Bel-Air is a reboot with its own remarkable origin story. In 2019, the independent film-maker Morgan Cooper had the audacity to make a trailer for an imaginary new version of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, reshaping the 1990s sitcom as a tough, Ryan Coogler-style drama. Cooper might have dreamed that the clip would go viral and that the show would actually be made, with him still on board directing episode one. That’s happened, but this is a fairytale with a sad ending. The new Bel-Air (Peacock/Sky/NOW) is confused and joyless, a remake without a reason to exist.
Another kid called Will Smith moves hastily to LA to live with his rich aunt, uncle and cousins after an incident on a west Philadelphia basketball court. That run-in with the neighbourhood bad guys is much graver than the one the previous incarnation of Will experienced – involving guns and the threat of jail time – and when Will gets to Bel-Air, everyone there is a serious operator, too.
