The original title of this video was "Yo Home to Bel Air", and the title card in the video still reflects that. It's a reference to the title of the theme song. But since people are confusing it with when Will shouts out "Yo Homes to Bel Air" during the opening credits, I've changed it to the more memorable line. And apologies for two errors in the video. I pronounced Nia Long's first name incorrectly, and the footage from the Eddie Murphy special I used is from Raw, not Delirious.

Fresh Prince of Bel Air has one of the best fourth wall breaks too "If we so rich how come we don't have no ceiling"

Uncle Phil is one of the greatest sitcom dads ever. The scene when Lou leaves, and you can see the emotion on Uncle Phil's face, because Will is hurting, gets to me every time.

I love all the fourth-wall breaks. "Who's playing the mother this year?" is my favorite

Even though Will Smith has had an incredibly successful career and has appeared in Hollywood blockbusters, his absolute best performance will forever be in the "how come he don't want me man" scene in a TV sitcom. It really was the performance of a lifetime.

I want James Avery to tell me he's proud of me.

The thing i liked the most about Uncle Phil in the scene were Will's dad runs out on him again, was that he didnt say anything. His character so often gave these great little speeches to his kids, to make them learn a lesson or realize a truth they had overlooked. But in that scene Uncle Phil didnt try to have some big speech about family, and love, and strength. He just stood there and gave his nephew a hug because that's what he needed more than anything else.

One of the best scenes is when Carlton goes IN on the fraternity leader for calling him a “sellout”, because of how he grew up. As a Black man who had different interests growing up(didn’t grow up rich, but liked things that weren’t considered “Black”), Carlton’s speech has always resonated with me. “Being Black isn’t what I’m trying to be, it’s what I am.” Still hits home years later. It’s gotten better, but sadly, we still have some brothers and sisters with this mentality 😞

i cried when Uncle Phill spoke about Malcom X. wow. elevating the script aint even the word. man is a legend, forever one of my biggest role models.

Uncle Phil and Uncle Iroh are everyone's favorite uncles

Oh god, the "How come he don't want me, man" scene gets me every time. I can't /not/ tear up.

1:04:16 "The single tear, that's pulling him down, and uncle phil is there to hold him up." Damn that's some good writing.

My mom abandoned me when I was 2. That episode with Will's dad was such a huge thing for me. Relating to a parent leaving, and the pain it can cause, made me cry my eyes put. It was nice to know I wasn't alone in that pain.

*_pft_*_ If we so rich, how come we can’t afford a roof?_

I now understand where “Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumble look like Malcom X” comes from.

As a person that was adopted from birth. The moment when after Will's dad leave and he ask "Why don't he want me? " I felt every single emotion and thing he was trying convay. It hit me very deep in heart.

I watched this right after the Cosby one... I really do suggest that! The contrast between the affluence of the family on the Cosby show and the Fresh Prince family is amazing. The writing and the topics are vastly different and it's really eye opening.

I lived in Los Angeles for 10 years and honestly seeing James Avery in a vegetarian restaurant was my all-time favorite celebrity sighting. RIP Uncle Phil.

"First things first - rest in peace Uncle Phil. For real." "I want a real love, dark-skinned Aunt Viv love."

I can tell you that unfortunately Viola's concerns about her sister marrying a white man in the 90s were NOT uncommon. I got the same well-meaning concern from my family when I married a Korean man, and his family wanted NOTHING to do with me at all. I literally never met them the whole time we were married. This did not help my mother's opinion of the struggles we would face, either. Both sets of parents were largely incorrect about what we ran into, by the way, but the fear and concern was born from all too recent events. The oddest discrimination we ever faced was people appalled that we were not having kids because "Amer-Asian babies are sooooo cute." /facepalm/

When they went over that "Will's dad leaving again" episode, I tried so hard not to cry. Not only cause it reminds me of my life and the fact that my real dad left me and mom when i was young, but because Uncle Phil reminds me of my Step-Dad. And on top of that with James Avery sadly being gone, that ep hits close to home for that reason as well. Cause not only was he the dad to the Banks family, but us 90s kids felt like he was our dad as well. And because of how much Uncle Phil reminds me of my Step-Dad, and how much of a father he's become to me as well, this ep and show will always hit me with the feels.

Now, this is an essay all about how Will Smith turned José's life around And he'd like to take an hour Just sit right there He'll tell you how he became a fan of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Tearing up and laughing at the scene with will and his dad because I no longer speak to my father who also happens to be named will Smith

This series was a master class in brilliant character moments. Phil's Mom was just a guest character, and they managed to use her brief time in the spotlight to help us get to know her as well as we already knew the rest of the family. ;D

RIP James Avery. We love you, Uncle Phil.

