‘Bel-Air’s modern characters, playlists reshape memories of ‘Fresh Prince’

In the opening scene of Peacock’s Bel-Air, Will (Jabari Banks) blasts Freeway’s hit song “What We Do” from an app on his smartphone.

I knew then that this was not my beloved The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. We were still using pay phones when the NBC sitcom was on in the 1990s. And though it’s a Philly classic now, “What We Do” wasn’t released until 2003. In the new show, Aunt Viv (Cassandra Freeman) is a repressed artist, Uncle Phil (Adrian Holmes) is a buff — let me repeat — buff candidate for district attorney, the family’s butler (Jimmy Akingbola) is an English man with Jamaican roots and an enforcer. And in the most jarring change of all, Carlton (Olly Sholotan) is mean and addicted to Xanax. This lacrosse-playing Carlton is not likely to break out into a Tom Jones-backed jig anytime soon.

Nine weeks into its 10-episode arc, Bel-Air is a Twitter fave and critics’ dumping ground. Angelica Jade Bastien wrote in Vulture Bel-Air lacks the chemistry of a living, breathing African American family.

But I like it. I’m drawn to the new versions of these familiar characters. But I wondered why the showrunners are calling the series a reboot when Bel-Air is a brand new show?

“It was about reimagining these iconic characters for this incredible fish-out-of-water story and grounding it through a modern lens,” Bel-Air creator Morgan Cooper said in a Zoom interview. Cooper is not a fan of the term reboot. “We wanted to make something that changed the game.”

Change the game Cooper did. The beloved characters are so different we no longer know what to expect from them.

Cooper, 30, grew up in Kansas City, Mo., watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in syndication. “It was a staple in my household, a staple in my neighborhood,” Cooper said, beaming with nostalgia. In 2019, he released a trailer on YouTube that asked, “What would happen if Will Smith was in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air today?” In it, Will has a violent confrontation on a West Philly basketball court and Carlton suggests he leave for Bel-Air. The video went viral, Will Smith signed on as executive producer and Peacock ordered two seasons.

Purists like The Guardian’s Jack Seale complain the new Bel-Air is joyless. The remake, he wrote, doesn’t have a reason to exist.

But what joy is there in getting your behind beat and being forced to leave everything you know? I was a senior in high school when The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air debuted in 1990. While it dealt with serious issues like violence, police brutality, and growing up without a dad, its social poignancy was softened with comedy.

Scenes from Bel-Air were shot at West Philadelphia’s 60th and Market Streets, and acknowledges what could happen when a Black teenager gets jumped on a basketball court, and is not helped, but pinned down by police. Uncle Phil would have certainly had to pull a lot of strings to get his nephew out of jail and off to Bel-Air.

Bel-Air writers also bring intimacy to the relationship with Will’s mom (April Parker Jones), a hard-working nurse raising her son alone. “Your crown is waiting as soon as you have the courage to wear it,” she repeats, a reference to the original show’s title and a nod to today’s self-care movement and what it means to have Black boy joy.

» READ MORE: Will Smith enters new phase of life. And he’s doing it big Philly style.

“We really wanted to explore what kind of conversations these characters would have,” Cooper said. “What kinds of lives would they be living, who would they be? We wanted to give a nod to Philly and make it all super dope.”

In one of the many nods to our city, Bel-Air features the work of Philadelphia artists, including Alloyius McIlwaine, Ellen Tiberino, and Nile Livingston, throughout Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv’s mansion.

Pop culture experts say reboots, remakes, and reunion shows are a TV staple because they have a proven track record and a ready-made audience.

“It’s a low investment to use shows we already know rather than bring in new creators to try new ideas,” said Dustin Kidd, Temple University’s chair of sociology and a television and pop culture expert. “Yet they work because they remind us of the cultural bonds and shared identity we have. That’s especially valuable as we have felt so divided these past several years.”

These new takes on old stories — whether on the big screen, on television, or on stage — reflect other realities and perspectives.

The 1980s edition of The Wonder Years, starring Fred Savage and narrated by Daniel Stern, is the coming-of-age story of a typical white 12-year-old and his middle-class family in the 1960s. The new version of the show stars Don Cheadle as the narrator and Elisha Williams is the wide-eyed 12-year-old during the same period, a child living through America’s civil rights movement.

Meanwhile, Equalizer, a remake of a 1985 drama starring Queen Latifah, places a middle-age woman in the center of the action.

“This diversity is a reflection of who we have become,” said Nwenna Gates a professor of Black studies at the Community College of Philadelphia. “After George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, Hollywood couldn’t stay where it was.”

» READ MORE: ‘And Just Like That...’ on HBO Max is refreshingly honest and messy

Good reboots, like Bel-Air, remind audiences about the shows we loved. Banks’ reprise of Smith’s role is most noteworthy. He grew up watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and channels Smith’s humor and levity.

“It’s embedded in me,” Banks said in a Zoom interview. He’s never tried to impersonate Smith, still, he said, “outside of Bel-Air, I’ve been told Will and I have similar mannerisms.”

Bel-Air channels the ‘90s, but it’s rooted in social media. Hilary (Coco Jones) works as a lifestyle influencer, and Will’s tormentors track him down in Bel-Air through a social media posts that links to a story about his high school basketball scores.

“We put together a 50-song play list for each character,” Cooper said. “What would a modern-day Phil listen to? [A Tribe Called Quest], Souls of Mischief, Biggie, Pac,” he said. Freeway’s “What We Do” functions as Bel-Air’s overture.”

So how do Cooper’s and Banks’ parents feel about the reboot?

“They like it, but they are shocked about how different it is,” Banks said. “And my mom really doesn’t like Carlton.”

Word. Neither do I.

Bel-Air drops new episodes on NBC’s streaming service Peacock on Thursdays. The series finale airs March 31.