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There’s a new “Fresh Prince” in town. Bel-Air, the highly anticipated Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot executive produced by Will Smith, will debut on Peacock on Sunday (Feb. 13).
Jabari Banks stars as Will in the dramatic reimagining of the original series. Olly Sholotan is Carlton Banks, Coco Jones plays Hillary Banks, Akira Akbar portrays Ashley Banks and Jimmy Akingbola as the Banks family butler, Geoffrey.
Adrian Holmes and Cassandra Freemon play Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv. April Parker Jones plays Will’s mom (Aunt Viv’s sister) Viola “Vy” Smith. Karrueche Tran, Duane Martin, Charlie Hall and Scottie Thompson are also among the cast. Robert Glasper and Terrace Martin scored the music for the show.
Bel-Air is based on a 2019 fan-created dramatic reimagining of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air short film by novice filmmaker Morgan Williams. After the clip went viral, Smith reached out to Williams to discuss developing a series. Peacock acquired the show last year.
Like the original, Bel-Air centers around, Will, a West Philadelphia teen whose mother sends him to live with aunt and uncle in the swanky Los Angeles suburb of Bel-Air, Calif.
“As soon as I learned I booked the show, I was in California in two days. After that week, we flew to Philly and we started filming. I’ve been filming ever since,” Banks told The Hollywood Reporter.
Banks, 23, is a native of West Philadelphia like Smith. “I remember hearing stories about how The Fresh Prince would air [in Philly] and everything would shut down,” he recalled to THR. “Everybody just watched the episode and the next day were talking about it.”
Set in present-day, the first episode of Bel Air ends with a cliff-hanger but audiences will get introduced to Will’s life in West Philly before he moves to the West Coast, which wasn’t explored as deeply in the ‘90s sitcom. The show also touches on topics of race and class (someone uses the n-word in episode one, triggering a confrontation and possible realization on Will’s part).
New episodes of Bel-Air will air every Thursday after the initial Super Bowl Sunday premiere. Additionally, to celebrate the launch of the show Peacock created an immersive campaign that includes an official series podcast hosted by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Aida Osman in partnership with iHeartRadio. The podcast will premiere on Monday (Feb. 14) with new episodes dropping every Friday. In addition to the podcast, the streaming network hosted an immersive, interactive experience at a Beverly Hills mansion decorated to recreate the Banks family mansion for fans and influencers on Thursday (Feb. 10) which featured a performance from Jadakiss.
How to Watch Bel-Air Online
Bel-Air is the latest Peacock Original to land on the platform but you have to be a paying member to watch. Monthly subscriptions start at $4.99 ($49.99 a year) for Peacock Premium, an ad-supported tier. Peacock Premium Plus is $9.99 ($99.99 a year) a month to stream without commercials.
Both Premium and Premium Plus includes full access to thousands of movies and shows and Peacock exclusives such as Marry Me, MacGruber, Vigil, Saved by the Bell, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, Paris in Love and Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. The membership includes channels only on Peacock as well as daily news, sports and pop culture content, kids shows and movies, Spanish-language shows and live sporting events like Super Bowl LVI and the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Not sure if you already have access to Peacock? XFinity customers can get Peacock Premium at no extra charge depending on your cable or internet plan (click here for more information).
Besides fresh content, Peacock has thousands of fan-favorite shows like Yellowstone, Modern Family, Parks & Recreation, Saturday Night Live and The Office. And if you’re still on the fence about Peacock, there’s an option to test it out for free (no credit card required) but you’ll only get access to certain programs, which includes episodes of Below Deck, Charmed, Murder She Wrote, Punky Brewster, Chicago Fire, Dateline NBC, Chicago Med, Temptation Island, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Everybody Hates Chris, Psych, 30 Rock, Monk, Suits and Snapped.
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Tagged: Bel Air, Culture, entertainment blog, music blog, Peacock, Product Recommendations