That classic scene with Will and Uncle Phil about Lou still makes me cry. What a powerful performance by both of them.

Having this level of talent in the cast of a sitcom was a very rare thing in the 1990s. Will went on to be a superstar and he's like the 4th best actor there.

Carlton's dance is just pure joy. Never fails to bring a smile to my face.

My parents split up when I was 15. My dad who was my everything took off and didn’t see him much after that. For years I’d only see him at divorce court when his lawyer would pull me and my brother out of school to testify to whatever narrative he was selling that time. The Will Smith scene had teenage me bawling on the couch. It gets me every time. Amazing acting. I just wished I had an uncle Phil to step in. Great analysis, Jose.

You said that the interracial marriage episode is out of date but I deal with this convo all the time both with my relationship (me being black and my fiance being white) and my friend's relationship (her being white and her bf being half black half mexican)

Damn Carlton is *jacked.*

I love this first lecture from uncle Phil. When he mentioned the bigotry he encountered, it’s like he was Also saying “I dealt and overcome that stuff so that you could run your mouth off”. This was a guy who never once forgot where he came from no matter how well he did for himself. It’s a lesson for all of us to remember our background no matter how well we do

That "why don't he want me scene" still gets me every time

Seems to be missing an important part, Willard Smith Jr's tax bill. He owed the IRS and was advised to make money quickly, his manager suggested a TV show.

So I used to work with the infants in a daycare and there was a little girl named Karlee. I called her Karlton and eventually taught her to do the dance on command lol. Of course she did her baby modified version of it, but it was still fun to tell her, "Karlee do the Karlton!" and have her dance lol.

Love this one. But I'm still holding out for "The Nanny".

Will never get tired of this show. Endlessly quotable, Endlessly funny & Endlessly emotional. A great video for all Fresh Prince fans

Part of why the dads from Fresh Prince and Family Matters were easy to confuse, despite their massive size difference is because the entire show of Family Matters was cast around his height to make him look bigger. They were all tiny. Except then Urkle grew... a LOT and had to progressively exaggerate the way he bends to hide how much he towered over the father.

More sitcoms please. it's so good, these videos are drugs.

The fact that even an analysis of the scene with James avery and will Smith still makes me cry shows the impact of this sit com. The hell with him!

I cried like a baby during the Lou episode. I remember calling my dad afterward & he was surprised because I never just called to chat like that. Made me appreciate what I had.

Keep these coming, they are great discussions on what we should have learned from 90s tv, and what we did.

When you mentioned code switching wow thank you. But you also missed something about will, is that he was chosen bc he was a “clean rapper” which was super fucking important then. I’m only sixteen minutes in so you could’ve mentioned this later lol but just wanted to point that out. Edit: when you’ve seen the yt poop of the jail scene too many times to take it seriously ALSO IN THE HOUSE OMG!!!!

Hey Jose, I had to stop the video when you got to the story about wills aunt marrying a white man. I know that it feels very antiquated and in most places it should, but as a white guy who is married to black woman in a predominantly black area with a mixed race child, I have heard all the things expressed by wills mom directed at my wife. I've been called her white knight, she's been told she doesnt respect her parents, that she hates her blackness, that she's only with me for money (which... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!), a lot of these things that are expressed in the 90s still in 2020. It really depends on where you live too. The Midwest isn't very friendly to irrs like ours. We're the outlier. I've noticed more couples like us recently, but we also hear the same stories of glaring by people of both races and the awkwardness of treating our love like it's a fetish. When I heard wills mom, I heard the unsolicited opinion of black people reacting to my own relationship. Just for a little expansion on what is being said. Thank you for this video. It is great.

I don't know why but that scene where Will just breaks down after his father bails on him like that just resonated so deeply with me, even though my own father is with us. (Even though it honestly feels like he isn't, but at least he provides for the family) I have never seen this show before in my life, but that was the first thing to make me cry in years now... It's a really wonderful preformance.

Uncle Phil was Shredder!?! Holy crap, how'd I miss that.

The episode on interracial relationships is interesting because while Viola takes her apprehension too far, her concerns are 1,000% valid, and continue to be so to this very day. Interracial relationships are *not* the same as intraracial ones and come with more challenges both internally and externally. That doesn't make them inherently bad, but to argue otherwise is naive at best.

