'' is an
American Sitcom that aired on
NBC from
September 10 ,
1990 to
May 20 ,
1996 , featuring
Will Smith in a fish-out-of-water tale of a streetwise
Philadelphia teenager sent to live with rich relatives in a
Bel-Air, California mansion. A total of 148 episodes were produced over six seasons.
As explained in the show's opening theme,
Will Smith is a street-smart teenager born and brought up on the mean streets of Philadelphia. After getting into a fight with a
Bully , his fearful mother sends him to live with her sister's family, the Banks', in Bel-Air (a posh district in
Los Angeles ). There, he turns the lives of his upper-class relatives upside down.
See ''
List Of Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Episodes ''.
Actor/musician
Will Smith plays the title character of the same name (though originally spelled "Wil"), loosely based on his own personality as an adolescent. Will is somewhat of a schemer and womanizer, frequently hatching plots to make money, get the girl, and have fun despite the wishes of his strict Uncle Phil. Well-meaning but impulsive, street-smart but not very wise, many plot lines hinge on the unintended consequences of his actions. A big heart and guilty conscience usually make sure he does the right thing in the end. He has a wicked sense of humor and frequently jokes about Philip’s weight, Carlton’s height, and Hilary’s lack of wit. Having grown up in the inner city, he is unaccustomed to the Banks’ affluence and sometimes looks down on them for it, a dynamic that inspires a significant amount of the show’s humor. Despite this, it is clear that in time Will comes to consider the Banks’ his own family, as close to him as his mother. At the conclusion of the series he remains in Los Angeles to continue his education.
The character of Philip Banks (Uncle Phil), referred to by his parents as Zeke, was portrayed by
James Avery . At the beginning of the series, Philip is a
Lawyer with the firm of Firth, Wynn and Meyer, but in the third season is appointed a
Judge after the senile incumbent Judge Robertson (
Sherman Hemsley in a recurring role), against whom Philip had earlier run an unsuccessful campaign, died suddenly. Philip later considers making a deeper foray into politics, but decides against it when his wife disapproves.
Philip is a somewhat strict and gruff man, but he does have a softer side, and is also an upstanding citizen. He was raised on a farm in
Yamacraw, North Carolina , went to
Princeton University on scholarship, and in the
60s became an activist for the civil rights movement. He was present at the riots in
Selma in 1965, and in the pilot episode also mentions he once heard
Malcolm X speak. In 1963, he was awarded a scholarship to study at
Yale University , after which he went to
Harvard Law School . In 1975 he was put on the board of the
NAACP and was later awarded the
Urban Spirit Award for his work in promoting civil rights.
The character of Vivian Banks (Aunt Viv) was portrayed by
Janet Hubert-Whitten from
1990 to
1993 , and by
Daphne Reid (credited as Daphne Maxwell-Reid) from 1993 to
1996 . She is a professor of Black History and Literature at an undisclosed university, and in one early episode takes a temporary job as a teacher for a unit in Black History at Bel-Air Academy, the fictional upscale preparatory
High School attended by Will and Carlton. She has three sisters: Helen, Janice, and Will's mother Vy (Viola).
Vivian's personality and role in the show changes over the run of the series. During the Janet Hubert-Whitten years she's a no-nonsense, forthright, career-minded woman who plays a part in the show equal to the Philip character. After Maxwell-Reid took the part in 1993 and baby Nicky was added to the cast, the writers seemed to de-emphasize her former persona and generally portrayed her as a loving, supportive, non-confrontational homemaker with a smaller role in the show's plotlines.
The character of Hilary Banks, Will's ditzy, stuck-up, spoiled eldest cousin, was portrayed by
Karyn Parsons . In earlier seasons, Hilary's snobbishness is emphasized, as well as her shallow trendy environmental activism (which was later dropped). During this time she often claimed to hobnob with
Celebrities . Later on, she's written as a self-centered airhead, with her funniest lines being comments that betray her comical ignorance. During the series she attends and drops out of
UCLA , after which she begins a
Mr. Magoo -like streak of luck that eventually lands her a nationally-televised daytime talk show. It starts when she becomes a weather reporter at a local
TV Station , where she meets and falls in love with
News Anchor Trevor Newsworthy (referred to as Trevor Collins in earlier episodes) portrayed by
Brian Stokes Mitchell . However, he dies in a
Bungee accident while proposing marriage, part of an ill-conceived live
Publicity Stunt . At the conclusion of the series her talk show ''Hilary!'' moves to
New York City , as does most of the rest of the Banks family.
