The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his wealthy aunt and uncle in their Bel Air mansion after getting into a fight on a local basketball court. In the series, his lifestyle often clashes with the lifestyle of his relatives in Bel Air. The series lasted for six seasons and aired 148 episodes.^[1][2]

Development

The cast of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. From top left: Hilary Banks, Geoffrey, Vivian Banks, Carlton Banks. From bottom left: Ashley Banks, Philip Banks, Will Smith.

Will Smith, a popular rapper during the late 1980s, was nearly bankrupt due to poor spending and budgeting habits when he was approached by NBC in December of 1989.^[3]

The pilot episode began taping on May 1, 1990.^[4] Season 1 production began in July 1990 with #446802 and ended in March 1991 with #446824. The series finale was filmed on Thursday, March 21, 1996, specifically production codes #60122 and #60123.^[5][6]

The theme song was written and performed by Smith, as "The Fresh Prince". The music was composed by QDIII (Quincy Jones III), who is credited with Smith at the end of each episode. The music often used to bridge scenes together during the show is based on a similar chord structure. The full version of the theme song was used unedited in the first three episodes. The full-length version, which is 2:52, was included on Will Smith's Greatest Hits album and attributed to him only. A 3:23 version was released in the Netherlands in 1992, reaching #3 on the charts.

The mansion used for the exterior shots of "the Banks mansion" is a house located at 251 North Bristol Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90049, which was built in 1937.^[7]

Interiors were shot on a sound stage on pre-made sets. After Season 1 the mansion sets were completely rebuilt. In the second season, the kitchen and living room sets were rebuilt much larger with a more contemporary style (as opposed to the much more formal style of the first season), and were connected directly by an archway, allowing scenes to be shot continuously between the sets.

Plot

The theme song and opening sequence set the premise of the show. Will Smith is a street-smart teenager, born and raised in West Philadelphia, while playing basketball, Smith misses a shot, and the ball hits a group of people, which causes a confrontation that frightens the mother of Will, who sent Will to live with his aunt and uncle in the "town" of Bel Air, Los Angeles. He flew from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket in first class.^[8] He then whistles for a taxi that is described in the opening sequence as having a vanity plate with the word "FRESH" on it.

The show displays themes of adjustment. Will often tries to adjust to Bel-Air, instantly becoming aware that he sticks out. His attitude and outlook on life make him the appeal of not only the school, but also the women of LA. During the show the Banks, at first, judge him for just being an outcast/social pariah, but then come to love him as one of their own. Themes of social acceptance, despite financial standing, are welcomed due to the fact that they are family. Will becomes a part of the family, and with all his shenanigans takes the Banks' on a journey they will never forget.

Cast and characters

• Will Smith as Will "The Fresh Prince" Smith
• Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton Banks
• James Avery as Philip Banks
• Karyn Parsons as Hilary Banks
• Janet Hubert-Whitten as Vivian Banks (Seasons 1–3)
• Daphne Maxwell Reid as Vivian Banks (Seasons 4–6)
• Tatyana M. Ali as Ashley Banks
• Joseph Marcell as Geoffrey, the Butler
• Ross Bagley as Nicholas "Nicky" Banks (Seasons 5–6)
• DJ Jazzy Jeff as Jazz
• Nia Long as Lisa Wilkes, Will's girlfriend and later fiancée (Seasons 2-5)
• Tyra Banks as Jackie Ames, Will's ex-girlfriend
• Vernee Watson-Johnson as Vy Smith, Will's mother

Episodes

Crossovers and other appearances

During the fall 1991-92 season, NBC gained two hit television shows to anchor their Monday night line-up (Blossom aired immediately after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). To gain popularity between the two shows, Will Smith appeared in an episode as himself under the rap persona of The Fresh Prince. Several episodes later, Karyn Parsons showed up in an episode of Blossom as Hilary Banks. Parsons also appeared in the Patti LaBelle sitcom, Out All Night as her Fresh Prince character.

In the House and Fresh Prince were both executive produced by Winifred Hervey, David Salzman and Quincy Jones. During the second season's first episode, Alfonso Ribeiro and Tatyana Ali appeared as their Fresh Prince characters (Carlton and Ashley Banks) in the crossover episode "Dog Catchers". Later that season, James Avery (Phillip Banks) appeared as a mediator in the episode "Love on a One-Way Street". In the Season 4 episode "My Pest Friend's Wedding", James Avery and Daphne Maxwell Reid (Vivian Banks) guest starred as Dr. Maxwell Stanton's parents. Both Avery and Reid portrayed the parents of Ribeiro's Fresh Prince character. Joseph Marcell, who played the wisecracking Geoffrey Butler on Fresh Prince, also appeared as an officiating minister in the same episode.

