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‘Friends’ was cool, but this is the reunion we have been waiting for! Cue Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual”! The cast of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is returning for a 30-year reunion that will air exclusively on HBO Max on Thurs., Nov. 19. Smith, 52, shared the trailer on his Instagram page on Friday.
“These are the people who made me the man I am today,” he captioned the video. “And I couldn’t let this day go by without marking the occasion.”
Smith, who made his debut television role on the sitcom, flipped our lives upside down in a trailer clip that shows the entire Banks gang; Alfonso Ribeiro (‘Carlton’), Tatyana Ali (‘Ashley’), Karyn Parsons (‘Hilary’), Joseph Marcell (‘Geoffrey’), Daphne Maxwell Reid (‘Vivian’), and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Plus a surprise appearance from the original Aunt Viv, Janet Hubert. Hubert left the show in 1993 after three seasons.
“I couldn’t celebrate 30 years of ‘Fresh Prince’ without Janet,” Smith says in the trailer. The two sat down together for the first time in 27 years.
The only Banks who is missing from the party is the late James Avery (‘Uncle Phil’) who passed away in 2013 from open-heart surgery complications. The cast reflected on working with Avery, whom the Fresh Prince actor called a “six-foot, four Shakesparen beast.” The cast recalls the iconic scene between the late actor and Smith when he cries on Avery’s shoulder after his father abandons him again.
“I fall into his arms at the end of the screen and he’s holding me and the shot pans off and he whispered in my ear, ‘now that’s acting, ” he recalled about the famous TV moment.
“It will always be a piece of us in that living room,” Ribeiro, 49, commented towards the end of the video.
“Our show meant Black excellence, the excellence is the way that we loved each other,” Ali, 41, added.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air first aired in 1990. A reboot of the ’90s sitcom is in the works at Peacock. It will be executive produced by Smith. No word yet on a release date. Meantime you can watch the HBO Max special with a 7-day free trial and a $14.99 monthly subscription.
Watch the reunion trailer below:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CHiCXllgxnq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
