We’re going back to Cali, folks. From executive producer Will Smith, Universal Television has released a new trailer for Bel-Air, the straight-faced reboot of the Smith-starring ’90s sitcom hit Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, featuring newcomer Jabari Banks as lead Will.
Set in present-day California, the one-hour drama series takes a dramatic approach to Will’s classic, complicated journey: from West Philadelphia born and raised, Will got in one little fight and his mom got scared, and as we all know, shipped him off to Bel-Air. The show promises a grittier take on events: shots in the trailer reveal guns, lavish pool parties, and high emotionality, quite tonally disparate from the original series’ laugh-a-minute style.
The show is based on director, co-writer, and executive producer Morgan Cooper‘s viral fan film of the same name, which exploded onto the internet back in 2019. It has been picked up for two seasons.
Showrunners T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson, the producing team known for hit shows like Narcos and The 100, said this about the upcoming reimagining:
“At its heart, Bel-Air is a coming-of-age story that celebrates the strength and love of the Black family. We have stayed true to the original premise of the legacy series – Will’s life is turned upside down after he is forced to leave West Philly and lands in Bel-Air with its gated mansions and wealth, however, our new series brings Will and the Banks family into the world as we know it now. It’s been incredible to bring these iconic characters to life when you tap them into the cultural pulse of our time. The series was the fabric of so many of our upbringings, tied to memories and the joy of seeing ourselves represented on TV so it is important to us to pay respect to its legacy.”
Catch the trailer below. The series is set to premiere on Peacock on Super Bowl Sunday (February 13, 2022) with a trifecta of episodes dropped at launch, followed by a rolling weekly release.
The series description is as follows:
“Set in modern-day America, Peacock’s new one-hour drama series Bel-Air imagines the beloved sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air through a new, dramatic take on Will’s complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. As these two worlds collide, Will reckons with the power of second chances while navigating the conflicts, emotions, and biases of a world far different from the only one he’s ever known.”
via Collider