The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
As one of the most beloved sitcom of the 1990s , The Fresh Prince of Bel - Airrepresented a unique new type of entertainment , embracing all aspects of contraband culture and offering insightful comment along with pitch - pure humor . It dedicate Will Smith his first material playing platform , raise him to a genius far beyond his musical career .
It also made a serial of iconic grapheme in the form of Alfonso Ribeiro ’s Carlton Banks ; James Avery ’s Uncle Phil ; the original Aunt Vivian in Janet Hubert ; the sage and mischievous Samuel Butler , Geoffrey , as portrayed by Joseph Marcell ; and Will ’s best friend and partner in offence , nothingness , limn by DJ Jazzy Jeff himself . Even virtually thirty years after the series first aired , The Fresh Prince of Bel - Air ’s episodes are often just as timely and relevant as ever — and some of them are just as bad as they once were , too .
Worst: “The Client”
Long before Disney Channel was turn its television show stars into singers , Fresh Princetried to do something similar — within the series , at least — with the youngest Banks small fry , Ashley . The fifth season introduces a very short storyline where Ashley becomes a quasi - viral music sensation almost overnight , thanks to Will ’s hustle and her natural endowment .
But the 2d installment in this two - episode arc find Ashley ’s unawares - lived fame become to her head . She begins to treat all of her family members in incredibly savage ways , but soon enough , her 15 transactions of renown are over .
Best: “Just Say Yo”
The Fresh Prince of Bel - Airembraced the situation comedy convention of Very Special Episodes just as much as most ' LXXX and ' 90s family - orient sitcoms did , but somehow , Fresh Prince ’s episode always finger much more real and important . This third time of year episode is one such example of that fact . Feeling run down with promenade approaching , school , basketball , his relationship , and his task , Will take up a fellow student on his offering of speed .
Before he can take anything , however , he stash the pills off in his locker . In the end , his first cousin , Carlton , mistakes the pills for vitamin supplements and , hoping to cure an acne return , quickly pops far too many of the speed pill , overdoses , authorize out at prom , and current of air up in the infirmary . It ’s a truly disgraceful second for the series and highlights a very real scourge facing gamy schoolers everywhere .
Worst: “Will’s Up A Dirt Road”
The serial publication never offers any kind of definitive career path for Will . He has multiple jobs throughout the series , working in restaurants and pupil uniting , handle medicine careers , and , in this truly baffling fifth season episode , serve as a paparazzo lensman . In a under the weather thought - out attempt at impressing Lisa , Will decide he ’s run to write a record , consisting primarily of photograph of celebrity that he himself submit .
A rag expresses interest in purchasing some of Will ’s exposure , but once they ’ve purchased a photo of Jay Leno swarm coffee outside his business firm , they spin it into portraying Leno as a polluter who ’s pelt rock oil instead . Will winds up being sued by Leno , finagles his way onto Leno ’s show to apologize , and then … nothing else ever comes of this almost fever dream - like escapade .
Best: “Eye, Tooth”
It ’s not often that a sitcom can keep its fastball almost all the way through its very last episodes . The Fresh Prince of Bel - Airis one of those few sitcoms that grapple to do just that . The series ' third - to - last episode is arguably one of the most over - the - top episodes in the series . But despite how zany and marvellous the primal adventure may be , the instalment nevertheless stands out as one of the serial ' strongest .
William Shatner appears in the episode as a Edgar Albert Guest onThe Hilary Show , and Will is tasked with keeping Shatner entertain — and by fromStar Treksuperfan Carlton . Of course , none of that goes as design , and Shatner winds up necessitate some urgent dental work . But the highlight of the installment occurs in the dentist ’s part when all three men wind up getting gamy on laugh gas .
Worst: “Will’s Misery”
It was only a topic of clock time beforeFresh Princeintroduced a serious , long - term kinship for perennial ladies ' man Will . But it made a genuine misunderstanding when it introduced Nia Long ’s Lisa , arguably one of the weakest characters in the intact serial publication . Lisa ’s introduction certainly did n’t help make her character any more likable , no matter what came next .
This 5th time of year episode features Will finally convincing Lisa to go out with him , but what watch is an elaborate , perplexing , and downright uncomfortable plot line where Will allows Lisa to handle him like a surety in a tribute toMiseryso that she can gain acceptance into an elite sorority . The only worthwhile part of this instalment come in the conformation of Alfonso Ribeiro ’s hysteric blooper at the very conclusion . Otherwise , this is one of the most badly - execute episodes overall .
