' Girl you look so good i wish could plant you and grow a whole field of y'all!' (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air)

Member Name: Benjammar

Product:	The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Date:	30/06/09 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant jokes, fantastic episodes and some classic moments throughout the 6 years

Disadvantages: The new Vivian that took over for the last 3 years simply wasn't as good

Welcome to the birth of Will Smith, well not literally obviously! However this is where it all started. Back in 1990 TV screens were introduced to the Will Smith, 20 years later he is one of the biggest actors in the world. It's easy to say Fresh Prince is all about Will Smith himself, after all the plot of the show is about him, but what made Fresh Prince such a success was the whole cast. It's a real shame the rest of the main crew haven't got onto to have great success because I loved them to bits. Looking at IMDB all of them went onto other TV shows and films, most noticeably James Avery (Phillip Banks) who has racked up over 60 other appearances yet I genuinely haven't seem since the Fresh Prince. Maybe if I was living in America he, and the rest of the cast, would appear more popular to me.

Just a note to demonstrate how successful this show was for Will Smith, it ran between 1990 and 1996 in which Will Smith starred in the first Bad Boys film in 1995 and then went onto to do Independence Day straight after Fresh Prince ended in 1996. Not bad hey?

Anyway, back to the important matter; The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. For those who have managed to miss this series (How is that possible!) the plot is as follows, Will Smith is sent to live in Bel Air with his rich Aunt and Uncle to get a good education and develop as a man. He came from a rough background in Philadelphia and his dad left him at an early age. The show lasted 6 years and racked up 147 episodes throughout which we see the development of Will from an immature stupid child to a grown man ready to live on his own and tackle life alone.

I've grown up with this show, I've watched it when I was a little kid and I'm still watching it now religiously as a student. What impresses me the most is the fact they managed to sustain certain set jokes throughout the whole life of the show and not make them boring. What I mean here is, fat jokes for Uncle Phil, short jokes for Carlton, dumb jokes for Hilary and so on. I must have watched every episode several times yet the jokes have never got old. Fresh Prince has a cheeky and rude sense to the humor which appeals to all ages. The constant references to sex give it an adult feel but the banter between the younger members of the family keep make it appealing to younger audiences. It's a fantastic show because it appeals to all, its one of the reasons why I'm still able to watch the show after so many years because you begin to appreciate each episode differently as you grow older.

The amount of emotional/serious moments is spot on here. I'm not normally a fan of soppy emotional moments in sitcoms. I can't stand it when a TV show over does it however the balance Is just right in Fresh Prince. The serious moments are spread out evenly but most importantly they come at the right times. If you watch the show in order you do begin to see the development of the characters and the bonds that are developed between the characters. Towards the end of the show it will almost bring a smile to your face when Will and Uncle Phil get on together or Will and Carlton act like brothers. They have built up the characters exceptionally well over the years and it's a very sad moment in the finale when it all comes to an end.

Will is obviously the star of the show, he does a fantastic job throughout the 147 years in keeping the show together. The other actors deserve a mention, the show would not be the same without Alfonso Ribiero playing Carlton the way he did. I remember watching 'In the house' with him in it but I couldn't shake the image of Carlton. Will Smith took the spot light but any fan of the show knows that the whole cast were fantastic, right down to the likes of Jazz and Nicky. The only downside to the show was the change in actor for Vivian. The original Vivian (Janet Hubert) was a strong and empowering figure but the later Vivian (Daphne Reid) was much quieter, weaker and to put it honest, not as funny. It was a shame they had to lose Janet because there is a considerable difference between the two actors. It was lucky that the swap over came half way through the shows life so they had roughly the same number of appearances. It was weird watching the new Vivian but after a while she fits in nicely by the end.

Special mention has to go for Will's chat up lines. I won't mention any in here because they have to be said to be appreciated however they are just one example of Will Smith at his best (Ignoring the Headline obviously!). There's a compilation of them on youtube if you look carefully. Other mentions must go to the celebrity appearances. Being an American show some are hard to recognize when they make an appearance however Fresh Prince managed to capture the likes of Tom Jones and William Shatner for some brilliant episodes.

Summary

Simply, one of my favorite shows of all time. 6 years of brilliant comedy. Funny for a wide range of ages with it's own brand of jokes that never get old. Some fantastic one liners and memories throughout the 147 episodes. It's always on Virgin 1 at the moment and I think it's on Trouble a lot so you can't miss the show if you have Sky TV. If for some how you have never seen Fresh Prince and you`re around 25 or under, go buy the box sets and watch them religiously till you know every episode back to front.

Summary: One of the funniest TV shows out there for the younger generation