The character of Carlton Banks, Will's pedantic and preppy cousin, was portrayed by
Alfonso Ribeiro . Carlton is a firmly conservative
Republican , and proves both friend and foe for Will. His role model is talk show host
Bryant Gumbel , and his favorite musician (and, according to him,
Guardian Angel ) is
Tom Jones . His favorite actor is
William Shatner , whom he annoys by making lame
Star Trek jokes. Like
Family Ties character
Alex P. Keaton , Carlton dresses in a preppy style, is obsessed with money, is fairly short (Ribeiro is 5ft 6.25in, or 168cm, a common subject of Will's jokes on the show), and does not enjoy the popular music of most people his age. In earlier seasons, he makes frequent reference to his
Virginity (which was by choice), and also plans to attend
Princeton (Philip's alma mater). In later seasons, these arcs are both resolved: Carlton does indeed lose his virginity, but is not initially admitted to Princeton--instead he first attends the (fictional) University of Los Angeles, where he briefly manages ULA's student store, the Peacock. In the 6th and last season, he finally gains transfer admission to Princeton and leaves for the East Coast in the series finale.
The character of Ashley Banks, Will's second-youngest cousin, was portrayed by
Tatyana Ali (credited as Tatyana M. Ali). Innocent and open-minded Ashley takes Will as a role model, to the chagrin of her parents, who want her to become a cultured and refined young lady. Will's devil-may-care approach to life is an exciting alternative, which makes her generally more sympathetic and understanding towards him than other members of the Banks family. Ashley matures through puberty in the series, becomes a
One-hit Wonder as a singer in her later teens, and briefly strives to become a fashion model. In the final season she decides to attend a performing arts school in
New York , and in the series finale leaves with the rest of the family to live with her sister Hilary.
Nicky (Nicholas) Banks is born to Philip and Vivian in early 1993, towards the end of the 3rd season. The character was primarily used as a plot device, adding motivation for other characters, comic relief, or an emotional punch to the show's storylines. As is common in television series, especially
Soap Operas , Nicky grows from newborn infant to pre-schooler between seasons, and confused characters on the show actually question how this came to be. After this "spurt," beginning in the 5th season, he was portrayed by
Ross Bagley .
The character of Geoffrey Butler, the Banks family's
British Butler , was portrayed by
Joseph Marcell . In addition to a long career working for British aristocrats, Geoffrey was an Olympic runner several years before being hired by the Banks family, but fled his home country in shame after cheating in a race. He constantly refers to Will as "Master William," and is the voice of caustic humor on the show, often commenting on Philip's weight, his own low pay, his lack of a social or romantic life, the laziness of the family, and comic one-liners. He becomes the godfather of Nicky Banks (the son of Philip and Vivian) in the third season. Midway into the sixth season, Geoffrey discovers he has a son he never knew about, named Frederick and born to an ex-wife. During the same episode it is also revealed that his middle name is "Barbara," which he explains is a "family name." He leaves to be with his son in London in the series finale; also in the episode, he calls Will by his name before departing.
The character of Jazz was portrayed by Will Smith's musical partner Jeffrey A. Townes, popularly known as
D.J. Jazzy Jeff . Jazz is Will's ill-mannered, not-so-bright best friend who lives in the inner-city community of
Compton . He has a long crush on Hilary, and she ocassionally falls for him, but he eventually marries a prison inmate who had appeared on the television show ''
COPS ''. He divorces her shortly afterward, realizing he knows nothing about her. Jazz is almost completely tactless, and succeeds in insulting or irritating Philip almost every time they are together. In a recurring gag throughout the series, Philip, Will, or anyone usually ends up literally throwing Jazz out of the house.
Vy (Viola) Smith, portrayed by
Vernee Watson-Johnson , is Will's mother and Vivian's older sister. It was her idea that Will should go to Bel-Air to get a good education and avoid a life of violence in the West Philadelphia ghetto. She eventually marries Lisa Wilkes' father after Will and Lisa call off their second wedding attempt. Her maiden name and married name were the same, as Will's father was named Lou Smith.
