The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (TV series)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will "The Fresh Prince" 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 in his hometown. In the series, his lifestyle often clashes with the lifestyle of his relatives in Bel Air. The series ran for six seasons and aired 148 episodes.[1][2]
== Summary ==
The theme song and opening sequence set the premise of the show. Will Smith is a street-smart teenager, West Philadelphia "born and raised". While playing street basketball, Will misses a shot and the ball hits a group of people, causing a confrontation that frightens his mother, who sends him to live with his wealthy aunt and uncle in the opulent neighborhood of Bel Air, Los Angeles.
Will's working-class background ends up clashing in various humorous ways with the upper class world of the Banks family – Will's uncle Phil and aunt Vivian and their children, Will's cousins: Hilary, Carlton, and Ashley.
The premise is loosely based on the real-life story of the show's producer Benny Medina.[3]
== Cast and characters ==
=== Main ===
Actor/actress 	Character 	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons
Actor/actress 	Character 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	 	 	 	 	
Will Smith 	Will Smith 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	
James Avery 	Philip Banks 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	
Janet Hubert-Whitten	Vivian Banks 	Main 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Daphne Maxwell Reid 	Vivian Banks 	 	 	 	Main 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	
Alfonso Ribeiro 	Carlton Banks 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	
Karyn Parsons 	Hilary Banks 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	
Tatyana M. Ali 	Ashley Banks 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	
Joseph Marcell 	Geoffrey Butler	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	
Ross Bagley 	Nicky Banks 	 	 	 	 	Main 	Main 	 	 	 	 	
=== Recurring ===
Actor/actress 	Character 	Seasons 	Seasons 	Seasons 	Seasons 	Seasons 	Seasons 	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons	Seasons
Actor/actress 	Character 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	 	 	 	 	
DJ Jazzy Jeff 	Jazz 	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	 	 	 	 	
Vernee Watson-Johnson	Viola "Vy" Smith 	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	 	 	 	 	
Michael Weiner 	Kellogg "Cornflake" Lieberbaum	Recurring	Recurring	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Lisa Fuller 	Toni 	Recurring	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Jenifer Lewis 	Helen Smith 	 	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	Recurring	 	 	 	 	
Charlayne Woodard 	Janice Smith 	 	Recurring	Recurring	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Perry Moore 	Tyriq "Ty" Johnson 	 	Recurring	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Brian Stokes Mitchell	Trevor Collins-Newsworthy 	 	 	Recurring	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Tyra Banks 	Jacqueline "Jackie" Ames 	 	 	 	Recurring	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Nia Long 	Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes 	 	 	 	 	Recurring	 	 	 	 	 	
== Episodes ==
Season	Season	Episodes	Episodes	Originally aired 	Originally aired	Nielsen ratings[4]	Nielsen ratings[4]
Season	Season	Episodes	Episodes	First aired 	Last aired 	Rank 	Rating
 	1 	25 	25 	September 10, 1990	May 6, 1991 	N/A 	N/A
 	2 	24 	24 	September 9, 1991 	May 4, 1992 	22 	14.3[A]
 	3 	24 	24 	September 14, 1992	May 10, 1993 	16 	14.6[B]
 	4 	26 	26 	September 20, 1993	May 23, 1994 	21 	13.7[C]
 	5 	25 	25 	September 19, 1994	May 15, 1995 	N/A 	N/A
 	6 	24 	24 	September 18, 1995	May 20, 1996 	N/A 	N/A
== Development ==
In 1990, music manager Benny Medina, along with his business partner, real estate mogul Jeff Pollack, decided to market a TV story based on Medina's life. Medina had grown up poor in East Los Angeles but his life changed when he befriended a rich white teenager, whose family lived in Beverly Hills and allowed Medina to live with them. Medina decided to use this part of his life as the main focus of the show. However, given that by then a black character living with a white family was a concept that had been done multiple times on TV, Medina decided to change the rich white family to a rich black family. "That way we could explore black-on-black prejudice as well as black class differences", Medina said in an interview for Ebony magazine.[5]
Medina pitched the idea to Quincy Jones, who had just signed a TV deal with Time-Warner. Jones was impressed by the idea and arranged a meeting with NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff. Will Smith was well known by then as his music career as The Fresh Prince had put him on the mainstream radar, but he had come into debt after failing to pay taxes. At the suggestion of his then-girlfriend, Smith went to a taping of The Arsenio Hall Show where he met Medina by chance. Medina pitched the idea to Smith, but Smith was reluctant, having never acted before. Medina invited Smith to meet Jones at a party that Jones was throwing at his house in December 1989. There, Jones handed Smith a script for a failed Morris Day pilot that he had produced and challenged Smith to audition for Tartikoff on the spot. Smith did so, and the first contract for the show was drawn up that night in a limo outside. Three months later, the pilot was shot.[6]
The pilot episode began taping on May 1, 1990.[7] Season 1 first aired in September 1990, and ended in May 1991. The series finale was taped on Thursday, March 21, 1996,[8][9] and aired on May 20, 1996.