I’m so glad Janet finally buried the hatchet with will

I cried during the "how come he don't want me, man" scene when i first watched it out of context, when i watched it in context and now when i saw it in this video. jesus, it's such a powerful scene and both will and james avery's acting is impeccable. edit: uncle phil's worried face just broke me again. makes me want to hug my dad.

How do you find Will Smith in a Blizzard? (you look for the fresh prints)

I mean we'll never know for sure what happened, but can you blame Janet for being salty? Older dark-skinned black women have such a hard time in Hollywood as is, and then to be replaced by light-skinned woman was just rubbing salt in the wound.

I never realized that alfonso was in the michael jackson pepsi commercial, no wonder he's so good at dancing like MJ!

Will's rant about his father after he took off made me cry... because i've gone through that. I'm really happy this exists but god i got errands to run right now i can't be in tears

The "clumsy leaps in logic" Viola makes during interracial marriage conversation with Will are actually realistic. Stressed out parents are masters of it. Sidenote: Viola looks waaaay better than I gave her credit for due to the idiocy of my youth. Good work, Jose

I been waiting for this episode (as well as a retrospective of King of the Hill) for a long while

As someone who grew up without my dad actively in my life (I know him and we've spoken and been in touch a few times, but it really was mostly like Will's relationship with his father.) That one scene always hit so hard for me because it exactly represented what I wanted to say but for some reason couldn't. I harbored a great resentment for my dad and watching that scene as a 10-12 year old at the time, it was the first time I felt some relief. As if I was the one venting my anger and frustration. I never really was able to talk about those feelings I had but that was the first time I felt understood for some reason. I vividly remember my mom coming into my room because I was sobbing infront of my TV and it became the first time I could speak to my mom about it. It just goes to show how powerful a message can be..

When Will says “To Hell with him!” in that final scene. That’s where i cry, damn. That rawness. You can hear it.

Golden Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, and Community would be good ones

If you want more José, you can watch Maggie Mae Fish's video about "My Octopus Teacher" where José reads a passage.

"Uncle Phil" a truly wonderful character a piece of family we can all appreciate or wish we had, a good man who doesn't necessarily hold all the right views but is willing to re-examine what he believes when he is shown a flaw in it and correct it

Used to watch this show all the time as a kid. A lot of the racial jokes went over my head back then, but the argument between Will and Cartlon after they got arrested left an impression.

Props for admitting you're Kellogg lol

You as someone thst grew up without a biological father and a stepdad that made me feel unwanted, the scene whete his dad leaves kills me.

I love that first lecture. Phil never once thought he was too good for his work or the wealth he worked so hard to achieve

Trevor's "unfortunate accident" - or rather - the most hilarious death scene ever in a sitcom.

I loved the original Aunt Viv !!! Hubert had so much more heart, and I just enjoyed anytime she was on screen.

One thing you seem to have glossed over, was that a large part in Will Smith's decison to do Fresh Prince, was that he was massively in debt to the IRS due to tax evasion.

James' Shredder is showing when he he says "I know where I come from! " Such a good actor. Gone too soon.

This show literally taught me how to speak English. I’ll forever be grateful to will Smith!

While I don't know if I would call it my favorite show of all time, Fresh Prince has a special place in my heart simply because I have a very similar relationship to one of my uncles that Will has to Uncle Phil. The circumstances are different, he lived with my family until I was six when he moved out permanently to be with who now is his wife, and I've stayed in their house a couple of nights. But, like Uncle Phil, he was a hell of a lot more of a father to me than my absentee father ever was. I honestly consider myself lucky that, unlike Will, I've never met the sperm donor that was required for me to be born. If I do end up meeting him now, that's fine, I'm out of childhood, I'm not getting it mixed up. I will always, if asked who my father was, tell whoever asks me that my mom pulled double duty with the help of my grandma and that my special tio was my father figure. He is my personal Uncle Phil.

This was my favorite show when I was a kid, the cast had brilliant comedic timing. So thankful that all the stars aligned to make this show happen. There has been nothing quite like it before or since.

First things first rest in peace uncle Phil

I was hopelessly praying you’d make a full Fresh Prince video. I never thought you actually would. I love you.

He kept calling "Nee-Ya Long", "Ny-ya Long, I can tell this is the first time he's ever heard of her.

A year later this popped up in my recommendations from KZfaq and I'm glad it did, this was well done. I'll admit too, that scene of Will as Lou was leaving still hits hard. Brought a tear to my eye, it was such a well delivered scene.

