The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Television |
{{Infobox Television |
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| image = [[Image:Freshprincelogo.jpg|250px]] |
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| caption = The ''Fresh Prince'' mid-program [[Commercial bumper|bumper]] |
| caption = The ''Fresh Prince'' mid-program [[Commercial bumper|bumper]] |
Revision as of 14:21, 28 December 2009
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2009) |
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | |
---|---|
File:Freshprincelogo.jpg The Fresh Prince mid-program bumper | |
Created by | Andy Borowitz Susan Borowitz |
Starring | Will Smith Alfonso Ribeiro James Avery Janet Hubert-Whitten (1990-1993) Daphne Maxwell Reid (1993-1996) Karyn Parsons Tatyana Ali Ross Bagley (1994-1996) Joseph Marcell |
Theme music composer | The Fresh Prince, in association with A Touch of Jazz, Inc. |
Opening theme | "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" by Will Smith |
Country of origin | ![]() |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 6 |
No. of episodes | 148 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Quincy Jones Andy Borowitz Susan Borowitz Kevin Wendle (season 1) Winifred Hervey (seasons 2-3) Gary H. Miller (seasons 4-5) Cheryl Gard (seasons 5) Jeff Pollock Will Smith (season 6) |
Production locations | Bel Air, Los Angeles, California (setting) Hollywood Center Studios, Hollywood, California (season 1) Sunset-Gower Studios, Hollywood, California (seasons 2-3) NBC Studios, Burbank, California (seasons 4-6; all taping locations) |
Camera setup | Videotape; Multi-camera |
Running time | approx. 23 mins (per episode) |
Production companies | Quincy Jones Productions (seasons 1-3) Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment (seasons 4-6) The Stuffed Dog Company NBC Productions |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | September 10, 1990 – May 20, 1996 |
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show starred Will Smith as a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to live with his wealthy relatives in a Bel Air mansion. His lifestyle often clashes with that of his relatives there. 148 episodes were produced over six seasons.[1]
Conception
As part of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Will Smith was a popular and successful rapper during the late 1980s but, having spent money freely and underpayed his income taxes, was assessed to be $2.8 million in tax debt by the I.R.S., who took many of his possessions, and garnished his income.[2] This left Smith nearly bankrupt when, in 1990, he was approached by the television network NBC who signed him on to a contract and built a sitcom around him.
Theme song and opening sequence
This is the story all about how
my life got flip turned upside down
So if you take a moment and sit right there
I tell you how I became the meme called pedobear.
In west Neverland born and raised
Stalking the playground is how I spent most of my days
Checking out max relaxing all cool
Playing with my balls outside of the school
When a couple of kids who were looking real good
Didn't check the offender registry in their neighborhood.
I touched one little kid and her mom got scared and said, "I'm calling the fbi on you sick pedobears"
So I whistled for a van but when it came near
the license plate said chan and there was a party in the rear
If anything I could say this van was a snare
But I thought, "Nah forget it, you can't catch a running bear"
I pulled out of the girl, who was seven or eight
and I yelled to the moralfags, "Yo homos, sage you later"
Looking at her crotch I got there before the hair
She can sit on my bone cause I'm the pedobear
Cast and characters
Recurring settings
The Banks mansion
The mansion is where the Banks family, as well as Will, live; the address was revealed in the fourth season's "For Sale By Owner" as 805 Saint Cloud Road. A majority of the show's scenes take place in the mansion. Originally, most of the family scenes took place in the living room, with less prominence given to the kitchen. The living room set had archways at either end to hallways, and two doorways at the back of the set to the side yard. The right-side hallway was occasionally shot in, and had a staircase upstairs, and the front door. The kitchen set was not attached to the rest of the downstairs set, and was unconventionally laid out compared to many sitcoms: The left side had counters that continued along the fourth wall (where the audience would be), and had a lot of depth (from the audience perspective), with camera angles frequently shooting almost parallel to the fourth wall. The set had two interior doors; one of which, at the right side of the set, led to the hallway left of the living room (though was not attached on set), and an exterior door to the unseen back yard. There was a dining room also off the hallway left of the living room. The upper floor hallway was shown in Season 1, until the mansion sets were completely rebuilt after the season.
