I have some sort of super insomnia where sometimes my body just refuses to sleep. I remedy this with the Food Network or HGTV until they wimp out at 4 a.m. and switch to infomercials (p.s. Lindsey Wagner is really, really concerned about the mattress I’m sleeping on.) That is, until I discovered my new love: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
If you like Full House (and you do!) you’ll love black Full House! If you like Webster, you’ll love gangly Webster! If you like The Cosby Show, you’ll love Cosby updated for your early-‘90s lifestyle!
Finally, there’s no more hanging my head in shame when everyone else does The Carlton. I can join in! Check out Will Smith in neon overalls. Do you know he works that sideways hat and neon-striped shirt from the opening song throughout the pilot too? I forget, G, what West Philly gang wears bright yellow and green stripes. Crips? It’s the Crips, right?
I wasn’t allowed to watch Fresh Prince during its original airing (1990-1996) because it was too risqué. I think the rapping at the beginning threw my parents. (True story: America’s Funniest Home Videos and Full House were occasionally turned off too. God, I was a lonely kid.)
Speaking of the opening rap, I have a few questions, Will:
Is five verses really necessary to catch us up on the backstory?
Why is your mother 85?
Was it really the most efficient mode of transportation to take a cab from West Philadelphia to Bel Air?
What did you and the cabbie talk about the whole time? Did you rap for him?
Did you ever, in fact, “smell (him) later”?
Why is the Banks’ house so huge, but they didn’t even have a formal dining room?
And finally, your mom got scared after “one little fight” yet you get to Bel Air and you’ve been shot, unjustly jailed for stealing a car and taken hostage by an insane clown in your uncle’s courtroom (really!)? And those are just the few episodes I watched this week.
I’m starting to think that you shouldn’t be blaming those guys who were up to no good for your troubles.
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3 comments:
Are you my sister? No, wait, she's in Denver. But seriously, she loved the Full House and Fresh Prince of Bel Air too. Did you have a mild obsession with the movie Sister Act when you were little? She did. I think she watched that thing over 100 times when she was 12.
I understand the weird censorship from parents, though. I couldn't watch the Simpsons because the kids disrespected Homer. Fresh Prince was cool though. My mom found no issue with that.
I'm proud to say I can still sing the entire Fresh Prince theme song. And I can still do The Carlton. Wait, is "proud" the right word?
In west Philadelphia, born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days ...
Jacob - Yep, The Simpsons were verboten for a long time too, but it backfired horribly because now I'm such a Simpsons junkie. Not so much with AFHV though.
Courtney - I'm so excited I can now sing along with you. I finally nailed down the verse about "The licence plate said Fresh and there were dice on the mirror..." which was tripping me up.
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