Alternatively, there have been many other athletes who have been caught up in public infamy due to gambling. These include Joe Jackson, Rick Kuhn, and more. While Reggie isn’t a direct counterpart for any of these athletes, their real-life stories could have served as a potential reference for the on-screen fictionalization of his narrative.
Arthur Tobin is a Fictional Filmmaker
Much like the other storytelling elements in ‘The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,’ Arthur Tobin’s character is also a work of fiction. In the series, he is introduced as a critically acclaimed filmmaker who has even managed to win an Oscar for his work. Yet, he finds himself working with Reggie Dinkins on a difficult documentary. This is because, much like the athlete, Tobin is also looking for a second chance. However, the scandal that gets him blackslisted from his industry is comparatively low-stakes and high in humor.
As it turns out, after his impressive Academy Award win, the filmmaker was offered a Marvel Cinematic Universe project. Unfortunately for him, between the green screens and the CGI tennis-ball placeholders, Tobin ended up having a meltdown that tarnished his reputation as a filmmaker forever. In real life, there are no directors with a similar public story relating to the MCU. There have been many filmmakers who have been publicly critical of the media franchise and its approach to storytelling. Likewise, many directors, like Edgar Wright and Patty Jenkins, have distanced themselves from certain projects due to “creative differences.”
Nonetheless, there are no instances of filmmakers having a meltdown on set due to the filming conditions to the point where it would be detrimental to their careers. The series fabricates this aspect of Tobin’s career as a humorous nod to the public and industry perception of the CGI-rich approach to filmmaking in the MCU. For the most part, much like Reggie, Tobin’s character also remains confined to the fictionality of the series. Instead of actual professionals in the industry, he mines his sense of realism through relatable characterization and authentic storylines.
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