The character of Helen Smith, portrayed by
Jenifer Lewis , is Vivian's loudmouthed older sister. She has frequent marriage difficulties with her husband Lester, whom she finally divorces, leaving him with custody over their annoying son.
Janice Smith, played by
Charlayne Woodward , is the youngest of the Smith sisters and marries a white man named Frank (
Diedrich Bader and later
Robert Torti ), a marriage older sister Vy originally objected to. She also appears in the series with a baby son.
Lisa Wilkes, portrayed by
Nia Long , was introduced in later seasons as the girlfriend who tames Will into forsaking his womanizing ways. The two fall deeply in love and are engaged to be married, going so far as the ceremonies twice, but never actually tie the knot. The first time they elope to
Las Vegas and try a ''
Shaft ''-themed wedding, but walk out on the ceremony after realizing how much they wanted their families there. The second time Lisa leaves Will at the altar, just as they are about to say "I do" in front of all their friends and family, because she is having doubts. She is never seen again.
Lisa's father was memorably played by veteran actor
John Amos . When Lisa and Will cut their second wedding short, he and Will's mother decide not to let the ceremony go to waste; they get married right then and there.
Jackie Ames was portrayed by
Tyra Banks in the fourth season. As manager of The Peacock, she is the object of Will's affection and frequent come-ons, but continually spurns his advances, deeming him too immature. The two were old childhood friends (and one-time lovers) from Philadelphia, except she feels Will hasn't grown up since those days. In the episode in which Carlton loses his virginity, Will mentions that he lost his own just before he left Philadelphia; since Jackie had already mentioned how she and Will had spent one night together before he left for Bel-Air, it is possible Jackie was the first woman Will slept with.
Kellogg Lieberbaum, a classmate and friend of Will and Carlton at Bel-Air Academy, was portrayed by
Michael Weiner . Most of his appearances were in the first season, but he makes a single appearance in the second season as well. As a pun on
Kellogg's Corn Flakes , he is nicknamed "Cornflake" by Will. Much of the humor of his character comes from the cognitive dissonance of an unassuming Jewish
Preppie using such phrases as "She is one fly sister" and "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud!"
Kellogg "Cornflake" Liberbuam's last appearance in the series was in the episode "Those Were the Days" (airdate:
February 24 ,
1992 ), after which he was never seen or heard from again.
Other recurring characters in the early episodes include Will's friend ''Tyriq'', portrayed by
Perry Moore ; Bel-Air Academy coach/history teacher ''Coach Smiley'', portrayed by
Dave Florek ; Will's Black-emulating English professor ''Edward Fellows III'', played by
Jonathan Emerson .
The show had many guest appearances by celebrities, including
Oprah Winfrey ,
Donald Trump ,
Vanessa Williams ,
D. L. Hughley ,
Naomi Campbell ,
Quincy Jones ,
Isiah Thomas ,
Evander Holyfield ,
William Shatner ,
Tom Jones ,
Wayne Newton ,
Bo Jackson ,
Boyz II Men ,
Dr. Dre ,
Bernie Kopell ,
Jasmine Guy ,
Ken Griffey, Jr. ,
Chris Rock ,
Malcolm Jamal-Warner ,
Hugh Hefner ,
Milton Berle , and
Queen Latifah .
The series finale featured
Conrad Bain and
Gary Coleman reprising their roles from ''
Diff'rent Strokes '', as well as
Sherman Hemsley ,
Isabel Sanford , and
Marla Gibbs reprising their roles from ''
The Jeffersons '', as potential buyers of the Banks' house. Hemsley had also previously played the recurring role of Judge Robertson.
In addition to humorous scripts, the show found humor in physical comedy, insults, and
Running Gags :
- Will would frequently make jabs at Carlton's slight stature and virginity, as well as Uncle Phil's weight and baldness.
- 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 and Carlton's guardian angel, showing Carlton what the Banks family would be like if he had never been born.
- Carlton often impersonated singer Michael Jackson , emulating his singing style and dance moves in several episodes.
- 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") and re-used each time. For this reason, in 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. Will was once thrown out of the house in the same manner as Jazz, and even Phillip was thrown out once during a dream sequence.
