As the 90's began, rapper Will Smith, aka The Fresh Prince, turned his attention to acting. NBC took a chance, and introduced The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in September 1990, as the lead-off to their Monday lineup.
To be fair, Fresh Prince could be described as a bit of a cross between the 70's sitcom, Good Times (with Smith filling Jimmie Walker's role), and one of the series' contemporaries of the period, ABC's Family Matters, in that the sitcom Will, having been transplanted from Philadelphia to Bel-Air, California, was a fish out of water trying to fit in. Kind of like Matters' ultra-annoying resident geek, Steve Urkel, but a little more mature. That might explain the decision made by Matters' producers to give Urkel a mature alter-ego in later seasons, but we don't know that for sure.
Will moved in with his aunt & uncle, Vivian & Philip Banks, and their two children, son Carlton (Alfonso Ribiero), and daughter Hilary (Karyn Parsons). While the series was designed as a vanity vehicle for Smith--recording partner "Jazzy" Jeff Townes was a frequent guest-star---it ultimately was the ensemble that made the series work. It should be noted that while Tyra Banks has made her millions as a supermodel-turned-TV personality, her first primetime gig came on Fresh Prince when she joined the show near the end of the run, cast as Will's girlfriend.
Oddly, halfway through the series, the part of Vivian Banks was recast, as Janet Hubert-Whiten left the show, replaced by Daphne Maxwell Reid (ex-Frank's Place), and, in the tradition of sitcoms & soap operas past, no one noticed any difference.
Smith & Townes also used the series to premiere music videos, such as 1991's "Summertime", the first single from the CD, "Homebase". Coupled with Blossom, which arrived the following fall, Fresh Prince gave NBC a strong lead to their primetime lineup, but these days, CBS has reclaimed its throne, going back to comedy-heavy Mondays.
No full episodes are available on YouTube at present, so we will offer a sample clip, showcasing lawyer Philip Banks, as played by James Avery, who passed away today at 65.
Smith has attempted to produce another series, the short-lived All of Us, for UPN, but these days is focusing on his movies, TV long behind him, and who can remember the last time he released a CD?
Rating: B.
2 comments:
This was a likeable show - and showed us Will Smith actually had acting talent. I still insist he saved the movie "Independence Day"!
You forgot that the Banks had a younger daughter at the beginning named Ashley and another baby was added to the family in the later seasons.
The switch off between Janet Hubert Witten and Daphne Reid wasn't completely ignored - Will makes a statement about how his Aunt Vivian looked different. He also would poke fun at other tropes like staring at the fourth wall and returning from a cliffhanger (in a supposed finale, Will went back to Philly, then, for the next season's premiere, NBC execs took him back to LA!).
Sorry to hear of James Avery's death.
Oh, yeah, I did forget the other kids. Then again, I stopped watching around the time the last one came along.
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