90’s wiki: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was without doubt a driving force in bringing hip hop from the underground to the mainstream in the 90’s. Taking elements from The Jeffersons, Cosby Show and Different Strokes and coupling them with the infectious personality of young rap star Will Smith, the show was a welcome breath of fresh air when it amazingly premiered on BBC 2 of all channels in the UK in late 1990. The show is centred on the struggles of streetwise teenager Will, who is uprooted from the ghettos of south Philly to the mansions of Bel Air to live with his rich Uncle Phil and his 3 cousins.
This show embodied the essence of early 90’s hip hop with Will sporting a wardrobe colour matched to the front cover of De La Souls 3 Feet High and Rising, whilst spouting the popular slang of the time. Between Will and best friend and occasional guest star Jazz the unsuspecting audience is slowly introduced to the elements of hip hop; turntablism, beatboxing and break dancing, though Will’s dancing is more Heavy D and the Boyz than Crazy Legs.
Though primarily a family show, the Fresh Prince occasionally touched on more serious topics such as crime, racism and absentee fathers, although a gag was never far away to lighten the tone. By the later series a number of running jokes had been firmly established, Aunt Viv had been replaced, Ashley had grown up and a new family member Nicky had been added but the show was just as popular as ever, avoiding the axe on couple of occasions.
Trivia
The running gag of the “Carlton Dance” throughout the show was actually a parody of the Bruce Springsteen dance he did in his video for “Dancing in the Dark” in 1984.
The cab driver in the opening credits is Quincy Jones, the executive producer on the show and whose Swedish son produced the now infamous opening music and score for the show.
Geoffrey’s last name is Butler and in the episode Hare Today, it’s revealed that his middle name is Barbara
Nicky’s full name is Nicholas Michael Shawn Nathan Wanya Banks. He is named after the four members of Boyz II Men, after they performed at his christening.
Running jokes
Jazz gets thrown out of the front door by Uncle Phil
The Carlton dance – usually to Tom Jones
Uncle Phil fat jokes
Hilary and Jazz’s unrequited love
Slapping Carlton or hitting him on the head with anything that comes to hand
Clips
Theme tune
The best Carlton dance ever
Will beatboxes at a formal Dinner
Carlton and Tom Jones
Jazz gets thrown out for the first time
Carlton dance compilation
List of Guest Stars
Richard Roundtree / Sherman Hemsley (The Jeffersons)
Nia Long / Tyra Banks / Jay Leno / Vivica Fox / Chris Rock
Malcolm Jamal-Warner (Cosby Show) / Queen Latifah
Evander Holyfield / Boyz II Men / Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Raven Symone / Donald Trump / Kadeem Hardison
Tisha Campbell / Robin Givens / Isiah Thomas / Isaac Hayes
Oprah Winfrey / Lark Voorhies (Saved by the bell)
Tevin Campbell / Bill Cosby / Tom Jones / B.B King
Gary Coleman / William Shatner / Don Cheadle
Tom ‘tiny’ ‘zeus’ Lister / Jaleel White ‘urkle’
Vanessa Williams/ Jasmine Guy (different world) / John Witherspoon
90s Guy says
This was must see TV for hip hop lovers young and old in the UK. There was only Yo! MTV Raps and the Fresh Prince on telly plus Westwood’s radio shows later on to check for week in week out for a hip hop fix. I’ve never been a big Will Smith fan but this is him at his best; cocky, outrageous and genuinely funny. Later on Ashley was another good reason to tune is as she was one of the only fly girls on TV who was my age. Still can’t believe they never made a movie though?
Links
Popularity: 91% [?]
Posted: September 8th, 2008 under 90's wiki, TV, Video.
Tags: 90s, Fresh Prince, Will Smith