The theme song "Yo Home to Bel Air" was written and performed by Smith under his stage name, The Fresh Prince. The music was composed by Quincy Jones, 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.
== Crossovers and other appearances ==
During the fall 1991–1992 season, NBC gained two hit television shows to anchor their Monday night lineup (Blossom aired immediately after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). To gain popularity between the two shows, Will Smith appeared in the Blossom episode "I'm with the Band" as himself under his rap stage name, The Fresh Prince. That same season, Karyn Parsons appeared in the Blossom episode "Wake Up Little Suzy" as Hilary Banks. Parsons also appeared in the Patti LaBelle sitcom Out All Night as Hilary.
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 (Stanton was played by Ribeiro). Both Avery and Reid portrayed the parents of Ribeiro's Fresh Prince character. Joseph Marcell, who played the wisecracking Geoffrey Butler on Fresh Prince, appeared as an officiating minister in the same episode.
== Celebrity guests ==
The show is notable for having a heavy celebrity guest presence with more than 40 celebrities guest starring throughout the series. Seasons 1 and 4 had the highest celebrity participation with 10 guest stars each.[10]
Celebrity 	Episode 	Notes
Rev. Jesse Jackson 	Season 1, Episode 2 	Himself.[10]
Richard Roundtree 	Season 1, Episode 3 	Dr Mumford, father of Will's love interest. Also played Rev. Sims in Season 6.[10][11]
Don Cheadle 	Season 1, Episode 5 	Ice Tray, Will's best friend from Philly.[10]
Bo Jackson 	Season 1, Episode 8 	Himself.[10]
Heavy D 	Season 1, Episode 9 	Himself.[10]
Al B. Sure 	Season 1, Episode 9 	Himself.[10]
Isiah Thomas 	Season 1, Episode 11	Himself.[10]
Evander Holyfield 	Season 1, Episode 15	Himself.[10]
Jasmine Guy 	Season 1, Episode 21	Kayla Samuels, Will's girlfriend.[10]
Queen Latifah 	Season 1, Episode 25	Marissa Redman, Hilary's Boss. Also played "Dee Dee" in season 2.[10][12]
Zsa Zsa Gabor 	Season 2, Episode 10	Sonya Lamor, Uncle Phill's celebrity client.[10]
Bell Biv Devoe 	Season 2, Episode 11	Themselves.[10]
Brandon Quintin 	Season 2, Episode 12	Bryan, Ashley's friend. He returns as Bryan in season 4.[13][14]
Milton Berle 	Season 2, Episode 18	Max Lakey, Will's hospital roommate.[10]
Riddick Bowe 	Season 3, Episode 3 	Himself.[10]
Sherman Hemsley 	Season 3, Episode 6 	Judge Carl, Uncle Phill's rival.[10]
Oprah Winfrey 	Season 3, Episode 9 	Herself.[10]
