The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Created by	Andy Borowitz Susan Borowitz
Starring	Will Smith James Avery Janet Hubert-Whitten Alfonso Ribeiro Karyn Parsons Tatyana M. Ali Joseph Marcell Daphne Maxwell Reid Ross Bagley
Theme music composer	The Fresh Prince in association with A Touch of Jazz, Inc.
Opening theme	"Yo Home to Bel Air", performed by The Fresh Prince
Composer(s)	Quincy Jones
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	148 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Quincy Jones Andy Borowitz Susan Borowitz Kevin Wendle (Season 1) Winifred Hervey (Seasons 2–3) Gary H. Miller (Season 4–5) Cheryl Gard (Mid-Late Season 5) Jeff Pollack Will Smith (Season 6) Benny Medina
Producer(s)	Werner Walian Lisa Rosenthal Joel Madison Leilani Downer Joanne Curley-Kerner Joel Markowitz
Location(s)	Hollywood Center Studios Hollywood, California (1990–1991) Sunset Gower Studios Hollywood, California (1991–1993) NBC Studios Burbank, California (1993–1996)
Camera setup	Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time	23 minutes
Production company(s)	The Stuffed Dog Company Quincy Jones Productions (Seasons 1–3) Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment (Seasons 4–6) NBC Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original release	September 10, 1990 (1990-09-10) – May 20, 1996 (1996-05-20)
External links
Website	www.warnerbros.co.uk/television/freshprince/index2.html

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American sitcom that originally aired on Disney 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 ran for six seasons and aired 148 episodes.^[1][2]

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 Development
• 2 Plot
• 3 Cast and characters
  • 3.1 Main
  • 3.2 Recurring
• 4 Episodes
• 5 Crossovers and other appearances
• 6 Syndication
• 7 DVD releases
• 8 Awards and nominations
• 9 Possible reboot
• 10 Notes
• 11 References
• 12 External links

Development[edit]

The characters 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.

In December 1989, NBC approached Will Smith, a popular rapper during the late 1980s.^[3] The pilot episode began taping on May 1, 1990.^[4] Season 1 first aired in September 1990, and ended in May 1991. The series finale was taped on Thursday, March 21, 1996.^[5][6]
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.

Plot[edit]

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, 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 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.

Cast and characters[edit]

Main article: List of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air characters

Main[edit]

Actor/Actress	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6
Will Smith	Will Smith	Main
James Avery	Philip Banks	Main
Janet Hubert-Whitten	Vivian Banks	Main
Daphne Maxwell Reid					Main
Alfonso Ribeiro	Carlton Banks	Main
Karyn Parsons	Hilary Banks	Main
Tatyana M. Ali	Ashley Banks	Main
Joseph Marcell	Geoffrey Butler	Main
Ross Bagley	Nicholas "Nicky" Banks					Main

Recurring[edit]

Actor/Actress	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6
DJ Jazzy Jeff	Jazz	Recurring
Vernee Watson-Johnson	Viola "Vy" Smith	Recurring
Michael Weiner	Kellogg Lieberbaum	Recurring
Lisa Fuller	Toni	Recurring
Jenifer Lewis	Helen Smith		Recurring
Charlayne Woodard	Janice Smith		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[edit]

Main article: List of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired		Nielsen ratings[7]
				First aired	Last aired	Rank	Rating
	1	25		September 10, 1990 (1990-09-10)	May 6, 1991 (1991-05-06)	N/A	N/A
	2	24		September 9, 1991 (1991-09-09)	May 4, 1992 (1992-05-04)	22	14.3[A]
	3	24		September 14, 1992 (1992-09-14)	May 10, 1993 (1993-05-10)	16	14.6[B]
	4	26		September 20, 1993 (1993-09-20)	May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23)	21	13.7[C]
	5	25		September 19, 1994 (1994-09-19)	May 15, 1995 (1995-05-15)	N/A	N/A
	6	24		September 18, 1995 (1995-09-18)	May 20, 1996 (1996-05-20)	N/A	N/A

Crossovers and other appearances[edit]

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, also appeared as an officiating minister in the same episode.

