wikipedia fresh prince of bel air episodes

Medina invited Smith to meet Jones at a party that Jones was throwing at his house in December 1989. Medina pitched the idea to Smith, but Smith was reluctant, having never acted before. At the suggestion of his then-girlfriend, Smith went to a taping of The Arsenio Hall Show where he met Medina by chance. Will Smith was well known by then as his music career as The Fresh Prince had put him on the mainstream radar, but he had come into debt after failing to pay taxes. Jones was impressed by the idea and arranged a meeting with NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff. Medina pitched the idea to Quincy Jones, who had just signed a TV deal with Time-Warner. 'That way we could explore black-on-black prejudice as well as black class differences', Medina said in an interview for Ebony magazine. However, given that by then a black character living with a white family was a concept that had been done multiple times on TV, Medina decided to change the rich white family to a rich black family. Medina decided to use this part of his life as the main focus of the show. Medina had grown up poor in East Los Angeles but his life changed when he befriended a rich white teenager, whose family lived in Beverly Hills and allowed Medina to live with them. In 1990, music manager Benny Medina, along with his business partner, real estate mogul Jeff Pollack, decided to market a TV story based on Medina's life. Nia Long as Beullah 'Lisa' Wilkes (season 5).Tyra Banks as Jaqueline 'Jackie' Ames (season 4).Brian Strokes Mitchell as Trevor Collins-Newsworthy (season 3).Perry Moore as Tyriq 'Ty' Johnson (season 2).Charlayne Woodard as Janice Smith (seasons 2-3).Jenifer Lewis as Helen Smith (seasons 2-6).Michael Weiner as Kellogg 'Cornflake' Lieberbaum (seasons 1-2).Vernee Watson-Johnson as Viola 'Vy' Smith.Ross Bagley as Nicky Banks (seasons 5-6).Janet Hubert (seasons 1-3) and Daphne Maxwell Reid (seasons 4-6) as Vivian Banks.Will’s working class background ends up clashing in various humorous ways with the upper class world of the Banks family - Will’s uncle Phil and aunt Vivian and their children, Will’s cousins: spoiled Hilary, pompous Carlton, and impressionable Ashley. While playing street basketball, Will misses a shot and the ball hits a group of gang members, causing a confrontation that frightens his mother, who sends him to live with his wealthy aunt and uncle in the opulent neighborhood of Bel Air, Los Angeles. Will Smith is a street-smart teenager, West Philadelphia-“born and raised”. The theme song and opening sequence set the premise of the show.

Wikipedia fresh prince of bel air episodes