Vanessa Williams 	Season 3, Episode 11	Danny Mitchell, Will's love interest.[10]
Kim Fields 	Season 3, Episode 17	Monique, Will's girlfriend.[10]
Tom Jones 	Season 3, Episode 18	Himself.[10]
DL Hughley 	Season 3, Episode 22	Keith Campbell, Will's comedian friend from Philly.[10]
Hugh Hefner 	Season 4, Episode 9 	Himself.[10]
Robin Quivers 	Season 4, Episode 12	Judith, one of the ghosts playing cards.[10]
Boyz II Men 	Season 4, Episode 13	Themselves.[10]
Branford Marsalis 	Season 4, Episode 14	Himself. Also plays "Duane" a repair man in the same season.[10][15]
Robert Guillaume 	Season 4, Episode 19	Pete Fletcher, Will's boss.[10]
Ben Vereen 	Season 4, Episode 24	Lou Smith, Will's father.[10]
Donald Trump 	Season 4, Episode 25	Himself.[10]
Marla Maples 	Season 4, Episode 25	Herself.[10]
Dick Clark 	Season 4, Episode 26	Himself.[10]
Quincy Jones 	Season 5, Episode 1 	Himself.[10]
Kareem Abdul Jabbar	Season 5, Episode 6 	Himself.[10]
Don Cornelius 	Season 5, Episode 8 	Himself.[10]
Ken Griffey Jr. 	Season 5, Episode 9 	Himself.[10]
Jay Leno 	Season 5, Episode 10	Himself.[10]
Isaac Hayes 	Season 5, Episode 18	The Minister, who happens to be an Issac Hayes impersonator, assigned to officiate Will's express wedding.[10]
Robin Givens 	Season 5, Episode 23	Denise, Will's love interest.[10]
Chris Rock 	Season 6, Episode 2 	Maurice, a famous actor. Also plays Maurice's sister in the same episode.[10]
B. B. King 	Season 6, Episode 4 	Pappy, the bar's blues player.[10]
Jaleel White 	Season 6, Episode 7 	Derek, Ashley's boyfriend.[10]
Wayne Newton 	Season 6, Episode 8 	Himself.[10]
Regis Philbin 	Season 6, Episode 21	Himself.[10]
William Shatner 	Season 6, Episode 22	Himself.
== Syndication ==
The series was produced by NBC Productions in association with the Stuffed Dog Company and Quincy Jones Entertainment (later Quincy Jones-David Salzman Entertainment in 1993). After the show was released to syndication in 1994, the series was distributed by Warner Bros. Television, which continues to distribute the show worldwide (although NBCUniversal does own the series' copyright).
The series aired reruns on WGN America, TBS, Nick at Nite, Disney XD, ABC Family, BET, Centric, MTV, and VH1. In the United Kingdom it aired on BBC Two between 1991 and 2004
== Home media ==
Warner Home Video has released the complete series, seasons 1 to 6, on DVD in Region 1.[16] Seasons 1 to 4 have been released in Regions 2 and 4. Seasons 5 to 6 have been released in Region 2 in Germany, and in the complete series boxset in the United Kingdom.
