The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
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| The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | |
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 The Fresh Prince mid-program bumper |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Creator(s) | Andy Borowitz & Susan Borowitz, based upon a format by Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack |
| Starring | Will Smith James Avery Janet Hubert-Whitten(Seasons 1-3) Daphne Maxwell Reid(Seasons 4-6) Alfonso Ribeiro Karyn Parsons Tatyana Ali Joseph Marcell Ross Bagley DJ Jazzy Jeff Tyra Banks (Season 4) Nia Long (Season 5) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 148 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 23 mins (per episode) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 10, 1990 – May 20, 1996 |
| Links | |
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a popular American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show featured Will Smith in a fish-out-of-water scenario. He was a streetwise teenager from Philadelphia who was sent to live with his wealthy relatives in a Bel-Air mansion. His lifestyle certainly did not fit well with that of his relatives living in Bel-Air. 148 episodes were produced over 6 seasons. The show is currently broadcast as a syndicated program and is seen on many networks such as The N and Nick at Nite. The syndicated show is shown on local channels in many countries.
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[edit] Summary
The opening credits and theme song explain the context of the show. Will Smith is revealed as a street-smart teenager, born and raised on the mean streets of West Philadelphia. After getting into a fight with four bullies, his fearful mother sends him to live with her sister's family, the Banks, in Bel-Air (a rich suburb of Los Angeles, California).
[edit] Theme song and opening sequence
The theme song was written and performed by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The full version of the song was only used on the first three episodes of the show, although DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince did record it as an unreleased B-side.[1] The full-length version, which is 2:52", was included on Will Smith's Greatest Hits album and attributed to himself only. A 3:23" version was released in the Netherlands in 1992, and reached #3 on the charts.
For the first few episodes of the show stanzas one to three and stanzas six and seven were used. Beginning with Episode #9 (titled "Someday Your Prince Will Be in Effect (2)"), only the first two and the last two stanzas of the song were used. The change to the theme song allowed for longer episodes to be created.
Seasons 1-2; 5-6 featured an instrumental version of the theme and still photographs from the episode for the closing credits. In Season 2, the music and stills were dropped and closing credits would almost always appear over bloopers and outtakes from the episode. This continued until the end of season 4. The closing theme over episode clips returned for Season 5 reruns, due to NBC's change from traditional credits to the split screen credits that are currently employed by the network.
[edit] Cast and characters
- Will Smith (Will Smith)
The main character of the show, Will Smith, always has a joke to express toward somebody. Whether being about Phillip's weight or Carlton's height, Will always has something humorous to say.
- Philip "Zeke" Banks (James Avery)
Also known as Uncle Phil by Will, Philip Banks is the serious member of the household. Whenever something goes wrong, he always blames Will for whatever has been done. This behavior is also carried out by other members of the family, specifically in an episode where a couple personal items go missing and everybody thinks Will is the thief. Later, however, it's revealed that Jazz was the actual thief. It's revealed by his mother in the first season episode "Not with My Pig, You Don't" that his nickname is "Zeke," and that he grew up on a farm in the South.
- Vivian Banks (Janet Hubert-Whitten/Daphne Maxwell Reid)
As the mother of the family, Vivian Banks, also known as Aunt Viv by Will, is the cool-natured one. She frequently thinks that Philip and she are becoming less social or haven't been spending enough time together. According to the episode titled "Love at First Flight" (1991), she dropped out of high school and eloped with a man. She later spent her days cleaning hotels while attending night school, eventually becoming a professor of English.
- Carlton Banks (Alfonso Ribeiro)
Carlton Banks is the motivated member of the family who is serious about grades and doing the "right thing." He often ends up in trouble through comedic twists in his "good" behavior. While many jokes center around Will calling him "short," he is also referred to as a nerd by Hilary. He is also a big fan of Tom Jones
- Hilary Banks (Karyn Parsons)
As the dim-witted "shopaholic" of the family, Hilary is always trying to squeeze money from Phillip, either by expressing herself emotionally (crying, for example) or complimenting him. Hilary is preppy and snooty, and thinks very highly of herself.
- Ashley Banks (Tatyana M. Ali)
The teenage sister of Hilary, Ashley starts the show as a cute girl who admires Will and as the show progresses, she begins to develop crushes and love for boys.