- Will would commonly break the Fourth Wall as part of a gag, such as when he described the character Omar as "the dude who be spinning me over his head during the opening credits," or by voicing his confusion over how Nicky could have aged several years over a period of about three months; in that scene, Jazz breaks the wall as well by first asking if the same person was playing the mother (a reference to the change of actress in the Vivian role), then, upon seeing the older Nicky, says, "Man I'm going back to the street where things make sense." After Uncle Phil proclaims, "We're rich," Will tells the audience, "If we so rich, why we can't afford no ceilin'?" while the camera tilts up to show the studio lights and rafters. 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 . Another time, 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.
- The Fourth Wall is broken again in the first episode of season 4. The last episode of the previous season ends with Will moving back to Philadelphia with his mother, leaving viewers wondering if he'll ever return to Bel-Air. The opening of the next episode starts with Will working at a restaurant in Philly when an NBC executive walks in and asks Will to follow him outside. Will does, and is shown a piece of paper. The NBC executive says, "What does this say?" Will answers, "''Fresh Prince of Bel-Air''." The exec says, "That's right, Bel-Air!" then proceeds to push Will into a van. This sequence becomes the only explanation for how Will ends up back in Bel-Air for the rest of the series run. The cliff-hanger was actually a tacked-on device, as the series was originally to have ended following the third season.
- 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 the he had to kill her in self-defense. Carlton goes into a frenzied grief, running through all the set pieces (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.
While the show addressed many serious issues, a few episodes were often lauded as
Very Special Episode s. Many of these did not have bloopers during the credits, to maintain the seriousness of the show.
- While largely a comedy, this show commonly addressed African American issues.
- In the very first episode, for instance, Will accuses his uncle of having forgotten "where he came from," or having forgotten that he is black. His uncle (himself a former Civil Rights activist) is furious, and points out Will's frequently-mentioned belief in the philosophy of Malcolm X . "I heard the brother speak," Phil angrily informs his nephew.
- In a later episode, Will and one of his old school friends, Ice Tray, reminisce about how Ice Tray frequently had to save Will from Bullies who attacked him because he tried to be a good student. When Vivian confronts Will about Ice Tray's lack of drive, and challenges the assumption by Will that he and Ice Tray are alike, Will mentions that Ice Tray never had anyone to stick up for him, and by having Will's back kept Will from spiraling down the wrong path.
- In another episode, Will and Carlton try to join an all-black fraternity, but Carlton is singled out for being a "sell-out" because his family is wealthy and he "acts white." Carlton proceeds to lecture the "Top Dog," saying that being black isn't what Carlton wants, but what he is, and that Top Dog is the real sell-out for not knowing what it truly means to "stick together."
- In an episode where Will is shot in the back during an attempted robbery at a bank ATM and then hospitalized, Carlton finds himself pondering the idea of carrying a gun for self-defense. This leads to an emotional confrontation between the two.
- In another early episode, Will and Carlton are delivering an expensive car to one of Phillip's white colleagues, Henry Firth, but are accused by the police of stealing it only because they are African-Americans. They are jailed, the police refuse to listen to Vivian or Philip, and only release the pair after Firth himself tells them to.
- The issue of absent fathers was touched upon when Will finally meets his father Lou (played by Ben Vereen ) in one of the series' more emotional episodes. While Will was still an infant, his jobless father had one day walked out "to get a pack of smokes" and never came home. Years later he returns, now employed as a trucker, while Will is in college. Philip and Vivian give Lou the cold shoulder, but Will decides that he wants to go on the road with his father and leave Bel-Air, which Philip at first forbids. However, his father abandons him yet again, and the episode concludes with Will hugging Philip in tears, asking, "How come he don't want me back?" Symbolically, Will accepts the fact that his Uncle Phil is the closest thing to a true father he has ever had.
- The issue of teenage pregnancy is brought up in an episode in which Ashley is curious about sex. Will and Carlton, determined to find a way to talk to Ashley about it, go down to the local pregnancy center and find out about the issues.
- The issue of interracial marriage is addressed in an episode in which one of Vivian's sisters, Janice, announces her engagement to a white man, and Will's mother at first forbids this. The episode ends with a wedding scene.
- Drug use is addressed in an episode in which Will, busy with finals, basketball, and his girlfriend, is having trouble staying awake. When one of Will's classmates gives him some Amphetamines to help him stay up, Carlton takes the pills, which he presumes to be vitamin E pills. After Carlton's near-fatal overdose, Will confesses that although he never used the drugs, he is to blame for Carlton's using them.
