And this Carlton is not a nerd within the, like - he is the big man on campus A HARRIS: Within that confine, you know? Like, when I think about what I would want this show to be - well, first of all, I'd want it to, like, not be connected to "Fresh Prince" (ph) because I think, like A HARRIS: I can't separate the two. I was like, why would this girl be into Carlton? I know I sound like a hater. COCO JONES: (As Hilary Banks) So after two semesters, I pulled a good, old Kanye dropped out of college. Find us at facebook.com/pchh and on Twitter - @pchh. A HARRIS: But like, this show is not even - it's in the middle. So Jarrett, let me start with you.
And so once it kind of gets out of the feeling that it needs to represent the old show and that it can become its own thing, I'll be really curious to see where the show goes from there. A HARRIS: This episode was produced by Candice Lim and edited by Jessica Reedy. - and how much of it can he bring Jabari to? The series was inspired by Morgan Cooper's viral fake trailer, imagining a dramatic version of "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air." I think it's very trite and overdone. What are your initial impressions of "Bel-Air"? L HARRIS: Like, I don't know who that is. He's now sort of Phil's right-hand man and is the guy who's like, I'll take care of that. His plans are jeopardized when he gets arrested for gun possession during a confrontation with a notorious drug lord. But I'm enjoying it. It's all good, Aunt Viv. To then look at that through the lens of "Bel-Air" - I think it's interesting because, like, we have this attachment to Black wealth that immediately equates to Black excellence that I don't always think is necessarily the same, right? I feel like someone who probably drank Kool-Aid and didn't know it, but I'm way in on it.
He is no longer just, like, a butler. And then there's Carlton, played by Olly Sholotan. Like, it's not really fulfilling or gripping to me. I'm Aisha Harris, and today we're talking about "Bel-Air" on POP CULTURE HAPPY HOUR from NPR. He's a star basketball player in his hometown of West Philly, hoping to get recruited for college. HILL: I told you I felt like fighting. Like, it's really much more alive than "The Fresh Prince" in a way. This time around, Jabari Banks plays Will. But they just feel so out of place amongst everything going on in the show, you know? Like, I appreciate it, but I very much prefer "The Fresh Prince" because its political consciousness is not wholly informed by soundbites on Twitter, which I really appreciate. We don't - do we know that for sure?
I think in the vein of wanting to be, you know, regular degular (ph), I would be perfectly fine accepting "Bel Air" as it is 'because I don't need Black excellence in a show. Well, that's the basic premise of "Bel-Air," the new, dark reboot of the classic '90s sitcom that made Will Smith a TV star. - it's darker, but I don't think of it as dark. All I wanted to do was get James Avery's approval. HILL: In a way that I probably would not have ordinarily been watching this show. LaTesha Harris, Jarrett Hill, thank you both for being here. If we think about - like, Carlton back in the day was a Black Republican, which hit real different in the '90s HILL: Than it does in the 2020s, right? And after everything that happened JABARI BANKS: (As Will Smith) Yeah. HILL: Like, does she like potato chips?
A HARRIS: Hey (laughter). And so I don't necessarily watch this show and think of them as, like, Black excellence on display so much as, like, they are a wealthy, prominent family and, like, they're having to figure - navigate the world in the way that they do, which obviously brings up Black excellence in a lot of different ways. A HARRIS: Well, we want to know what you think about "Bel-Air." A HARRIS: Well, you know what? And thanks for listening to POP CULTURE HAPPY HOUR from NPR. That's a word. It's just more of a concern with, like, Black wealth and what it means to constantly be seeing these images and being fed this narrative that we have to be excellent and that our excellence will somehow contribute to an amassing of wealth later on. But it's also, like, giving premium cable vibes with being able to swear and being a little sexier and being a little bit more elevated than a CW show, which kind of keeps me into it. So there's Willard Smith from West Philly. L HARRIS: Angelica Jade had a really good review that basically sum this up. So those moments when he's, like, really, like, chopping it up, like, doing his Philly thing are really, really nice to see. HILL: I would say - I mean, more broadly from, like, just the concept of Black excellence even removed from "Bel-Air" for a second, this idea of Black excellence is something that has increasingly frustrated me because I feel like it is the manifestation of the you have to be twice as good to be half as far. A HARRIS: Those are great points. And I think that this progression of Carlton's story now, I think it feels really honest because, like, I could see that Carlton from the '90s, if he were plugged into 2022, being class president - right? L HARRIS: And it's also just, like, narratively kind of all over the place. HILL: I actually disagree with some of the framing here HILL: 'Cause I feel like a lot of people reference this as being dark, and I think of it as being a drama. - as HILL: A Black person or as a person at his school. A HARRIS: And here's the thing - look; I loved "Empire.". Also joining us is the co-host of the podcast "FANTI," journalist Jarrett Hill. L HARRIS: I think also, like, the characters in "Bel-Air," consider themselves Black excellence and trying to convince me that they're also extraordinary. I think tonally it's inconsistent. There's a lot of fighting on "Bel-Air," so this actually L HARRIS: There's a lot of fighting on "Bel-Air.". And then there's, like, italicized Will Smith the character, right? A HARRIS: Where I have issues is really, like, this show doesn't really know what it wants to be. But the thing - at the end of the day, like, Black capitalism and, like, Black wealth isn't going to do anything for us. LATESHA HARRIS, BYLINE: Hi, Aisha. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. But I really don't think that it is. I feel like it is a little bit exhausting, even as, you know, excellently Black people. And I can totally see this sort of smooth star athlete guy. Coco Jones plays oldest daughter Hilary, a budding chef influencer trying to build her brand. You know, it's more Philly, it's more LA, it's more Black wealth. And I think it's safe to say that we all had thoughts about the show, and a lot of it came down to just whether we like CW shows or not. HILL: And I think, like, Carlton, for instance - we talk about Carlton kind of being the antagonist villain, right?