- Nicky Banks (Ross Bagley)
Nicky Banks (Full Name Nicholas Michael Shawn Nathan Wanya Banks) does not first appear until the final seasons. In those seasons, he begins as a tiny baby who everyone adores, later progressing to a young child who sparks creativity without even trying. His unusually long name is due to the group Boyz II Men performing at his christening.
- Geoffrey Butler (Joseph Marcell)
Geoffrey Butler is the sarcastic butler who can make a joke about anything or anyone. For instance, in one episode where Philip says he doesn't have much of an appetite, Geoffrey responds with, "Should I call 911?" and another instance where Philip claims he works his butt off for Will, and he responds "I'm afraid it's back with a vengeance, sir!" He is also often seen complaining about how little he gets paid. Geoffrey was inspired by the overly satirous character Brasset from the classic comedic play Charley's Aunt.
[edit] Recurring Characters
- Lisa Wilkes (Nia Long)
Lisa is Will's girlfriend/fiancee the fifth season of the show.
- Jackie Ames (Tyra Banks)
Jackie is Will's childhood friend whom he re-encounters when he first enters college in the 4th season.
- Jazz (DJ Jazzy Jeff)
Jazz is Will's best friend who lives in Compton. Jazz is likely to literally get thrown out of the Banks residence whenever he comes in and makes a rude comment.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] DVD Releases
Warner Home Video is releasing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on DVD in Region 1, 2 & 4 for the very first time. Thus far, they have released the first 4 seasons. Seasons 5 & 6 are expected to be released soon.
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Release dates
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The Complete 1st Season | 25 | February 8, 2005 | February 21, 2005 | April 13, 2005 | "Back-to-Bel-Air: A Fresh Look" featurette. |
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The Complete 2nd Season | 24 | October 11, 2005 | November 21, 2005 | March 1, 2006 | Best Bits of Bel Air, and Bloopers from Season 2 |
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The Complete 3rd Season | 24 | February 14, 2006 | June 26, 2006 | August 9, 2006 | Best of the Upper Bel-Air Crust (Season 3 highlights), and Bloopers from Season 3 |
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The Complete 4th Season | 26 | August 8, 2006 | January 22, 2007 | December 6, 2006 | No Bonus Features |
| The Complete 5th Season | 25 | TBA | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| The Complete 6th Season | 24 | TBA | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
[edit] Settings
- The Bel-Air Mansion - full series:
The Bel-Air mansion is where The Banks family, as well as Will, live. Most of the show's scenes occur in the mansion. The upper floor hallway was shown in Season One but did not appear in later seasons. The living room has been seen in all seasons. The kitchen appeared infrequently in Season One but became a more prominent set in Seasons Two through Six. Note that both the living room and the kitchen appear quite differently in seasons Two-Six. (Different Camera Angles and Furniture etc.) The living room in the first part of the series and the living room in the second part of the series are actually two different rooms. Will's room was seen in Seasons One through Three, and the back of the house with a patio was seen in Season Two and onward.
- Bel-Air Prep - Seasons One, Two, and Three:
Bel-Air Prep is the high school that Will and Carlton attended in Seasons One through Three. One of Will's best friends at Bel-Air Prep is Kellogg "Cornflake" Lieberbaum, played by Michael Wiener seen in Seasons One and Two. In Season Three, Will and Carlton graduated from Bel-Air Prep.
- ULA Student Store, "The Peacock Stop" - Seasons Four and Five:
The ULA Student Store, mostly known as "The Peacock Stop" because the school mascot is a peacock, is where Will, Carlton, and Will's friend, Jackie Ames, work. In Season Four, Jackie was the manager, Carlton was the assistant manager, and Will was the cashier. When Jackie left ULA in the middle of Season Four, Carlton took over as manager, and Will became assistant manager and cashier of the store until Season Five.
- ULA Hallway (Upper Floor) - Season Four:
The ULA Hallway was shown once or twice in Season Four, because it was where Will's Classes were located.
- The Pool House - Seasons Three through Six:
The pool house was shown in one episode of Season Three because Hilary decided to give it to Will and Carlton for a night, and it became a main setting for Seasons Four through Six. When Hilary wanted Trevor, Hilary's boyfriend at the time, to make a wedding proposal, Trevor decided to bungee-jump off a bridge and landed on the ground hitting his head. He died from the injury. Hilary wanted to move out of the pool house because it would remind her too much of her former boyfriend. Will and Carlton moved into the pool house in Season Four after Hilary moved out and stayed there until the end of the series. When they move in, it has a different interior than it did in Season Three.