13:51 is this what that "Chappelle's Show" line about "Wayne Brady [making] Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X" was referencing? LOL

It's so weird, I've never actively watched any of the shows José has talked about so far, and yet I keep watching these videos for hours and they are so fun xD Great work man, keep it up.

In the episode "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse." That's not acting. That's REAL emotion.

"Airing in the 1990's it seems a bit out-of-date then and in 2020 it seems even more antiquated." I am in the same relationship and I can tell you it is not outdated in the slightest. I have had family treat me differently, been yelled at on the street, and been isolated in restaurants even in the cultural melting pot that is Miami. Racism and ignorance will take decades to weed out of the culture and is not a war to be belittle or trivialize. I highly enjoy your videos and the honourable mentions of the difficult topics within each show. However, I would like to highlight that each of the major issues in these shows I promise are still effecting people in major ways even a century after these sitcoms are off the air.

Oh, I wouldn't blame Will Smith for Suicide Squad sucking. If anything, him, Margot Robbie, and the completely underused Ike Barinholtz made the film tolerable.

The episode with frank is something that I as a white person sees, if I wanted to date a black woman people would act exactly the same and may even lose family. I’m glad they did it the way they did and those leaps in logic aren’t that off because I’ve heard responses like that before.

I love Jose's deep dives into 1990's television! I can't wait for the next one.

imagine if james avery was alive and he had a cameo where you could pay him to say whatever, imagine james avery saying hes proud of you on your birthday

I am 40 years old and love this show so much, and even after so long, the scene with Will crying and asking Uncle Phil why his father doesn't want him, punches me in the damn gut and makes me cry every single time. Truly an iconic moment in television.

54:01 You know, I'd love to see them do something like what Roseanne did when they brought "Becky" back from college, where they had both actresses play the role interchangeably for a bit.

"six warning shots to the back" ah

I used to watch Fresh Prince reruns before school growing up. I quietly learned some good lessons on those mornings, and had some good laughs. Didn’t think at the time it would have such an impact on me

Great video. That was quite a twist at the ending, though; I didn't even know a dark and gritty reboot of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", of all things, was something I wanted, but here we are.

I am really confused by Hubert referencing how the actors on Friends negotiated their contracts together; Hubert was gone from The Fresh Prince before Friends premiered, and the Friends didn't start negotiating together till the third season. And its not like she could have been thinking of some other show - before Friends every show had some actors getting paid way more than others.

The fact that The Fresh Prince had 2 of Bill Cosby's daughters (Vanessa from The Cosby Show and Dianne from Ghost Dad), Regine from Living Single, and Fancy from Jaime Foxx Show, all talking bout Nia Long leaving him at the altar is legendary. Dated every Black woman from our childhood on that show. @1:11:56

● The Interracial Episode was very Up-to-date back then. It still is Today. This Topic will Never be Out of Date. ● Carlton's Dance was 1st introduced the 2nd Season episode "Christmas Show" ● Nia is pronounced Neeyah

They did Janet wrong :( Still my favourite sitcom of all time.

1:03:33 - The woman crying the background is Karyn Parsons.

Growing up in an EXTREMELY rural area, I wouldn't be surprised to hear an interracial couple being assaulted or kllled in some of the worse places near me. In the mountain towns; in the meth hoods which, yes, even exist in towns with populations of 500 or less; near cookshops which always have strung-out white people coming and going - my neighbor about two miles down the dirt road happens to be a cook... Even in a larger cities around here it wouldn't be too surprising, especially considering one of the most successful KKK revivals happened in a decently sized city north of here.

I've watched this show so much, I know every pause, every infliction every punchline. God what a great show.

Honestly I liked the thing about Will constantly repeating pick up lines because I feel I shows the shallowness of womanizing (or like manizing I guess) without being super preachy about it. I also really like that fan trailer, because it really shows the thing that was just in the background in the show. It showed how fucked Will must've been in his old life. Because, let's be honest, his mum wouldn't send him away like that, thousands of miles, only able to see him once or twice a year, if hadn't been in real real danger. This was more than a fight on a basketball court. And I'd really liked that explored further.

A new sitcom video from Jose?! Yes!

1:02:02 That some of the BEST acting I EVER saw Will Smith do. Just amazing. Chills man, absolute chills holy sh**. 😔😭

30:19 "Here's one student who's basically me" "HOOOH"

I felt so spoiled when I saw this upload and it’s length. What’d we do to deserve such an in-depth deep dive of an interesting topic? You’re too good to us, José. I hope you have a beautiful weekend. 🥰