FREEMAN: (As Vivian Banks) Are you all right? Like, I'm more with LaTesha where, like, immediately I thought, like, this is the CW with cursing. Uncle Phil has a motive for this gesture. You know, got in one little fight and my mom got scared. Before we close out, I feel like we've seen so many of these sort of, like, quote-unquote, "Black excellence" shows popping up, where it's, like, presenting this idea of Black excellence, maybe challenging it. FREEMAN: (As Vivian Banks) Well, forgive me for trying to create some actual opportunities for you. HILL: Ooh, no she didn't take the left-hand turn right there at the end. HILL: He's loved by the white people on campus. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. So like, what are we here? It doesn't really understand itself that well. L HARRIS: Oh, Jarrett, we're going to fight this episode.
I'm regular, and that's fine. He's just lingering and lurking in the background, just scaring the heck out of me. And like, if you watch early episodes, I'm HILL: Mimicking the lines of other people 'cause I memorized the entire script, right? And I think a show like this has to then become its own show at some point. A HARRIS: I was kind of confused by that, too. Aunt Viv, played by Cassandra Freeman, is assisting with his campaign, though she's also feeling the urge to return to her roots as an artist. He is a villain in a sort of Batman-like way (laughter). So on "Bel-Air," there's a more disturbing version of the one little fight that brought Will Smith to the West Coast. HILL: So I don't think you're wrong, right? I want to start with what I actually like about the show before I, you know HILL: The word actually did a lot of work there. So what if you took "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air," but this time it's a gritty, modern drama where Will is sent to live with his auntie and uncle in Bel-Air to avoid facing an illegal gun possession charge? But we've talked about Carlton, we've started talking about Ashley and Hilary. A HARRIS: So Geoffrey is played by Jimmy Akingbola. The song is called "Black Averageness" by Shad, and I really enjoy it. A HARRIS: Get out. And I think the show suffers from posturing too much. HILL: And, like, the way that that has shown up in culture today is this concept of Black excellence, right? HILL: Carlton being a Black dude that would let his white friends say the N-word? Like, she needs to be - in order for this to be a progressive representation of a queer young woman, it needs to - she needs to be more than just that because that's what people are. I'm way in.
It's just sometimes very jarring to see him acting it up like this 'cause the show goes from letting him shine as Will Smith to a bunch of other different things very quickly. But, like, at the end of the day, so much of it is wrapped up in, like, capitalism and wealth and, like, this display of wealth. They're multidimensional. I think all the points you made about Jabari are really, really good. I mean, I still want to fight. HILL: And he talks about how he was like, I was such a bad actor. - that, like, Lisa was his ex-girlfriend, that surprised me. HILL: There's something that is even parallel about Jabari Banks coming into this role. JONES: (As Hilary Banks) I can create my own opportunities without you, Mother. A HARRIS: He and Will clash over politics, as well as Carlton's ex-girlfriend, Lisa, who's played by Simone Joy. Because Hilary wants to be this influencer chef person, and her mom is kind of ashamed of her, that she has not finished school and is kind of going the social media route, which she looks down upon. HILL: The idea that Carlton is sliding his face across a mirror at parties - I believe it. And so they named the character Will Smith. A HARRIS: Like, it doesn't go all the way to "Empire" levels, but it's not "Queen Sugar". A HARRIS: I think that's really interesting, and I like the sort of push and pull of that dynamic. It's going to be everything. I feel like he nails the mannerisms and just different things about Will Smith, but doesn't always carry it in a way that feels holistic to his acting. I'm at the end of Will Smith's - the actual Will Smith's - book, and he talks a good amount about how that was the first time he'd ever acted was on "Fresh Prince," right? His Uncle Phil, played by Adrian Holmes, has pulled some strings and gotten the charges dropped. - you know, being on the lacrosse team. HILL: He's definitely giving Huck from Pope & Associates on "Scandal," right? And I think there's also just an oversaturation of prestige TV at the moment, and "Bel-Air" feels like a really unfortunate byproduct of that. Carlton is a Xanax-snorting lacrosse star on campus who's prone to outbursts and OK with his white friends using the N-word. Great to be back again. HILL: But like - which is crazy by itself. I think of this show as being something that would have been really, really well-placed at The CW, and then they took it to premium cable.
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