The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Will Smith is entitled to his persuasion , but he ’s wrong when it comes toFresh Prince of Bel - Airjumping the shark . For the past 25 year , Smith has been one of the most recognizable movie sensation in the worldly concern , and one of the most bankable . His vocation has hit a few rough patches , but those never seem to really effectuate his personal popularity , explaining why studios keep cast Smith to lead big budget movie in the hopes that he ’ll solve some corner office magic trick .
Of course , there would be no Smith movie life history as sports fan know it today without his long time playing the titulary use on NBC sitcomThe Fresh Prince of Bel - Air . part based onSmith ’s genuine - life , Fresh Princewas one of the big strike of the 1990s , and is one of those classic comedies that ’s never really gone away . It ’s consistently air in reruns on cable since it end , and can now be found cyclosis in its entirety on HBO Max .
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As with most sitcom though , even the best of the better , there was a drop - off in quality as the geezerhood went on . That ’s not to say thatFresh Princeever get abysmal or unbearable to observe , but its later season certainly are n’t its best , andFresh Princeending with season 6 made sense . In Smith ’s 2021 memoir , gentle simplyWill , he swear thatFresh Princedeclined with the season 5 episode"Bullets Over Bel - Air " , which sees Will get shot and an distressed Carlton get a hit man for aegis . While season 5 could definitely be point to as being whenFresh Princehit a clear downswing in caliber , Smith is off base by pegging " Bullets Over Bel - Air " as the moment the show"jumped the shark . "
" heater Over Bel - Air " may be much more dramatic than normal , and is certainly a departure fromFresh Prince of Bel - Air ’s usual tonicity , but contrary to Smith ’s judgment , most buff seem to view the installment as being one of the best . Whereas the phrase " jumping the shark " line back to a storyline involving Henry Winkler ’s The Fonz onHappy Daysthat employed unlikely and over - the - top result for the saki of bauble , " Bullets Over Bel - Air " tackled the issue of gunslinger fierceness , which was far from a rarified problem at the meter . It does so in a refreshingly grounded way too , with Smith andco - ace Alfonso Riberioturning in nuanced , worked up performances .
That say , Smith probably is n’t far off as to whenFresh Prince of Bel - Airdid indeed " jump the shark " . time of year 5 had already played legion to lots of too silly , or outright bad episodes , such as " Fresh Prince the Movie , " in which Will spins a marvellous tale to his friend Jazz about how he witnessed a murder and the Banks family was forced to shroud out in Alabama under the Witness Protection Program . That ’s unquestionably a candidate for shark - jump . There ’s also season 5 ’s opening , which undo Will ’s decision to stay with his mom in Philadelphia by literally induce NBC executives pressure his comeback to Bel - Air , which foetor of not have intercourse how to indite Will out of the situation they had place him in .
Another too bad part ofThe Fresh Prince of Bel - Air ’s penultima seasonwas the foresightful storyline involving Will and Lisa ’s love story , which teased a wedding several times , but ultimately function nowhere and felt pointless , with Lisa just fade away in the remainder . The Fresh Prince of Bel - Airwould have a few more genuinely just episodes after " Bullets Over Bel - Air , " including the series finale that features a terrific moment in which Uncle Phil hold Will his son , but those were few . Thus , it ’s debatable that " Bullets Over Bel - Air " was n’t the beginning ofFresh Prince ’s downturn , but instead its last pant of true greatness after said downswing had already set out .
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