- Philadelphia and Vi's apartment - Season Four:
When the Banks family and Will come to Philadelphia to visit Will's mother in the Season Four finale, The Philadelphia Story, Philadelphia and Vi's apartment were the main settings.
- Hospital - Seasons Two through Six:
A hospital in Los Angeles was seen in certain episodes of these seasons. This hospital was used to treat some of the Banks family's medical problems, including the episode Will spent the night at the hospital waiting for a tonsil operation, as well when Carlton overdosed on the drug speed (mistaken for Vitamin E). It was also seen in the next episode, "The Baby Comes Out", when Vivian gives birth to Nicky. The hospital appeared in the Season 4 episode "Home is Where the Heart Attack Is" because Phil had a heart attack after eating high-fattening food and was treated and fortunately survived. It was seen in twice in Season 5 as well, including "Bullets Over Bel-Air" when Will was shot and had to be treated immediately, and it was seen in the first 5 minutes of the next episode called "A Decent Proposal" when Will proposes to Lisa after being shot. In "I, Ooh, Ooh, Baby", the hospital was seen when an acquaintance of Hilary got pregnant in the studio of Hilary's show and spent a few days there.
- Jazz's apartment in Compton - Season one, three, and four:
Jazz lived in a run down apartment in Compton, which he shared with a few friends. It was featured in an episode when Will made a bet with Carlton to prove to him that he could not last a weekend in the ghetto. Throughout the series, Will is very critical of Carlton for not being "black enough" because he was raised in an upper-class neighborhood. It was also seen again in "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" although that time it was only the hall way, and it looked a lot nicer than in season 1. Will was going to crash there after he and Philip got into an argument and he ran away from home. It was also seen in season four in episode "Where There's a Will There's a Way (Part 2) when Will was going to beat Jazz up for getting him and Carlton evicted from their apartment.
- UCLA - Season One:
UCLA only appeared in one episode, episode 1.12 "Knowledge Is Power" Will went to the UCLA campus to find out what Hilary was really up to instead of studying , He finds out Hilary dropped out of UCLA three months before.
[edit] Running gags
In addition to humorous scripts, the show found humor in physical comedy, insults, and running gags:
- There have been a few jokes about the size of Will's ears. In one episode, they went to a barber shop and the barber stated "Now you know I'm gonna have to charge you extra for cuttin' around these ears?" Lisa makes a joke about them being cute in another episode.
- Whenever the Banks' doorbell would ring, the family would stare at Geoffrey, even if Geoffrey is the farthest one from the door, and Geoffrey would cheerily (but sarcastically) reply "Oh, please, allow me to get it!" (This is a reference to a line frequently spoken by the character of Benson DuBois on Soap: "Do you want me to get that?")
- Will would frequently make jabs at Carlton's slight stature, square head and virginity, as well as at Uncle Phil's weight and baldness. For Carlton's height, one episode held a small twist. In this episode, Will and Carlton trick Geoffrey into thinking he won the lottery. Humiliated and resentful, Geoffrey quits as the Banks' butler and takes a job as a waiter. At Geoffrey's new restaurant, Will and Carlton pretend to be his sons. Will then jokes that the reason Carlton, his "older brother", "stopped growing" was because they didn't have any money for clothes. Rather than getting upset or angry, Carlton makes fun of himself, saying he wants to grow.
- A running gag throughout the series was Carlton's enthusiastic love of singer Tom Jones and a gyrating dance he would perform to Jones' tune "It's Not Unusual." Eventually, Tom Jones guest-starred as himself as Carlton's guardian angel, showing Carlton what the Banks family would be like if he had never been born, a la It's a Wonderful Life.
