It’s the kind of thing only the internet could make happen. After a video for a trailer for a fake dramatic adaptation of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air went viral, Will Smith decided that it should actually not be fake. Now we have the first Peacock trailer for Bel-Air, the dramatic retelling of the ’90s sitcom that launched Smith to superstardom.
Bel-Air was created by Smith and Morgan Cooper, who made the original trailer. The general plot points are much the same. Will (Jabari Banks) is a poor kid living in Philadelphia when he gets in trouble with the law and has to movie to Bel-Air to live with his Aunt Vivian (Cassandra Freeman) and Uncle Phil (Adrian Holmes). From there, things seem to have shifted a bit. The “trouble” Will is in is a bit more deadly than before, Uncle Phil does not look nearly as jovial, and Carlton isn’t a punch line. Clearly, the series will be tackling issues of justice, race, and equity. To be fair, the original show did these things as well, but in obviously different ways.
Olly Sholotan will play Carlton Banks, Coco Jones is Hilary Banks, Akira Akbar plays Ashley Banks, Jimmy Akingbola takes on Geoffrey, Jordan L. Jones is Jazz, and Simone Joy Jones plays Lisa. The show already has a two-season order and will consist of hour-long episodes. T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson serve as executive producers and co-showrunners with Cooper directing, co-writing, and executive producing. HBO Max already hit it big with its The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion, and Peacock is clearly hoping that this will draw the same interest.
Per its debut trailer, Bel-Air will debut on Peacock on February 13.
