'The Last O.G.': Tracy Morgan Better Than Ever

Morgan doesn’t look impaired at all, and he still has some anarchic energy, but he’s gone way beyond the out-of-control persona that made him famous on SNL and more famous on 30 Rock. On the latter, he played a movie star with a gangster posse and zero impulse control, a guy inclined to run down I-405 in his underwear yelling “I am a Jedi!” or fall asleep on Ted Danson’s roof. On The Last O.G., he has to adapt to a highly controlled environment, and his anarchic impulses are funny, but it’s the poignance of his dilemma that’s the point.

Morgan’s gangster persona was popular because he radiates sweetness as well as unpredictable volatility, and he’s sweeter than ever now — while maintaining his street cred. He really did rise from the mean streets, and he retains his gift for malapropisms, telling one of Bed-Stuy’s white women, “Do you want to see another black man in the penile system?” He is definitely believable as a guy who’s come back from hell with an upbeat attitude and a new life that just might work out, against all odds.

Like the insanely successful Roseanne reboot, The Last O.G. starts out good, if a bit stiff and formulaic, then gets better in subsequent episodes as we get to know the hero’s circle and the cast gets into a new groove together. Tray’s attempt to fathom the new world of Tinder dating could have been played for broad, obvious comedy or wish-fulfillment fantasy. But it turns out to be a surprisingly touching encounter between a grownup single mom (Heather Simms, 48, of Law & Order) and an estranged dad who can offer more than horniness and poor impulse control. For that, Tray can turn to his old squeeze (Chrissy Metz of the smash show This Is Us).

Morgan proves two things in The Last O.G.: He hasn’t lost his comedy chops, and adversity has given him a whole new range as a dramatic actor.