In the second season, the kitchen and living room sets were rebuilt much larger with a more contemporary style (as opposed to the much more formal style of the first season), and were connected directly by an archway, allowing scenes to be shot continuously between the sets, which is where most scenes were shot. The staircase upstairs was incorporated into the back of the living room, with only one rarely-used exit to the side yard beside it. An actual television prop was added at the fourth wall, whereas there had only been one implicitly in the first season. The archway to the right still led to a hallway with the front door. The only element that remained from the original set was the kitchen's left-hand wall and island which were rotated ninety degrees to become the back wall at the right of the kitchen, with some modification to the cosmetics. The archway was the only way into the room, other than the exit at the left to the backyard patio, which was now an existing part of the main house set.
In addition, Will's and occasionally other family members', rooms were shown (sometimes changing looks between appearances) during the series. The pool house was shown in one episode of season 3. A different set was used when it became a main location in season 4 until the end of the series, after Will and Carlton moved in.
Despite the changes, the exterior shot of the Banks house, which is an actual house in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, was constant throughout the series, usually featured in still shots. A running gag, however, featured Jazz being physically thrown out of the front door using the exterior of the house. Every time he is thrown out of the house, he is shown wearing the same shirt although he does not always wear it when he is thrown out (the producers never shot a second sequence with Jazz being thrown out of the house, only adjusting the original scene for time purposes; an exception is in the episode "Community Action", where Jazz was thrown out along with a lifesize cardboard cut-out of Bill Cosby, complete with a blooper showing Jeff Townes reshooting his flying off the house several times).
Bel-Air Prep
Bel-Air Prep is the high school that Will and Carlton attend in Seasons 1-3. Ashley also starts as Freshman in Season 3. The 3 main sets are the classroom, a hallway and the auditorium (the auditorium was only shown in three episodes: "Def Poet's Society", "Courting Disaster" and "Just Say Yo").
Hospital
A hospital in Los Angeles is seen in several episodes which deal with the Banks family's medical problems. The exterior shot of the hospital is a shot of the VA Hospital in nearby Westwood
Jazz's apartment in Compton
Jazz lives with a few friends in a run-down apartment complex in Compton, California called the Chalet Towers. This setting was seen in the first four seasons.
KFPB Channel 8 News station
This setting was seen throughout Season 3 because Hilary was hired as a weather girl and fell in love with Trevor Collins, who died in a bungee accident in Season 4. Due to his death, the setting was written off towards the end of the 4th Season. The setting returned in Season 6 because Hilary's own talk show was produced there.
ULA Student Store
The ULA Student Store, also known as "The Peacock Stop" for the school mascot, is where Will, Carlton, and Will's friend Jackie Ames work. In Season 4, Jackie is the manager, Carlton is the assistant manager, and Will is the cashier. When Jackie leaves ULA in the middle of Season 4, Carlton takes over as manager and Will becomes assistant manager and cashier until Season 5.
Awards and nominations
Awards | Outcome | Recipient(s) | Year |
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards: | |||
Top TV Series | Won | Quincy Jones Will Smith DJ Jazzy Jeff |
1994 |
Emmy Awards: | |||
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction for a Comedy Series | Nominated | Art Busch | 1996 |
Golden Globe Awards: | |||
Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical | Nominated | Will Smith | 1994 |
Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical | Nominated[3] | Will Smith | 1993 |
Image Award: | |||
Outstanding Comedy Series | Nominated | 1997 | |
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | Won | Alfonso Ribeiro | 1996 |
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Nominated | Will Smith | 1997 |
Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress | Won | Tatyana Ali | 1997 |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | Nia Long | 1996 |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | Daphne Maxwell Reid | 1996 |
Kids' Choice Awards: | |||
Favorite Television Actor | Nominated | Will Smith | 1996 |
Favorite Television Show | Nominated | 1996 | |
Favorite TV Actress | Won | Tatyana Ali | 1996 |
NCLR Bravo Awards: | |||
Outstanding Television Series Actor in a Crossover Role | Nominated | Alfonso Ribeiro | 1996 |
TP de Oro: | |||
Best Foreign Series (Mejor Serie Extranjera) | Nominated | 1996 | |
Best Foreign Series (Mejor Serie Extranjera) | Won | 1994 | |
TV Land Awards: | |||
Best Broadcast Butler | Nominated | Joseph Marcell | 2004 |
Favorite "Fish Out of Water" | Nominated | Will Smith | 2004 |
Young Artist Awards: | |||
Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten - Television | Won | Ross Bagley | 1996 |
Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten in a TV Series | Won | Ross Bagley | 1995 |
Best Youth Comedienne | Nominated | Tatyana Ali | 1994 |
Best Young Actor Guest Starring in a Television Series | Nominated | Larenz Tate | 1993 |
Best Young Actor Guest Starring or Recurring Role in a TV Series | Nominated | Tevin Campbell | 1992 |
Best New Family Television Comedy Series | Won | 1991 | |
YoungStar Award: | |||
Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series | Won | Tatyana Ali | 1997 |
U.S. television ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on NBC.
