At 24, Erika Alexander stepped onto the set of Yvette Lee Bowser’s Fox sitcom “Living Single,” opposite veteran Queen Latifah, and became an icon. Maxine Shaw, attorney at law, was unlike any character previously depicted on television. Dressed to kill with an insatiable appetite and a sharp tongue that was either directed at Kim Fields’ divaesque Regine Hunter or Max’s nemesis-turned-lover Kyle Barker (T.C. Carson), Maxine was a self-assured Black woman who spoke her mind, centered herself and always demanded the very best. Now, nearly 30 years after the final credits rolled on the Brooklyn-set show, Alexander has returned to her roots.
In NBC’s “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” helmed by “30 Rock” alums Robert Carlock, Sam Means and Tina Fey, the “Get Out” actress has re-entered the world of television comedy. The show is Alexander’s first sitcom series regular role since “Living Single,” and she’s proving that her comedic skills, which she first began honing on the set of “The Cosby Show” in the early 1990s, are just as dynamic as they always were.
In “Reggie Dinkins,” Alexander portrays Monica, the ex-wife and business manager of the long-disgraced former football player (Tracy Morgan). A gambling scandal ruined Reggie’s career and reputation some 20 years ago. Yet, in an effort to still get into the Hall of Fame, he has hired failed documentarian, Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe), to reclaim what’s left of his sordid legacy. It’s a scheme that Monica isn’t exactly on board with.
Monica’s wit isn’t quite as biting as Maxine’s, but she’s not one to suffer fools. Moreover, despite all of Reggie’s mishaps and his lifetime ban from the NFL, Monica has kept him financially sound and flourishing over the years. Though she is often the voice of reason, Monica is no straight man. Making
her merely a straight man would have been a misuse of Alexander’s expansive talent.
Instead, like the rest of the eclectic cast in the mockumentary, which even includes rapper Megan Thee Stallion as a mail carrier who catches Tobin’s eye, Monica finds herself fully indulging in the shenanigans. Alexander has long demonstrated this brilliant comedic timing even in more dramatic roles, including OWN’s “Queen Sugar,” Hulu’s “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” and more recently, Aleshea Harris’ revenge film “Is God Is.”
Harris’ Southern Gothic follows twin sisters on a quest to murder the father who maimed them as children. Yet, Alexander’s turn as Divine the Healer, a delusional, rib-eating evangelist, adds some much-needed levity to the deeply emotional but wildly entertaining film.
Cloaked in all white, she dons an ombre wig and silver knee-high boots that would make legendary boot lover Mary J. Blige envious. Divine is a garish spectacle in all the best ways. Like Monica and even Maxine, she holds all of the beautiful prisms that showcase the mastery of Alexander’s craft across the decades.
Though the “American Fiction” actress has been nominated for and won countless awards over the course of her career, including two NAACP Image Awards for her work on “Living Single,” the Television Academy has not yet recognized her greatness.
Alexander’s role as Monica in “Reggie Dinkins” showcases a different type of comedy. Still, this is no resurgence. Instead, it’s a reminder of how excellent she is while paying homage to all she has given not just to the art of comedic acting, but also to a generation of dark-skinned Black women who first felt seen when she barged through the doors of that Brooklyn brownstone in Maxine’s sky-high heels.
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