There are only a handful of quality ‘90s shows that supporters still want to be rebooted at this time, and ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ is one of them. The legacy of this very much beloved Will Smith-starrer is so alive that a fan created a dramatic take on the sitcom through a video that went viral last year.
Viral Fan-Made Video
Morgan Cooper, a filmmaker and a confessed super fan of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ decided to reimagine the hit show but made sure he added a twist to it.
In the 4-minute video, the storyline of the comedy program turned into a deep, dark tale that is about a working-class Philadelphian teen who begins to adjust to his new life with a wealthy Los Angeles family.
It certainly was a far cry from the story of the original show but it certainly got attention, garnering 7.5 million views on YouTube. It was also enough to make even the lead star of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ notice the fan fiction.
While fans were impressed, many wondered what Will had to say about it, especially since this was an entirely different genre from what people saw back in the days.
Will Smith’s Reaction
Apparently, Will loved the concept and even called Morgan’s creation ‘brilliant.’ After the clip made the rounds last year, the actor and director met in Miami, an event that was documented in a video titled ‘How I Really Feel About That Bel-Air Trailer.’
The ‘I Am Legend’ star explained that although the original show was fun, there’s another layer that was worth exploring. Will also added that with the reimagination of his work, it only meant that people can really use existing concepts to create a new storyline.
With such nice words from the celebrity, people already could feel that a reboot was in the offing – and truly it was!
Reboot in the Works
A reboot called ‘Bel-Air’ has already been in development since last year with Morgan serving as a writer, producer, and executive producer. Chris Collins is the showrunner while Benny Medina and Quincy Jones will serve as producers.
The show is being pitched to many streamers, including HBO Max, which currently airs ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.’ The original program ran from 1990 to 1996 on NBC and spanned six seasons.
Apart from Will, other stars were Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Alfonso Ribeiro, James Avery, and Tatyana M. Ali, who also revealed last year that she was impressed with the viral trailer, calling it ‘cool.’