Syndication[edit]

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 has been distributed by Warner Bros. Television, 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 to 6. TBS continues to air the series today, early in the morning. Reruns also aired on WPIX-TV back to back weeknights at 6 pm & 6:30 pm EST from 1994 until 2000, and as a weekday basis at 5 pm from 2000 to 2005, sometimes on weekends until 2007. But, the series was still rerunning on The WB's affiliation WPIX-TV until 2006. While moving The WB to Nick at Nite, it was airing to 2006-2009 and moved to Disney XD.
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 to 3 are aired, mainly because those episodes are more appropriate for young viewers and does not contain as many mature themes, sexual content and strong language as later episodes. But in August 2010, Disney XD stopped airing the show. ABC Family (now called Freeform) 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 was previously aired on MTV's retro block. Also, the series reruns on VH1. On November 2, 2015, the series started airing on the Family Channel in Canada. On January 1, 2017, the series was added to Netflix in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In 2014, Fresh Prince Of Bel Air started airing again in Nickelodeon`s block night channel, Nick at Nite. In 2017, the series began from the beginning on the 5* channel in the UK. MeTV will start airing the show in September 2018.

DVD releases[edit]

Warner Home Video has released the complete series, seasons 1 to 6 on DVD in Region 1.^[8] 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. The episodes and DVD menus are in English; only the DVD packaging is in German.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release dates
		Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete First Season	25	February 8, 2005[9]	February 21, 2005[10]	April 13, 2005[11]
The Complete Second Season	24	October 11, 2005[12]	November 21, 2005[13]	March 1, 2006[14]
The Complete Third Season	24	February 14, 2006[15]	June 26, 2006[16]	August 9, 2006[17]
The Complete Fourth Season	26	August 8, 2006[18]	January 22, 2007[19]	December 6, 2006[20]
The Complete Fifth Season	25	May 11, 2010[21]	June 18, 2010	N/A
The Complete Sixth Season	24	April 19, 2011	May 6, 2011	N/A

Awards and nominations[edit]

Awards	Outcome	Recipient(s)	Year
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards:
Top TV Series	Won	Quincy Jones Will Smith DJ Jazzy Jeff	1994
Emmy Awards:
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Comedy Series	Nominated	Art Busch	1996
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[22]	Will Smith	1993
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:
Favorite Television Actor	Nominated	Will Smith	1996
Favorite Television Show	Nominated		1996
Favorite TV Actress	Won	Tatyana M. Ali	1996
NCLR Bravo Awards:
Outstanding Television Series Actor in a Crossover Role	Nominated	Alfonso Ribeiro	1996
TP de Oro:
Best Foreign Series (Mejor Serie Extranjera)	Nominated		1996
Best Foreign Series (Mejor Serie Extranjera)	Won		1994
TV Land Awards:
Best Broadcast Butler	Nominated	Joseph Marcell	2004
Favorite "Fish Out of Water"	Nominated	Will Smith	2004
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:
Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series	Won	Tatyana M. Ali	1997

Possible reboot[edit]

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.^[23][24] While the original aired on NBC, a network for the reboot has yet to be determined.^[25] In August 2016, during a promotional interview with the E! television network, for his then upcoming film Suicide Squad, Smith had denied that a reboot was in development, saying that it would happen "...pretty close to when Hell freezes over."^[26]

Notes[edit]

1. Jump up ^ Tied with Empty Nest
2. Jump up ^ Tied with Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and The Jackie Thomas Show
3. Jump up ^ Tied with Dave's World

References[edit]

