Who is ready to take a ride down to Bel Air one more time?
The beloved sitcom “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” aired from 1990 to 1996. It starred Will Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali, James Avery, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, and Janet Hubert. It gained a cult following and everyone has come to love the show. The reunion special was taped on Sept.10, which was the same day of the 30th anniversary of its first show, according to CNN. The reunion is expected to air sometime in November on HBO Max.
Recently, Will Smith shared some photos via Instagram with all of his castmates from the 90’s sitcom. He is promoting a reunion special that will be aired through HBO Max. The photo showed Smith with all of his old cast members sitting on a couch smiling at the camera.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE-Xq_IB7_z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
This marks another project dedicated to the classic sitcom. The cast also reunited back in April for Smith’s Snapchat series “Will From Home.” Back in August, it was announced that Smith and Westbrook are developing a drama reboot of the sitcom based on a viral video “Bel-Air.” It was created by film director, Morgan Cooper.
The short film by Cooper went viral back in March 2019 when it was released. It has amassed more than 7.5 million views to date in two official YouTune posts alone.
The hour-long episodes seek to dig deeper into “Will’s complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air,” according to Billboard magazine.
The four-minute trailer video even impressed Smith. It took a dark spin on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with each character in a dark room with suspense building up in each scene. He appeared in a video with Cooper saying, “That’s an idea that is brilliant.”
“I grew up watching the show since I was 5,” Cooper told Smith. “I remember seeing what you did on the screen so it’s always been a part of me. I remember driving down 71 in Kansas City and I was just thinking about the show. I remember driving under this overpass and when I came out, I had the idea. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I knew I had to tell the story.”
Divine Carter, a sophomore, journalist student gave her opinion on the reunion. “ I think that it is a dope thing for this reunion to be happening. I grew up watching the Fresh Prince, so I’m excited to see it. I saw the trailer for the new concept of the show, and it had an amazing visual sequence.”
He also paid tribute to the late James Avery who passed away in 2013. In another post on his account, he shared himself having an emotional and candid conversation, with Janet Hubert. Hubert was fired from the show in 1993 and replaced by Daphne Reid after having problems with Smith.
Director Marcus Raboy will direct the special; Rikki Hughes, Brad Haugen, Miguel Melendez, and Lukas Kaiser will be the showrunners and executive producers for Westbrook Media, according to Variety.
The reboot and reunion specials show that the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is still popular and loved by many people, even 30 years later. With reunion shows and reboots, it shows that this sitcom is timeless and popular for new generations.
