Warner Bros | 1994 | 575 mins. | Unrated
When The Fresh Prince of Bel Air premiered in September of 1990, William ‘Will’ Smith (Will Smith), was a a street-smart teenager from Philadelphia. Wanting him to stay out of trouble, his mother sends him to live with her sister’s family in the wealthy enclave of Bel Air, California. Her hope is that her son will learn that value of hard work and Education from his very successful relatives. At first, Will’s upper crust Uncle Phillip (James Avery), doesn’t know what to make of him; Nor do Aunt Vivian (Janet Hubert-Whitten and Daphne Maxwell Reid) and three conceited cousins, Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro), Hilary (Karyn Parsons) and Ashley (Tatyana Ali). Oddly enough, the family butler, Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell), always seemed to be armed with a witty response, no matter what came out of Will’s mouth.
The concept of the series was fun for the first three seasons or so, but after that Will graduated high school and things seemed to be less humorous and somewhat stale. By the fifth season, it’s probably fair ti say that The Fresh Prince of Bel Air had officially jumped the shark. By now, Will is no longer a teen in need of guidance; he’s got a blossoming music career, a fiancé, and is generally living a lifestyle many adults would be proud of. It’s often been said, when a television show is floundering, save it by bringing in a new kid. For examples of that, we only need look at Adam on Bewitched, The Brady Bunch’s cousin Oliver, or Jonathan Winters as a baby on Mork & Mindy to name a few. The same thing happened with The Fresh Prince. Nicky Banks (Ross Bagley), Will’s aunt’s and uncle’s three-year-old son, was brought in to ratchet up the cute factor, as Will and his co-stars were no longer able to carry off the series’ original premise.
Granted, some of the sibling rivalry issues between Will and Carlton remained funny, if for no other reason than their personalities were so different—Will was a free spirit, Carlton worried about absolutely everything—but sometimes the sibling rivalry angle is overplayed, simply because Will was accepted into the Banks family so many years before, that some of the issues the two men grouse about are plainly ridiculous.
So while the show will likely be remembered fondly as an early 1990’s staple (and lest we not forget it helped launch the mega successful film career of Will Smith), for my money, the series didn’t work very well once Will had advanced beyond high school. By then, he had assimilated into the Banks’ upper class lifestyle, and much of the humor of the earlier seasons came from him feeling out of place.
These 1.33:1 transfers aren’t the best, but there not terrible either. Color accuracy isn’t bad—reds and greens showcase a nice definition and clarity—and black levels are consistent, but detail preservation is lacking. There’s a noticeable smear to pretty much every sequence that is somewhat bothersome. Compression artifacting isn’t an issue, which is nice, but while fans of the show will be happy to have these episodes, one wishes the quality were better.
Dialogue sounds fine, but music comes through sounding a bit too loud, and the laugh tracks utilized are unabashedly tinny. One would think a better mix could have been provided.
English and French subtitles are included.
There are no special features included.
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