- A favorite recurring gag throughout the series involved Will's best friend Jazz flying out the front door after saying something offensive to a member of the Banks family (usually Philip) and being physically thrown out by him or her. The shot of Jazz flying through the front door was only filmed once (for Season 1, Episode #2: "Bang the Drum, Ashley" when Phil told him to turn up a classical music record, and Jazz scratches it like a DJ) and re-used each time. The many later episodes in which he is thrown out the door, he is always wearing the same shirt as he was that first time. In the Season 2 episode "Cased Up", there was a small twist on this gag: when Jazz offends Phillip outside on the Banks' driveway, then comments "You can't throw me out because I'm already outside", Phillip proceeds to pick him up and throw him into the house via the kitchen door. Another twist to this is in the Halloween episode in a dream of Will's where Hilary and Jazz fall in love, to which Philip tries to throw him out, but ends up being thrown out himself. Will was once thrown out of the house in the same manner as Jazz for making changes to his Uncle Phil's political campaign tape. In the Season 2 episode "Community Action", Jazz is thrown out the kitchen door together with a life-size cardboard figure of Bill Cosby - this one had to be redone several times, and such attempts appeared as the blooper sequence for the end of this episode.
- Will constantly makes quick jokes about Uncle Phil's size and weight. At some points, even Geoffrey jokes about Uncle Phil's size. For example, Vivian, while upset at Phillip, says to Geoffrey "Geoffrey, that man is skating on thin ice." Geoffrey quips "I'll alert the fish!" Another is when Philip and Geoffrey are hunting a cricket in the house. Philip makes a reference to Moby Dick, and Geoffrey responds "between the two of you, the cricket is the whale?"
- Many times, when Will does something bad in the show, Uncle Phil would confront him and say nice things or thank Will, leading Will to feel guilty about what he did.
- Uncle Phil would also act extremely happy whenever Will and Carlton would explain their mess. Only to change to a high amount of anger. One example is when Will suggests Philip reward them for their honesty, something they all saw on Leave it to Beaver. After a short time of laughing, Philip shouts "DO I LOOK LIKE A WHITE GUY NAMED WARD?"
- The favorite handshake of the series, Jazz and Will's handshake has been countlessly done throughout the show, some occurring without one of those two characters. The handshake starts with a regular, swinging mid-five and ends with a point-back/snap between the characters and a "Pshhh!" to finish it off.
- Will will some times make jokes about Carlton being less "black" than Will and Jazz. One example is when Will joins poetry club and says this to Carlton:
Roses are red/Violets are blue/Jazz and I are black/but Carlton, what are you? ]
[edit] Breaking of the fourth wall
The breaking of the fourth wall was a common gag on the show; some examples include:
- Will voicing his confusion over how Nicky could have aged several years over a period of about three months in the Season 5 premiere "What's Will Got to Do With It?" In that scene, upon seeing the older Nicky, Jazz says, "Man I'm going back to the streets where things make sense."
- References to the change of actresses portraying Vivian Banks. In "Where There's a Will There's a Way," Jazz says "You know Mrs. Banks ever since you had that baby, you seem different." In "What's Will Got to Do With It?," Jazz asks Will, "Who's playing the mom this year?"
- In one episode, Will is asking Uncle Phil for some money and Uncle Phil responds by saying "Your Album Just Went Platinum, Like You Really Need Anymore Money"
- In An Episode Will asks His Aunt Viv for something & she says that he's asking to be treated like he is "a Rap Star with a Platinum album"
- After Uncle Phil proclaims, "We're rich", Will asks the audience, "If we so rich, why we can't afford no ceiling?" while the camera tilts up to show the studio lights and rafters and the audience bursts into laughter.
- In another episode, Will fakes playing the saxophone while Branford Marsalis plays in the background, causing Will to quip how great it is to be working for NBC.
- Philip is complaining until Will takes a television remote and "clicks off" Philip, then asks the studio audience if they wish they could live on television like him, where such things are possible.
- Both Will and Carlton break the fourth wall in a later episode: Will meets his eventual girlfriend Lisa at ULA, where she poses as a psychopath obsessed with Will. As a practical joke, Will later tells Carlton that Lisa was really insane and that he had to kill her in self-defense. Carlton goes into a frenzied grief, running through all of the show's various sets (the house, the university, the cabin where Lisa entrapped Will, etc.), eventually meeting Will as the camera pans away from the set and into the audience.
- After Will's decision to stay with his mother in Philadelphia at the end of the episode "The Philadelphia Story", some NBC execs come into his workplace and grab Will with the intention of bringing him back to Bel-Air in the season 5 premiere, explaining that they cast him as the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, not the Fresh Prince of Philadelphia." The NBC exec humorously quotes the theme song: "Yo, homes, to Bel-Air" as they throw Will into a van with the NBC logo and the words "Star Retrieval Unit".