Syndication

The series was originally an NBC production in association with The Stuffed Dog Company and Quincy Jones Entertainment. After the show was released to syndication in 1994, the series has been distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution, which continues to distribute the show worldwide (although NBCUniversal does own the series' copyright). WGN America was the first cable channel to acquire the series in 1997, TBS acquired the series a year later in 1998; both channels carried the series until the fall of 2003, though TBS reacquired the series in 2007. The theme song was shown in the original TBS run, but after TBS re-acquired Fresh Prince in 2007, the opening credits were truncated and the theme song removed and replaced with the instrumental version used as the show's closing theme; these versions also re-added portions of scenes cut from the original syndicated prints for some episodes, particularly those from seasons 3-6. TBS continues to air the series today, early in the morning. Reruns also aired on WPIX-TV on weeknights from 1994 until 1996, and as a weekday basis, sometimes on weekends until 2004.

The series aired on Nick at Nite from 2004 to 2009, as well as sister network (through Nickelodeon) The N (now TeenNick) with portions of scenes that were removed from other syndicated airings, with parts of scenes kept in other syndicated airings removed due to time constraints; the series was dropped from its schedule in September 2009 after Disney/ABC purchased the rights to the show. The show returned to Nick at Nite on September 29, 2014.

In July 2009, Disney XD acquired the rights to the series, though it was quickly moved from prime-time to late night airings, and only episodes from seasons 1-3 are aired, mainly because those episodes are more appropriate for young viewers and does not contain as much mature themes, sexual content and strong language as later episodes. But in August 2010, Disney XD stopped airing the show.

ABC Family acquired the series in September 2008, though airing all 148 episodes; originally airing exclusively on Saturday nights, the series was added to ABC Family's weekday line-up in late 2009. On September 29, 2014, Disney/ABC rights to the show expired. Viacom Media Networks got the series back.

In October 2014, Viacom Media Networks also gave the series to BET, it also will air on Centric.

It also currently airs on MTV's retro block.

International airings

In Australia and New Zealand, the show was aired on the Nine Network from 1991 until 1996, and was syndicated various times throughout the 2000s. The series was also aired on Nickelodeon's block Nick at Nite. The show is currently being aired on the 111 Greats network week nightly.

In the United Kingdom, as well as Ireland, the show was exclusively aired from February 1991 on BBC Two, up until September 2004, originally in the DEF II programming block. The channel edited some of the episodes so that, like the pilot, the titles would come before the beginning of the episode; this was indicated by the lack of credits in the first scene. Other episodes were broadcast with the pre-titles teaser intact. It has since aired on digital channels Trouble, and Channel One, both of which are now defunct, before moving to Sky Living Loves.

Since August 2011, it now airs on Viva, MTV UK and Nickelodeon UK, where airings on the latter are heavily edited both for time constraints and suggestive references unsuitable for Nickelodeon's young demographic.

In the Philippines, the shows was aired on GMA Network exclusively in 1992 up until 1998, the series was originally in the prime time block in every episodes. In 2009, the series returned to a prime time slot on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday aired on Solar TV until early 2011.

In Ireland, the show aired on Network 2's children's strand The Den until its final number of seasons when it was felt that the series had become too grown up for younger children, RTÉ moved the series to a prime time slot on Friday evenings. In 2011 RTÉ Two began re-runs of the series on their children's strand TRTÉ at 11:30.

In Canada, the show previously aired on YTV and The Comedy Network. It now airs on MuchMusic. In Pakistan, the show originally aired during the early 90s on the channel called NTM at that time. It was aired during the 7:30 p.m. time slot, and at the time was a massive success.

DVD releases

Warner Home Video has released the complete series, seasons 1-6 on DVD in Region 1.^[9] Seasons 1-4 have been released in regions 2 & 4. Seasons 5-6 have been released in Region 2 in Germany. The shows and DVD menus are in English; only the DVD packaging is in German.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at epguides.com
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at the Internet Movie Database
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at TV.com