- The issue of alcohol abuse and Drunk Driving is explored as well. While at a party, Will and a rival drink shots to see who can drink the most. When Will passes out from drinking so much, some bullies drop him off at a graveyard and he meets spirits of the dead, who are stuck playing an eternal game of poker. While the poker sequence is shown humorously, the mood gets somber when a ghost child (who was with the other spirits) tells Will that he died when a drunk driver hit him.
''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' has been released on Region 1, 2 and 4 DVD.
In the US and Canada,
Region 1 , the first season was released on
February 8 2005 . The second was then released on
October 11 2005 , and most recently the third season was released on DVD on
February 14 2006 . No release dates have been set for the later seasons. It is likely that the entire series will be released by October 2007.
The first season has a special features section which features the creators, Tatyana Ali, Joseph Marcell and James Avery in a brief
Documentary . Tatyana Ali says the show is funny and she will never experience anything like it again. James Avery mentioned that he enjoyed it a lot and misses it. The second season has a special features section which plays through an archive of the season's
Blooper s and the best parts.
In the UK,
Region 2 , the first season was released on
February 21 2005
and the second on
November 21 2005 . The third season has been confirmed for
June 28 2006 .
In Australia,
Region 4 , the first season was released on
April 13 2005 . The second season was released in
March 2006 .
The theme song was written by Will Smith and performed by
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince .
The first few episodes used the full version of the theme song. However, beginning with Episode #9 (titled "Someday Your Prince Will Be in Effect (2)"), the third and fourth verses of the song were cut out. This was done so that episodes could be longer. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince also released a longer version of the full song, but it was never used on the show.
The earlier seasons featured an instrumental version of the theme and stills from the episode for the closing credits. Eventually the music and stills were dropped, and closing credits would almost always appear over bloopers and outtakes from the episode. The closing theme over episode clips reappeared in the show's fifth season.
The show contains a few continuity errors, in that some characters seem to age at different rates. In episode #2, "Bang the Drum Ashley," Ashley says she is 9; later in that season, in "Just Infatuation," Phil says she is almost 12. Will is 17 for the first two seasons, and 18 in season three. Nicky Banks grows from baby to preschooler between seasons four and five.
Another continuity error involves the marriage of Vy to Lisa's father Fred Wilkes. The two are married in the fifth season finale "For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll," but when Vy visits the Banks house in season six's "There's the Rub," she arrives without Fred. This had many fans puzzled.
The series currently airs on the weekdays on the WB in the afternoon and seven nights a week on
Nick At Nite and
The N (
Noggin 's nightime program lineup) broadcast with scenes that were deleted from
Syndicated 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. It also airs in Canada on
YTV nightly and
Omni 2 . In the UK, it airs on
Trouble and
Bravo . In Australia, it airs on the
Nine Network (free-to-air) and on Nickelodeon (cable/satellite). In Holland, ''Fresh Prince'' airs Monday through Friday on ''Veronica''. In Brazil airs Monday through Friday on
SBT .
- One of the running gags of the show was that Carlton could not dance very well, and would do so to his favourite artist, Tom Jones and his song "It's Not Unusual." The irony was that Alfonso Ribeiro is actually an excellent dancer--not only did he appear with Michael Jackson in a 1980s Pepsi ad, dressing similar to, and dancing as well as, the superstar in it, he also had his own starring role in a Broadway musical entitled ''The Tap Dance Kid'' when he was eight years old. Ribeiro duplicates Jackson's "Billie Jean" choreography from the " Motown 25 Special," right down to the moonwalk, in an episode during the second season in which he and Will become Chippendale -style dancers to earn money. Alfonso Ribeiro has openly stated that he hated doing the "Carlton Dance" because it's embarassing.
- The running gag of the "Carlton Dance" was actually a parody of the dance Courteney Cox performed in the 1984 Bruce Springsteen music video of "Dancing in the Dark."
- Some viewers thought they saw George Burns playing a character named Max in the episode in which Will has a fear of surgery. The role was actually played by legendary actor and comedian Milton Berle , who quite resembled Burns at the time. In the end credits he utters an expletive which shocks the audience.
- 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 .