- In another episode, Will is reading in his horoscope that he will become a rap star with his own TV show. Hilary scoffs at this and at her horoscope, that says she will have a great fall. When that comes true, Will wonders what his show should be called and smiles at the audience.
- In the episode where Will gets a starring role in a live soap opera, Uncle Phil says something along the lines of, "Yeah, like they are going to give a rapper with no acting experience whatsoever a starring role on a network television show." Will then looks at the camera and replies, "It could happen."
- During an episode, a nerdy girl, Lindsey, bribes Will into spending time with her by bestowing lavish gifts to him. After vowing that he would stop taking her gifts, Lindsey gives Will a motorcycle helmet, jacket, and the keys to a new Harley-Davidson. After accepting it, Will looks at the camera and says "Yeah, right, like you wouldn't take it!"
- In one episode, Will addresses a judge with his opening statement (Uncle Phil takes Will and Carlton to mock-court over the rent for the pool-house) "I'm from West Philadelphia, born and raised". He then continued to say "On the playground is where I spent most of my days".
- In one episode Will, Carlton and Ashley are playing a game with a dart gun, Geoffrey gets shot and everybody believes that Will did it, looking for the shooter he goes out to the backyard and not finding anybody he asks the cameraman "you believe me right?" and the camera shakes confirming yes and then shoots him confirming he isn't the shooter.
- In another episode, Will steals Carlton's ex-girlfriend and while trying to convince Carlton that he helped him, he misunderstood Carlton as he was talking about the last cake in the fridge. He says "Paula? No, no, y-you see, in Philly we name our food, like, the cheesecake i-is Paula, a-and this snack packet, is, uhh, Boomsheeka. He then turns around and says "I can't see him, is he buyin' it?" to the audience.
- In multiple episodes, Will will talk and look at the camera. For example, after Will burns down the kitchen in "Burnin' Down the House", he swings his arms while looking at the camera and yelling "Mama, no!"
- In one episode, Will overhears his aunt's boyfriend on the phone thinking he has a secret girlfriend. Will reacts as he confronts him and asks why he is cheating on his aunt. The boyfriend says it's his shrink (which we learn it really is). Will replies "Oh yeah, and I just won a Grammy" which Will Smith actually won.
- In one episode, after Will won a basketball game, he turned to the camera and shouted "I'm going to Disneyland!"
- In one episode, when Jazz sets Will on a date with his sister and at dinner, she turns out to be controlling, Will looks up at the camera with his mouth hanging. Then Jazz's sister asks, "William, who are you looking at?!"
- In the episode "Cased Up", guest star Malcolm-Jamal Warner remarks that he thought the whole family gathered around the table for dinner "only happened on The Cosby Show", referencing the show on which he was a main character.
- In several episodes including the one where the Banks fix up their old apartment and when Uncle Phil's parents come to visit, Uncle Phil and Will say "Parents Just Don't Understand" which was a Grammy-winning song that Will Smith recorded at the time.
- In the episode "Not with My Pig you Don't!", When Philip and Will were in the bathroom, Philip makes a reference to "Parents Just Don't Understand".
- In the episode where Will spends an entire evening not studying, he confronts Carlton and exclaims he got 85%. Carlton then scolds Will and says that he wouldn't want the audience to think he cheated. Will agrees, and they then restart the scene. They re-enact all of which they said, with the exception of Will now stating that he failed the test. Carlton then encourages him to study harder and retake the test, in which Will gives a grin to the camera before walking off the set.
- In "A Philadephia Story" Will and some of his friends are talking about the fight Will got into that caused him to go to Bel-Air, when they are talking about Omar, Carlton asks "who's that?" Will responds with "the dude that be spinnin me over his head in the openin' credits."
- In one episode, Will and Carlton are arguing, and Will looks at the camera and says "Who says the art of conversation is dead?" in a cheery voice.
- In one episode Uncle Phil doesn't believe what Will is trying to say and then says to Vivian " Would you believe him if he said he was a Multi-Plantium Rap Artist?" which at the time Will Smith was indeed one.
