Tracy Morgan & Bobby Moynihan Celebrate ‘SNL’ Reunion on ‘Reggie Dinkins’ (VIDEO)

The big headline about The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins may be the pairing of Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe as a washed-up athlete and the desperate documentarian trying to chronicle his life story. Or the nearly six million folks who watched its sneak preview premiere on January 18, making it the most-watched sitcom episode of the season. But for comedy nerds, the true “whoo hoo!” is for the show’s combined superpowers of two Saturday Night Live vets. Much like Morgan’s brilliant collab with SNL colleague Tina Fey (and Reggie exec-producer Robert Carlock) on 30 Rock, his new comedy about a has-been jock and the documentarian smartly lets him loose to play with his equally beloved Studio 8H colleague, Bobby Moynihan.

“We alumni really appreciate each other because we come from the same place,” Morgan notes of scene stealer Moynihan, who costars on the savvy new sports mockumentary as his disgraced NFLer Reggie Dinkins’ hanger-on, Rusty. “We come from the same show, and we did it live. And not everybody experiences that if you’re not a host. Not everybody knows what that is like, and he’ll attest for it. It’s like being shot out of a cannon. The show never went on because it was ready. Saturday Night Live was never ready. It went on because it was 11:30.”

“It’s nuts,” agrees Moynihan. “It’s a stupid job, but it’s good.”

Recalling how the two first met when Morgan returned to host the late-nighter during Bobby’s first season on the cast, Moynihan shares that he’s long been a fan of his onscreen sidekick, especially one of his most iconic SNL creations.

“The whole cast decided to go to Dave & Buster’s for some reason, and when we got there,” he remembers, looking to Morgan. “Do you remember that? You were just at Dave & Buster’s in Times Square, and we were like, ‘Tracy’s here!’ And it was absolutely amazing. We’ve known each other for a couple of years, and I love Tracy with all my heart… I bring up Brian Fellows all the time. I just want to hear him sing the theme song!”

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The duo, along with Jalyn Hall and the effervescent Precious Way, who play Reggie’s son Carmelo and new fiancée Brina, recently chatted with us about the chaos yet to come on the show, including an unexpected alliance between Brina and Reggie’s manager ex-wife Monica (Erika Alexander). A rare example of women not being pit against one another over a man.

“Brina admires her,” notes Way, a mega-watted stealth weapon when it comes to the joke-heavy writing. “She’s like, ‘Ooh girl, you do a hard thing here. I can’t do anything but respect what you’ve built in this family that you created.’ So I think she wants to be liked by her, but she also wants to be respected for everything that she is outside of what she appears to be.”

“That was intentional,” Carlock’s co-executive producer and showrunner Sam Means admits of the ladies’ unique dynamic. “We really didn’t want to fall into the trap of ‘the new wife versus the ex-wife.’ And we also didn’t want to fall into the trap of Monica [being] just the glue and the reasonable person. We wanted to make sure she had her blind spots, so she is also — like Arthur and Reggie — at a point in her life where she’s going, ‘Oh, did I take the wrong path by staying attached to this guy? Have I made mistakes?'”

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That allows for a lot of comedy, as well as some sweetly emotional moments. In fact, the instantly charming Hall had no problem getting into the head of a son who, though slick in his own right, still idolizes his dad because of who Morgan is at heart.

“That makes it that much easier to be able to portray those real feelings of genuine care and love,” he raves. “He’s so inviting, he’s so personable, and he’s so genuine. So it only helps translate to the TV show.”

“We have some touching moments,” Morgan promises. “We have some touching moments. Stay tuned.”

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, Timeslot Premiere, Monday, February 23, 8/7c, NBC