Best: “Mistaken Identity”
Even in its earliest episodes , The Fresh Prince of Bel - Airwas willing to touch on hard - hitting issues that most sitcoms would never even defy to approach . The series ' sixth episode finds Will and Carlton both becoming the victim of racial profiling . While driving Uncle Phil ’s collaborator ’s Mercedes back home to Palm Springs , the two boys are pulled over and arrested because they fit the visibility of a recent carjacker in the region .
Of course , the berth spirals out of control , and Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv come down to the police place to set thing square . But what follows is a truly sobering lesson about racial inequality in forward-looking - daylight America . It ’s an installment that principally rely on absurdist humor in early scenes to diffuse the tension ; but the sequence ’s final act is all but devoid of laughter , highlighting the seriousness of the subject area with conscientious clarity and satinpod .
bear on : Is Fresh Prince Of Bel - Air On Netflix , Hulu Or Prime ? Where To Watch Online
Worst: “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”
Real , farsighted - term fan ofThe Fresh Prince of Bel - Airknow one thing and one affair only to be true : there is only one correct Aunt Vivian , and it ’s the first one . interchange Janet Hubert with Daphne Maxwell Reid , the series also essentially changed the personality of the series ' unattackable materfamilias , turning her instead into a withdrawn , judgmental , and inner homemaker .
One of the most dissatisfactory change as a result of this character revision come in this sixth season episode arc . Unlike Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv # 1 , Phil and Vivian # 2 are unable to communicate with one another , differentiate over a anserine argument and failure to communicate , which contribute to various scenarios that limn both of them in sincerely unflattering light .
Best: “Bullets Over Bel-Air”
We ’ve already explored some of the really serious issues facing Black youth thatThe Fresh Prince of Bel - Aircovered . But perhaps the most shocking instance of its willingness to talk about these important subject came in this 5th time of year episode . As the episode begins , Carlton and Will are stopping at an ATM to take out money when suddenly , they receive themselves being robbed . Carlton bumble during the storage area - up , despite Will ’s frantic goading , and as a result , Will winds up being shot .
The instalment have some of the strongest acting from almost all of the series ' main stamp , but Ribeiro and Smith especially have the opportunity to truly shine . Carlton plumb bob into rage and the desire for payback , taking it upon himself to buy a gun so that he can protect himself in the future tense . But Will , fearing for his cousin ’s safety far more than his own , tearfully plead with him to give up the gunman in one of the series ' most compelling , sob - inducing scenes .
Worst: “The Best Laid Plans”
Gender kinetics were n’t exactly progressive in 1990s television receiver . thing have come a long way in terms of sexism in media , specially after the # MeToo motion . That ’s what makes this episode so jarring to observe after all these year because it might be one of the most timbre - deaf , downright insulting portrait of a heterosexual relationship in TV history .
In the instalment , Will , sexuality - crazed and only recall about himself , pull strings his current girl , Monique , into getting married after she say him that she is saving herself for marriage . Will very nearly consummates their kinship based on their fake marriage — officiate by malarkey , posing as a pastor — before confessing his sins to Monique , who punches him square in the face and abandons him . It ’s unreadable if Will ever even learned the error of his ways , as this immense violation is never cite again .
Best: “Papa’s Got A Brand New Excuse”
Will Smith ’s family life and experiences growing up are hardly the normal ones evidence in most conventional situation comedy . The entire series ' premise rely upon the fact that his mother sends him aside so he can find a better life . A subject only fleetingly bear on on until the fourth season , however , was the thing of Will ’s absentee father , Lou .
But this fourth season instalment change all of that . With the legendary actor Ben Vereen in the role , Lou breezes into townsfolk , wizardly everyone — peculiarly his son , who has always desire a human relationship with his don . Lou get Will ’s hopes up only to back out at the last mo , unable to accept responsibility . The sequence ’s terminal import , in which a totally brokenhearted Will tearfully need Uncle Phil"How come he do n’t need me , man?“before Uncle Phil embraces him , is perhaps the most pregnant import in the entire show .
NEXT : Will Smith ' Ca n’t Bear ' To Watch His Fresh Prince Acting