- In one episode when Will thinks he is being held kidnapped by a crazy sorority girl he turns to the camera and barks
[edit] Syndication
[edit] United States
The series currently airs seven nights a week on Nick at Nite at 11:00 PM and 11:30 PM/ET along with late-night episodes at 3:00 and 3:30 AM/ET , The N, (Noggin's nighttime program lineup) nightly at 6:00 and 6:30 PM/ET and 10:00 and 10:30 pm/et broadcast with scenes that were deleted from syndicated and original broadcasts of the series. The series is also syndicated in some U.S. markets, used by some (such as KAUT 43 in Oklahoma City) as filler programming.
[edit] Canada
It airs in Canada on YTV (Monday - Thursday 12:30am & 8:00pm), Omni 2 and on CTS and on Parisi TV
[edit] United Kingdom
BBC Two broadcasted the show between 21 January 1991 to 7 April 1998 exclusively for British audiences. After this, the show had a weekday slot around 6:20pm during what seemed to be programming for a more younger audience, which included The Simpsons and on Fridays, Robot Wars. After this programming stopped, the channel occasionally broadcasted episodes during late morning/early afternoon schedules. Now, the show is rarely found on BBC Two schedules, and it is believed that the channels rights to broadcast the show have expired.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air continues to run on Trouble, usually every day, and on Bravo.
[edit] Australia
In Australia it was previously aired daily on the Nine Network (free-to-air), but now it is only shown on pay TV children's channel Nickelodeon (cable/satellite), usually during the 'Nick at Nite' times.
[edit] France
In France, the series airs Monday through Sunday on the public channel France 4. From 1992 to 2002, the show was broadcasted by France 2.
[edit] Hungary
In Hungary it was on air daily on Viasat3 and on HBO as well, in the afternoon session. Then in the summer of 2006 they started it again on Viasat3 in the early morning. The show was called "Kaliforniába jöttem": "I came to California". The first episode was dubbed in 1994. There were two different dubs of the show, by two different synchronization companys. The theme song was translated also to Hungarian.
[edit] Italy
In Italy, the series is broadcast on Italia 1 as "Willy, il Pricipe di Bel-Air." The show is translated into Italian.
[edit] Mexico
In Mexico, the show used to air in the 1990s on prime time (right before The Simpsons, which still shows at 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) on Azteca 7 with the name "El Principe Del Rap": "The Prince Of Rap". The show's intro theme was dubbed into Spanish with reasonable accuracy to the original and the same music background.
[edit] The Netherlands
In the Netherlands it airs Monday through Sunday on the music channel The Box.
[edit] Brazil
In Brazil it airs Monday through Saturday on SBT with the name "Um Maluco no Pedaço". The translation is something like this: "A Crazy guy in the neighborhood"
[edit] New Zealand
In New Zealand the show screens on weekdays on Prime.
[edit] Middle East
The show was a big hit with Arabic speaking viewers when it became among the first western shows to air on MBC around the late 1990s and early 2000s and was among one of MBC's most reruned shows although it has yet to air on MBC 4 since the network began launching separate channels.
[edit] Spain
In Spain the show is aired in Antena 3 and some regional TV stations with the name El príncipe de Bel-Air.
[edit] India
In India the show aired on Zee Cafe
[edit] Pakistan
In pakistan it was aired on STN
[edit] Guest Appearances
[edit] Trivia
- Before playing Lisa Wilkes, Nia Long had previously appeared as Claudia, Will's date to a dance in the second-season episode "She Ain't Heavy." In addition, Long and Smith appeared together in 1992's Made in America with Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg.
- The show was originally supposed to end in Spring 1994 due to Will Smith's desire to venture off into other projects hence the series finale ending for the season. After the episode was taped in March, Smith told producers after fan reaction he wanted to continue on with the series.
- Queen Latifah once played Will's date to a dance in the second season but in the first she played "Marissa Redman" who was a snobby 40-year-old actor who likes Will. She met Will while Will and Jazz visited Hilary at her new job as Marissa's personal assistant.
- Janet Hubert-Whitten left the show over contract issues and creative differences with Will Smith, who by the last season was the executive producer of the show. Daphne Maxwell-Reid was her replacement. Many fans point to this cast change as the moment when the show "jumped the shark", in flashback episodes from previous seasons, Janet Hubert, who portayed the original "Vivian Banks", was omitted from scenes from Seasons 1-3 (1990-1993).
