• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, April 2, 2018

Four years ago, Tracy Morgan almost died.

A middle-of-the-night collision in June 2014 on the New Jersey Turnpike between a Walmart tractor-trailer and the Mercedes minibus carrying Morgan and six others left Morgan with a broken leg, broken nose, broken ribs and traumatic brain injuries stemming from a coma that lasted two weeks following the crash. One of Morgan's best friends was killed -- comedian James McNair.

According to various accounts, the rehabilitation process for Morgan was slow and arduous. In the months immediately following the accident, it was unclear whether Morgan would ever recover sufficiently to resume his career.

Cut to the present day and Morgan is starring in his own sitcom on TBS. The show, titled “The Last O.G.” (for “original gangster”), is hilarious, and Morgan appears to be in tip-top comedic condition.

Call it a miracle or just the result of intensive physical and cognitive therapy, but no matter how you describe it, “The Last O.G.” is a very welcome addition to the pantheon of current TV comedy.

In the show, Morgan plays Tray, a long-time Brooklyn resident who was arrested in September 2002 during the final episode of the first season of “American Idol” on Fox. During the show, Tray went out across the street to buy a candy bar and ended up being arrested in a drug sting.

“The Last O.G.” takes place 15 years later when Tray is released from prison and returns to a Brooklyn that has been completely gentrified in the years he has been away.

Among other things, Tray's former girlfriend (Tiffany Haddish), who he left in the middle of the “American Idol” finale and has not seen since, has taken up with a white neighbor who symbolizes the changes that have been wrought in his Brooklyn neighborhood.

Tray finds himself living in a Brooklyn halfway house presided over by a world-weary man named Mullins (Cedric the Entertainer).

And that's the show. Through it all, Morgan's Tray manages to maintain a consistently upbeat outlook as he encounters the various challenges presented to him by a Brooklyn he does not recognize.

It is a great performance, and he receives very strong support from Haddish and Cedric too.

When I watched two preview episodes of “The Last O.G.” provided by TBS, I was reminded of “Atlanta” on FX, which is also a current comedy (supposedly) about various aspects of contemporary African-American urban life.

However, the two shows quickly diverged for one big reason: “The Last O.G.” was funny and, as a result, a great piece of TV entertainment. “Atlanta,” on the other hand, is a dreary, depressing mess that nobody should waste their time watching.

“The Last O.G.” premieres Tuesday (April 3) at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on TBS.