Fewer words strung together strike as much joy as: "In West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days…" (You will now be mentally singing this for the next hour.)
The comedic talents of Will Smith, playing the young Philly street kid from humble beginnings who is thrust into wealth is etched into most of our childhoods. Thanks to the power of streaming, it's also taken up residence in the hearts of the modern generation too, its humour and lessons still relevant and relatable today.
So when the reality of a reboot came to light people threw shade harder than OG Uncle Phill disposing of Jazz.
It's easy to chalk it up to just another money-grabbing ploy – a way to piggyback on the Fresh Prince legacy for financial gain, but in truth, Bel-Air was born out of adoration.
The Peacock drama first began life as a bit of Youtube fanfiction by the now series director and writer Morgan Cooper. He posed a question, 'What if The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a drama instead of a comedy?"
His almost four-minute trailer explored Will's origin story. Expanding on and opening up the 'one little fight and my mum got scared' narrative revealed an underbelly of deep-rooted issues that landed him in LA. It's something the reboot also does.
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Actor and original Prince of West Philly, Will Smith, interviewed Cooper for his Youtube channel, discussing the trailer he helped spearhead from concept to screen. Of the fan-trailer, Smith admitted he thought the idea was "brilliant."
Cooper's inspiration for this reimagining was born out of his love for the 90's sitcom.
"I remember watching, seeing what you did on screen so it's always been a part of me," Cooper told the actor. He said he was driving when the idea of a dramatised version occurred to him.
"It hit me like a ton of bricks and I knew I had to tell a story."
Fast-forward three years and the story is awaiting its verdict…
Is the Bel-Air reboot worth watching?
Put it this way, you may just find yourself in a similar position to the late James Avery's uncle Phil and the Philly cheesesteak sandwich. Openly you despise it (perhaps out of fan loyalty to the original) but a couple of bites in and you find it's all that.
In truth the re-conceptualised Bel-Air isn't bad. In fact it's pretty good.
As mentioned it gets a little closer to Smith's real-life experiences of how he left Philly – not just to straighten himself out and keep out of trouble but to keep him alive.
"I moved to LA and started The Fresh Prince and all of my friends started getting killed and going to jail," said Smith.
Bel-Air begins with Will (Jabari Banks) on top of his game, an honour roll student with a basketball scholarship at the tip of his fingers. However after a B-ball game ends in gunshots and Will getting arrested, Will finds himself on gangster Rashaad's hit-list. Fearing for her son's life Viola, aka Vy (April Parker Jones), ships him off to live with Aunt Viv (Cassandra Freeman) and Uncle Phil (Adrian Holmes).
As he's chauffeured to his new home by Jordan L Jones' Jazz and greeted by Jimmy Akingbola's Geoffrey, the first thing any hardcore fan will question is the characterisation of some of their favourite characters.
This uncertainty of their personalities and physicalities is likely to be compounded further by the introduction of the Bankses. Uncle Phil isn't soft around the middle, Hilary is no vain, money-obsessed air-head but has an entrepreneurial streak and drive and Carlton…brace yourself… is popular. Yes, nerdy, can't get a girl, can't dance Carlton is the king of Bel-Air Academy.
This dynamic shift sees Will struggling to fit in upon arrival whereas Carlton (played by Olly Sholotan), threatened by Will's popularity potential, shuts him out to stay on top.
Don't check out just yet. Once the shock has worn off it makes for some really interesting storytelling. This richer perspective (thanks to the hour-time slot as opposed to the original's 30 minutes) allows us to dig deeper into the issues that Fresh Prince raised and opens up some new ones more readily spoken about in today's climate.
It follows the footprints of the original show with recognisable one liners – 'born and raised' – and even tackles racial tension between the Black community and white police officers, dealing with similar anxieties brought up in the episode 'Mistaken Identities' in its original counterpart.
They find a way to modernise situations, using social media to call out the microaggressions faced by the Black community. They touch upon the pressure of code switching and the backlash sometimes received for standing up for your cultural identity – even from your own community – for fear of causing too much of a stir.
It gets gritty and one thing Bel-Air does well is that it carves out its own identity while successfully paying homage to the original.
Its struggle, however, lies not in its execution but in its content.
Despite its thoughtful and provocative narrative, Bel-Air isn't offering viewers something new or unexpected.
Writer and director Kenya Barris alone has given us Black-ish, Mixed-ish, Grown-ish and Black AF all of which do a fantastic job of artistically talking about the Black struggle. Away from Barris we have recently seen Dear White People, I May Destroy You, Insecure, When They See Us, Small Axe: a mix of comedy and drama, all intelligent, all offering up their unique view into Black lives and Black hardships.
With such a rich and vast selection to choose from, what can another show offer while discussing the same themes?
When Fresh Prince of Bel Air came to screens in the '90s it was fresh, innovative and relatable. Few shows spoke about the range of issues facing Black people daily with such frankness while being charming. The Fresh Prince had a unique voice and we were, well, charmed.
Bel-Air has a much harder battle to gain traction thanks to the competitive marketplace. While it is extremely important that these conversations continue to be held in mainstream media and that the Black experience is talked about in open forums, the challenge becomes, 'How do you stand out?'
It's not enough to be different from its predecessor – the novelty of comparison will likely wear off after season one. Bel-Air must be seen to be doing something different across the board. Or at the very least be so utterly captivating that it's impossible not to tune in.
So far, so good. It's definitely worth giving it a try. Let's hope the new kid on the block has a couple of surprises in store and punchy storylines to match the momentum it's started out with.
Bel-Air will be available to stream from February 14 on Sky.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