- On a Season Five episode of the show, Sooooul Train (aired on November 7, 1994), focus on Philip (James Avery) and Vivian's (Daphne Maxwell Reid) Soul Train 25th Anniversary Reunion, there were errors in the episode, when Vivian informs that her and Philip proposed marriage on the show (the episode aired in 1994) 25 years ago, implying that the show aired in syndication in 1969, Soul Train aired two years later, 1971, which would only make the popular show 23 years old, two years later, in 1996, Soul Train celebrates its 25th anniversary on television. Also, where did Phil get the extra letters?
- The Jeffersons star, Sherman Hemsley appeared back in the 1992-93 season as Judge Carl Robertson, running against Uncle Phil, he appeared in a 1995 episode, with co-star, Isabel Sanford. Sanford and Hemsley both appears as The Jeffersons one last time in the series finale, when they buy the Banks' house.
- In some episodes Will makes a number of Muhammad Ali references. Years later, Smith portrayed Muhammad Ali in a motion picture entitled Ali.
- In another episode, Will makes a reference to Chicken George, a character in the miniseries Roots who was played by Ben Vereen. In the episode "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse", Will's father is played by Vereen.
- In the 1996 film Independence Day, Will Smith's character has a girlfriend, played by Vivica A. Fox, whose son is portrayed by Ross Bagley. Fox also played Jazz's sister and Will's date in one episode. Additionally, Bagley played the older version of Will's cousin, Nicky.
- Although during earlier seasons Janet Hubert-Whitten (Vivian Banks) played the mother of Karyn Parsons (Hillary Banks), she is only 10 years older than her in real life.
- The Banks apparently had a dog named Fifi, which only appeared in the opening video to the episode "Its A Wonderful Lie." Carlton also mentions another dog, Scruffy, when trying to console Hilary after Trevor died. He mentions that Trevor is "up there, with my old dog Scruffy" (to which Will replies, "And the bus he rolled under.").
- Naomi Campbell plays a British nanny whom Geoffrey dates and who Will is interested in, in a later episode when Ashley is pursuing a modelling career, Will humorously asks the secretary at the modeling agency "Naomi wouldn't happen to be around, would she?"
- In the entrance video, Will Smiths mother appears to be an old lady when in the show his mother was always played by a middle-aged woman.
- In Will Smith's 2005 album, "Lost & Found", he makes reference to Uncle Phil in the song, "Here He Comes".
[edit] Cultural impact
- In the episode "The Script Formerly Known As", Will lip-synchs Jennifer Holliday's version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from the musical Dreamgirls.[2] Jennifer Hudson says this was where she first discovered the music from Dreamgirls; she eventually sang that song in the film version of Dreamgirls, and won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.[3] (Smith was also nominated that year for Best Actor in The Pursuit of Happiness.)
- On Relient K's CD Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do, the hidden song at the end (entitled "Silly Shoes") includes the sentence "You're moving with your Uncle and Auntie in Bel-Air."
- The show has been featured in a recent Internet meme. A popular joke on message boards is to create a thread dealing with something horrific, shocking, or sexual, but then breaking into the show's theme song near the end to reveal it was all a joke (e.g. "After I had finished burying the man I had killed, I found my mom standing behind me and she got scared and said "You're moving with your Auntie and Uncle in Bel-Air!").
- In the early morning of December 13, 2006, the show's theme song was used in a prank on the Church of Scientology. People who called 1-800-FOR-TRUTH, the Scientology Hotline, would hear the first part of the theme song playing (up to "couple of guys who were up to no good") instead of the usual prompt to leave a message.[4]
- In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All, a clown named Moe often breaks into a "clown-revised" version of the theme song.
[edit] References
Spawning many fan based videos, the dance that Will and Carlton do to win money for a contest in order to head back home has become a classic done with the song Apache by the Sugarhill Gang.
[edit] External links
- Official US site
- Official UK site
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at TV.com
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at the Internet Movie Database
- Episode guides archive
Categories: Incomplete film, television, or video lists | Incomplete lists | Articles with large trivia sections | 1990 television program debuts | 1990s American television series | Black sitcoms | NBC network shows | YTV shows | The N channel shows | 1996 television program cancellations | Television series by Warner Bros. Television | Television series by NBC Universal Television | Television shows set in Los Angeles | Television series named after fictional characters