Note: U.S. network television seasons generally start in late September and end in late May, which coincides with the completion of the May sweeps.
Season | Episodes | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | September 10, 1990 | May 6, 1991 | 1990–1991 | N/A | N/A |
2 | 24 | September 9, 1991 | May 4, 1992 | 1991–1992 | #22[4] | 13.2[4] |
3 | 24 | September 14, 1992 | May 10, 1993 | 1992–1993 | #16[4] | 13.6[4] |
4 | 26 | September 20, 1993 | May 23, 1994 | 1993–1994 | #22[4] | 12.9[4] |
5 | 25 | September 19, 1994 | May 15, 1995 | 1994–1995 | #55[5] | 10.4[5] |
6 | 24 | September 18, 1995 | May 20, 1996 | 1995–1996 | #55[6] | 9.6[6] |
Syndication and DVD releases
The series was originally an NBC production in association with The Stuffed Dog Company and Quincy Jones Productions (later QDE, or Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment). After the show was released to syndication, the rights reverted to Warner Bros. Television, which continues to distribute the show worldwide (although NBC Universal does own the series' copyright). Currently, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air airs on various local television stations around the U.S. including TBS, BET, and ABC Family. It aired on Nick@Nite from 2004 to 2009, as well as The-N (now TeenNick), but was removed in September 2009 after Disney/ABC purchased the rights to the show. It is also currently being aired on the UK digital TV channel Virgin 1 and in Canada on YTV, TVtropolis and Crossroads Television. Disney XD started airing the show on September 19, 2009 and will start airing on Disney Channel in the United States in 2010. [7] Warner Home Video has released the first four seasons of the series on DVD.[8] It is currently unknown whether Seasons 5 and 6 will be released due to conflicts over music rights costs.[9]
DVD Name | Ep # | Release dates | DVD Extras | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
The Complete 1st Season | 25 | February 8, 2005 | February 21, 2005 | April 13, 2005 | "Back-to-Bel-Air: A Fresh Look" featurette. |
The Complete 2nd Season | 24 | October 11, 2005 | November 21, 2005 | March 1, 2006 | Best Bits of Bel Air and Bloopers from Season 2 |
The Complete 3rd Season | 24 | February 14, 2006 | June 26, 2006 | August 9, 2006 | Best of the Upper Bel-Air Crust (Season 3 highlights) and Bloopers from Season 3 |
The Complete 4th Season | 26 | August 8, 2006 | January 22, 2007 | December 6, 2006 | No extras are available in the boxed set of season 4. |
The Complete 5th Season | 25 | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
The Complete 6th Season | 24 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
See also
References
- ^ Episode List for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- ^ Smith, Will (2007-12-02). (Interview). Interviewed by Steve Kroft.
{{cite interview}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help); Unknown parameter|callsign=
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ignored (help) - ^ "Awards for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". Imdb.com. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ a b c d e f "TV Ratings: 1991-1992". Classic TV Hits. Retrieved 2009-10-19. Cite error: The named reference "Classic TV Hits" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b http://fbibler.chez.com/tvstats/recent_data/1994-95.html
- ^ a b http://fbibler.chez.com/tvstats/recent_data/1995-96.html
- ^ http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2009/08/fresh-prince-comes-to-disney-xd-fall.html
- ^ The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - The Complete First Four Seasons
- ^ Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Season 1, 2, 3 Boxset, DVD features
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- 1990 television series debuts
- 1996 television series endings
- 1990s American television series
- American television sitcoms
- Black sitcoms
- American comedy-drama television series
- NBC network shows
- Television series by Warner Bros. Television
- Television series by NBC Universal Television
- Television shows set in Los Angeles, California
- Television shows set in California
- Metafictional works