1. Jump up ^ "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". TV.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 2, 2014. 
2. Jump up ^ Coker, Cheo Hodari (May 20, 1996). "Good Night, 'Prince'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 2, 2014. 
3. Jump up ^ Rohter, Larry (September 17, 1990). "'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' Puts Rap in Mainstream". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2014. 
4. Jump up ^ Wolf, Matt (February 11, 1991). "'Fresh Prince' makes Marcell changed man". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. Retrieved January 2, 2014. 
5. Jump up ^ Cerone, Daniel. "Rap's Prince Soon to Be TV Royalty?". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 September 2014. 
6. Jump up ^ "The Hollywood Minute". CNN. Cable News Network Inc. Retrieved 20 September 2014. 
7. Jump up ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (Ninth Edition). Ballantine Books. p. 1693. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. 
8. Jump up ^ "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air DVD news: Announcement for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - The Complete 6th Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. May 25, 2007. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
9. Jump up ^ "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The: The Complete First Season DVD @ DVD Empire". Dvdempire.com. February 8, 2005. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
10. Jump up ^ "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air - The Complete First Series DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Will Smith, James Avery, Janet Hubert-Whitten, Alfonso Ribeiro, Karyn Parsons, Tatyana M. Ali, Joseph Marcell: DVD". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
11. Jump up ^ "Buy Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The - The Complete 1st Season (5 Disc Set) @ EzyDVD". Ezydvd.com.au. April 27, 2005. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
12. Jump up ^ "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The: The Complete Second Season DVD @ DVD Empire". Dvdempire.com. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
13. Jump up ^ "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air - The Complete Second Series DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Will Smith, James Avery, Janet Hubert-Whitten, Alfonso Ribeiro, Karyn Parsons, Tatyana M. Ali, Joseph Marcell, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ellen Falcon: DVD". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
14. Jump up ^ "Buy Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The - The Complete 2nd Season (4 Disc Set) @ EzyDVD". Ezydvd.com.au. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
15. Jump up ^ "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The: The Complete Third Season DVD @ DVD Empire". Dvdempire.com. February 14, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
16. Jump up ^ "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air - The Complete Third Season DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Will Smith, James Avery, Karyn Parsons, Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana M. Ali, Joseph Marcell: DVD". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
17. Jump up ^ "Buy Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The - The Complete 3rd Season (4 Disc Set) @ EzyDVD". Ezydvd.com.au. August 9, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
18. Jump up ^ "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The: The Complete Fourth Season DVD @ DVD Empire". Dvdempire.com. August 8, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
19. Jump up ^ "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air - Series 4 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Will Smith: DVD". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
20. Jump up ^ "Buy Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The - The Complete 4th Season (4 Disc Set) @ EzyDVD". Ezydvd.com.au. December 6, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
21. Jump up ^ "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, The: The Complete Fifth Season DVD @ DVD Empire". Dvdempire.com. November 5, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2011. 
22. Jump up ^ "Awards for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". Imdb.com. Retrieved August 7, 2008. 
23. Jump up ^ Lovett, Jamie (August 13, 2015). "Will Smith Producing A Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Reboot". Comicbook.com. Retrieved August 13, 2015. 
24. Jump up ^ ""Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" Reboot in the Works - thenewbenjamin". thenewbenjamin. 
25. Jump up ^ "Will Smith Reboots Fresh Prince of Bel Air". PopCultureFan.com. August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015. 
26. Jump up ^ Loughrey, Clarisse (August 2, 2016). "Will Smith says Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot will happen when 'hell freezes over'". The Independent. Retrieved August 4, 2016. 

External links[edit]

• African American portal
• Television in the United States portal
• Comedy portal
• Los Angeles portal
• 1990s portal

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at epguides.com
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on IMDb
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at TV.com

[hide] v t e The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Episodes	1 2 3 4 5 6
Characters	Will Smith Philip Banks Vivian Banks Carlton Banks Hilary Banks Ashley Banks Geoffrey Butler Nicky Banks
Theme song	"Yo Home to Bel-Air"
Related series	Out All Night In the House

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Fresh_Prince_of_Bel-Air&oldid=818282938"

Categories:

• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• 1990s American comedy television series
• 1990 American television series debuts
• 1996 American television series endings
• Black sitcoms
• Television series set in universities and colleges
• English-language television programs
• American high school television series
• Metafictional television series
• NBC network shows
• Television series by Warner Bros. Television
• Television series by Universal Television