Fresh Prince gets new look for new times

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Jabari Banks stars in the dramatic reimagining of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Jon-Paul Patterson

Do you remember that show from the 90’s with Will Smith; Chilling out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool and shooting some B-ball outside the school. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, one of the most popular shows from that era. They came out with a reboot of the show this month called Bel-Air. You can only watch it on the streaming service Peacock.
The reboot came to life when a guy named Morgan Cooper made a short film based on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and it went viral. Morgan Cooper later on became one of the executive producers of the new show.
Bel Air has the same concept of the original show. The lead character (Jabari Banks, who plays the character Will Smith in the new show) is in Philadelphia playing basketball and a fight breaks out and his mom gets scared and makes him move with his auntie and uncle in Bel Air.
When I watched the reboot for the first time, it instantly reminded me of the original show. I would say they did a good job with the reboot. They kept the same style and vibe as the original show. The new show just makes things more dramatic and seems more serious. It took a little getting used to because some of the characters they used for the roles didn’t look similar to the original. For example, Uncle Phil (Adrian Holmes) in the new show is skinny.
The best way I would describe the reboot is if The Fresh Prince of Bel Air happened in 2022. Bel-Air is more modern because they used more modern slang that people in Philadelphia would use nowadays, like the word “jawns”. Will Smith in the new show also said “You know the vibes” a lot. The houses and cars were way newer too.

They also did the reboot in a more like a movie series instead of 30-minute episodes like the original. Bel Air has hour-long episodes, and they don’t have the laugh tracks in the background when something funny happens.

I could only watch the first episode with the free trial on Peacock, but from what happened in the first episode and how they leave you on a cliffhanger it makes me want to pay the $5 so I can watch the rest of the episodes. Since a lot of people say that new shows and movies aren’t as good as old ones, it would be a good show to watch for the people who want to feel the nostalgia of the old show, but with a slight twist.