Look … we all knew when they announced the new “Bel-Air” series on Peacock that this “reboot” would be different than our beloved “Fresh Prince” series, but DAMN!
It’s different different!
And after watching Bel-Air episode 1, I’m still not sure where I stand. Luckily for us, they uploaded the first 3 episodes all at once. And maybe that’s why! ‘Cause this millennial surely needs more than one episode to be convinced.
But until I get to the next 2 episodes, here’s everything you can expect to be different just from the first episode. And a few things they kept the same, thankfully.
Oh The “Fresh Prince” Reboot, “Bel-Air”, Is Different Alright, And Here’s How …
Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen episode 1 of Bel-Air, this post will spoil a lot of! So if you loathe all kinds of spoilers, bookmark this joint and wait until you’ve seen the episode.
If you’re dying to know what’s different about the new Bel-Air reboot before giving it your time, keep reading love.
“Bel-Air” Vs “Fresh Prince”: 15 Things You Can Expect To Be Different Straight Out The Gate Starting With Episode 1
- Will Smith is smart? Like straight A’s smart? That’s a plus in my book!
- Will’s an actual basketball player. Not just in the streets, but like for his school!
- There’s no theme song at the beginning! Not for episode 1 at least.
- Jazz has a car! And a paying job! My man Jazz done came up! I mean, he’s just an Uber driver? But it’s something!
- Hillary’s a whole social media influencer now and she gets PAID. Sis got a job and her own money. She don’t need no man.
- Uncle Phil ain’t plus size no mo’! Looking like he bench press niggas for breakfast, not eat them. Sorry that wasn’t supposed to be insulting. I got mad love for James Avery (RIP). Issa joke. Relax.
- Geoffrey foine as hell with that accent of his, and that’s whats different! Not the accent, but he’s FOINE, and younger. (And if you can believe this one – he actually doesn’t do ALL of the work around the house. I know! Crazy!)
- Remember how I said our man Geoffrey doesn’t do all the work anymore? Well, that’s ’cause Hilary f*cking cooks!! Boy are these characters different.
- Bel-Air is definitely not a 90’s series anymore, and it doesn’t feel like it’s for millennials. It’s got a Gen Z swag (and the dialogue to match).
- As you should all know by now, it’s no longer a feel good comedy, it’s a drama, and by the looks of episode 1 things could get intense.
- Sooo … can we talk about our guy Carlton though? And how he’s actually into sports and “popular”?? Popular isn’t the right word to use, but from the way things used to be, I’m sure that’s how our old Carlton would describe it.
- Oh and Carlton had a girlfriend! She his ex now, but the fact that he even had one to begin with, before cool cousin Will showed up, is wild!
- Now, our comedy series took us straight to LA, so we never got a real feel for Will’s Philly side, but this shit is Philly AF! From the music, to the slang, to the food. Philly has a bigger presence in this show and I kinda like this change.
- But let’s go back to Carlton real quick … Mr. Goody Two Shoes done REALLY came TF up, and took a dark turn around a corner somewhere, ’cause Carlton does drugs now!
- Last but not least, the episodes are now an hour long, versus the 30 min episodes we got when it was a comedy.
So yeah, a lot is different this time, including the shows target audience. So I can’t even get mad at the fact that Bel-Air is SO different, because this Fresh Prince “reboot” isn’t even for US! It’s clearly for the Gen Z crowd.
And while it’s a little hard to accept right now, I do like the idea of a darker spin, because we all know that happy go lucky story wasn’t how it really went down.
However, I’m pretty sure this series isn’t gonna be bingeable the way Fresh Prince was, and still is. So if you’re thinking this is gonna replace Fresh Prince, it won’t. Relax. They’re not even trying too! It’s just a different spin on things, and that’s totally okay.
And it’s not like they changed EVERYTHING. They kept a few things the same.
“Bel-Air” Vs “Fresh Prince”: 10 Things They Kept The Same
- For one, Will Smith, and everyone’s names are the same. Thankfully. Imagine if they had changed Ashley to Samantha or some shit!
- Will still pulling girls. Of course.
- While there’s no theme song, the storyline from the original theme song is still the same, and is used throughout the first episode. (Ex: “I got in one little fight and my mom got scared.”)
- Will still takes a “taxi” to the house. Okay, so it was probably an Uber, not a taxi, but he pulled up the same.
- Jazz and Will’s demeanor feel the same. They’re clearly hitting it off from the start, and with so many of the other characters changing, I’m glad Jazz hasn’t so far.
- Uncle Phil’s still a badass Black lawyer! Yessss!
- Carlton is still short. Sorry, I had too.
- Uncle Phil and Will still don’t wanna be around each other. Hopefully this changes over time like it did in the Fresh Prince series.
- They house still big AF and they still rich AF! But we knew that wasn’t ever gonna change!
- Oh, and Will still mocks Carlton like he used too! They slid that in right at the end of the episode and it was perfect!
Hopefully they kept a lot of other things the same as well, and we’ll get to see them play out in the next couple of episodes. But I’m not counting on it. So much is different already that this show is clearly taking a different turn.
And while I don’t hate it, I do like the way Fresh Prince was able to hit hard topics and teach tough lessons with humor, instead of trauma!
So I appreciate the new narrative, but we honestly didn’t need a gritty Fresh Prince. There was a REASON we loved the old series, and still watch it today. But we’ll see what happens with the rest of the season.