DVD name 	Ep #	Release dates 	Release dates 	Release dates
DVD name 	Ep #	Region 1 	Region 2 	Region 4
The Complete First Season 	25 	February 8, 2005[17] 	February 21, 2005[18]	April 13, 2005[19]
The Complete Second Season 	24 	October 11, 2005[20] 	November 21, 2005[21]	March 1, 2006[22]
The Complete Third Season 	24 	February 14, 2006[23]	June 26, 2006[24] 	August 9, 2006[25]
The Complete Fourth Season 	26 	August 8, 2006[26] 	January 22, 2007[27] 	December 6, 2006[28]
The Complete Fifth Season 	25 	May 11, 2010[29] 	June 18, 2010 	2018
The Complete Sixth & Final Season	24 	April 19, 2011 	May 6, 2011 	2018
The Complete Series 	148 	April 12, 2011 	 	
== Awards and nominations ==
Awards 	Outcome 	Recipient(s) 	Year
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards: 	ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards:	ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards:	ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards:
Top TV Series 	Won 	Quincy Jones
Will Smith
DJ Jazzy Jeff 	1994
Emmy Awards: 	Emmy Awards: 	Emmy Awards: 	Emmy Awards:
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Comedy Series	Nominated 	Art Busch 	1996
Golden Globe Awards: 	Golden Globe Awards: 	Golden Globe Awards: 	Golden Globe Awards:
Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical 	Nominated 	Will Smith 	1994
Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical 	Nominated[30] 	Will Smith 	1993
Image Award: 	Image Award: 	Image Award: 	Image Award:
Outstanding Comedy Series 	Nominated 	 	1997
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series 	Won 	Alfonso Ribeiro 	1996
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	Nominated 	Will Smith 	1997
Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress 	Won 	Tatyana M. Ali 	1997
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 	Nominated 	Janet Hubert-Whitten 	1991
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 	Nominated 	Nia Long 	1996
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 	Nominated 	Daphne Maxwell Reid 	1996
Kids' Choice Awards: 	Kids' Choice Awards: 	Kids' Choice Awards: 	Kids' Choice Awards:
Favorite Television Actor 	Nominated 	Will Smith 	1996
Favorite Television Show 	Nominated 	 	1996
Favorite TV Actress 	Nominated 	Tatyana M. Ali 	1996
NCLR Bravo Awards: 	NCLR Bravo Awards: 	NCLR Bravo Awards: 	NCLR Bravo Awards:
Outstanding Television Series Actor in a Crossover Role 	Nominated 	Alfonso Ribeiro 	1996
TP de Oro: 	TP de Oro: 	TP de Oro: 	TP de Oro:
Best Foreign Series (Mejor Serie Extranjera) 	Nominated 	 	1996
Best Foreign Series (Mejor Serie Extranjera) 	Won 	 	1994
Teen Choice Awards: 	Teen Choice Awards: 	Teen Choice Awards: 	Teen Choice Awards:
Choice TV Show: Throwback 	Nominated 	 	2017
Choice TV Show: Throwback 	Nominated 	 	2018
TV Land Awards: 	TV Land Awards: 	TV Land Awards: 	TV Land Awards:
Best Broadcast Butler 	Nominated 	Joseph Marcell 	2004
Favorite "Fish Out of Water" 	Nominated 	Will Smith 	2004
Young Artist Awards: 	Young Artist Awards: 	Young Artist Awards: 	Young Artist Awards:
Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten – Television 	Won 	Ross Bagley 	1996
Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten in a TV Series 	Won 	Ross Bagley 	1995
Best Youth Comedienne 	Nominated 	Tatyana M. Ali 	1994
Best Young Actor Guest Starring in a Television Series 	Nominated 	Larenz Tate 	1993
Best Young Actor Guest Starring or Recurring Role in a TV Series 	Nominated 	Tevin Campbell 	1992
Best New Family Television Comedy Series 	Won 	 	1991
YoungStar Award: 	YoungStar Award: 	YoungStar Award: 	YoungStar Award:
Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series 	Won 	Tatyana M. Ali 	1997
== Possible reboot ==
On August 13, 2015, it was reported that a reboot of the show was in development by Overbrook Entertainment, with Will Smith serving as a producer.[31][32] In August 2016, during a promotional interview with the E! television network, for his then upcoming film Suicide Squad, Smith denied that a reboot was in development, saying that it would happen "...pretty close to when Hell freezes over."[33]
In 2019 a mock trailer titled Bel-Air was uploaded on YouTube, written and directed by Morgan Cooper, for a darker, more dramatic re-imagining of the sitcom.[34][35]