The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a television sitcom which appeared on NBC from 1990 to 1996. This was the first major role for musician-actor Will Smith. It is now in national syndication on cable television stations Nick at Nite and The-N.
As explained in the show's opening rap, Will Smith (played by Will Smith) is a street-smart teenager, born and brought up on the mean streets of Philadelphia. After he got into a fight with a bully, his mother sent him to her sister's house - the Banks family - in luxurious Bel-Air (a district in Los Angeles). There, he turns the lives of his posh upper-class relatives upside down. In a multi-part episode, Will returns with his relatives to the rough neighborhood of Philadelphia where he finds his reputation has been tarnished when he is branded a "chicken" for running away instead of fighting the bully. He later does a Rockyesque training to confront the bully.
In the series, Will is a constant womanizer, although his attempts at women generally fail. He was sued by Jay Leno for libel. Masquerading as a guest, Will later made an "appearance" on The Tonight Show to apologize to Jay and get him to drop the lawsuit.
Regular characters include (along with nicknames):
- Vivian Banks / Aunt Viv (played by Janet Hubert-Whitten until 1993, when Daphne Reid took over) - Will's aunt. In the early episodes, she was a teacher at a (fictional) upscale preparatory high school, Bel-Air Academy. Later, her occupation was not mentioned.
- Philip Banks / Uncle Phil (James Avery) - Will's uncle. He is a lawyer turned trial judge. He once tried to run for governor of California, to the disapproval of his wife.
- Hilary Banks / Hil (Karyn Parsons) - Will's ditzy, stuck-up, and spoiled eldest cousin. She claims to hobnob with several celebrities. She attended and later dropped out of UCLA. Eventually she found meaningful employment as a weather reporter at a local television station. She was engaged to fellow news anchor Trevor Newsworthy - he was Trevor Collins in earlier episodes - before he died in a bungee accident. Toward the end of the series, she hosted her own talk show, called Hilary!
- Carlton Banks / C (Alfonso Ribeiro) - Will's pedantic and nerdish cousin. He is a proud Republican - a firm believer in capital punishment - and a big fan of Tom Jones and William Shatner. One of his main desires is to lose virginity. He and Will often engage in mischievous adventures together. In the early seasons, Carlton aspired to attend Princeton University (Philip's alma mater); mysteriously, in later seasons, he ended up attending the (fictional) University of Los Angeles with Will. At ULA, he was briefly the manager of its student store, The Peacock.
- Ashley Banks / Ash (Tatyana Ali) - Will's seemingly innocent younger cousin who was on the verge of puberty and sexuality. She became a one-hit wonder as a singer in her later teens. She later strove to become a fashion model.
- Nicholas Banks (Little Nicky) (Ross Bagley) - Will's youngest cousin. He changed from a newborn infant to a pre-schooler instantly during the show's run; this was never explained.
- Geoffrey Butler / G (Joseph Marcell) - The Banks' butler. He refers to Will as Master William.
- Jazz (DJ Jazzy Jeff) - Will's not-so-bright best friend. In contrast to Will, he lives in inner-city LA. He had a crush on Hilary before marrying a prison inmate who had an appearance on TV show COPS. Always wisecracking, he is often thrown out of the Banks' residence by Philip.
- Vy Smith - Will's mother
Other recurring characters in the early episodes included Bel-Air Academy classmate Kellogg Lieberbaum (nicknamed "Corn Flake" by Will), his other best friend Ice Tray, and Bel-Air Academy coach/substitute teacher Coach Whitey; later episodes included his "settled" girlfriend and fiancee Lisa Wilkes who were hitched in Las Vegas. Unlike many other sitcoms, there were no recurring neighbors. Celebrities such as Sherman Hemsley, Vanessa Williams, Naomi Campbell, Dr. Dre, Milton Berle, and Quincy Jones have had guest appearances in the sitcom.
Institutions
- Bel-Air Academy - In the first episode, Bel-Air Academy was an all-boys high school (its motto was "Enter as boys, leave as men"). Strangely, it later became co-ed (Ashley would also attend the school but later secretly attended public high school, to the disgust of Philip). It later had younger student prodigies.
- University of Los Angeles (ULA) - Upon graduation from Bel-Air Academy, this is the university Will and Carlton attended together. With some exceptions, they were rarely seen in their classes. Its mascot is the peacock (it is also the logo of NBC).
The show's humor came from physical comedy, insults, and other witticisms. Will frequently made jabs at Carlton's slight stature and virginity and his uncle Philip's weight and baldness, in particular. Hilary, the "dumb blonde"-like materialistic stuck-up girl, was played surprisingly well by Karyn Parsons, considering how often this type of character has been used. The family's butler Geoffrey, a British émigré, constantly made caustic remarks, sometimes about Philip's rump.
Spoiler? Will's long-gone father was finally revealed in one of the series' more emotional episodes. His father was a deadbeat, but later became a trucker. Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv gave him the cold shoulder for abandoning Will and his mother. Will tried to remain conciliatory towards his father since this was his chance of meeting him.
While largely a comedy, this show brought up poverty and African American issues in a number of episodes. In the very first episode, for instance, Will accused his uncle of having forgotten "where he came from", to have forgotten that he is black. His uncle was furious, and pointed out Will's frequently-mentioned belief in the philosophy of Malcolm X, "I have heard the Brother talk". 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. In other episodes in which Will and Carlton try to join an all-black fraternity, Carlton is singled out for being a "sell-out" to African Americans because his family is wealthy and acts "white".
Other issues tackled in the sitcom included gun crime (in an episode where Will is shot in the back during an attempted robbery at a bank ATM and later hospitalized, while Carlton is pondering the idea of carrying a gun for self-defense.)
