Image via Complex Original
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Now this is a story all about how there are so many facts that you might not know about one of America's favorite TV shows. You all know the story of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: a troubled kid (Will Smith) moves in with his insanely rich fam in Beverly Hills, CA, only to stir up all kinds of shenanigans for Uncle Phil and crew. Hell, you've probably got the show playing in the background on TBS right now. In honor of its 24th anniversary, here are 24 things you didn't know about The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
2.The Fresh Prince appeared on Blossom.
Will Smith appeared on an episode of Blossom as The Fresh Prince to build popularity between the new NBC Monday night line-up. We probably would've been just as excited as Blossom if The Fresh Prince gave us that hat, too.
Source: YouTube
3.That cab driver in the opening credits is Quincy Jones.
The cab driver in the opening credits is none other than the legendary producer, who's not only the show's executive producer but also the writer of its iconic theme song. How did we miss that?!
Source: YouTube
4.Alfonso Ribeiro took the Carlton Dance from three different celebrities.
Last year, Alfonso Ribeiro finally spilled the beans on where he came up with the “Carlton Dance”. Apparently, he took the dance from Courteney Cox, Bruce Springsteen, and Eddie Murphy. He told BuzzFeed, “There was a video of Bruce Springsteen and Courteney Cox called 'Dancing in the Dark,' and Bruce Springsteen pulls her up onto the stage and she basically does that dance. And it was also from Eddie Murphy’s Delirious comedy video where he does 'the white man dance.' And what I did was ultimately take those two dances and combined them and made it my own, and made it my character’s. But ultimately it’s 'the white man dance.' So that’s where the dance kind of came from.” Ribeiro recently reunited with Will and Jaden Smith on BBC One to reenact the Carlton Dance together.
Source: BuzzFeed
5.Will and Jada met on set.
In 1994, Will Smith met JadaPinkett on set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Jada auditioned for the part of Lisa, Will's on set girlfriend, but the part went to Nia Long because she was too short for the role. The two got married three years later in 1997.
Source: Wikipedia
6.Geoffrey has a middle name and a last name.
Geoffrey's middle name was “Barbara” but what's more shocking is that his last name was actually “Butler." If you don't believe that, you can consult Wikipedia.
Source: Wikipedia
7.Lisa's real first name was not “Lisa."
Even funnier than Geoffrey's last name being “Butler” is that Will's girlfriend Lisa (Nia Long) was actually named “Beulah."
Source: Wikipedia
8.The house from the opening credits isn't actually in Bel-Air.
The Banks' family home is actually not located in Bel-Air, but nearby Brentwood, CA.
Source: Wikimapia
9.The Fresh Prince was canceled and brought back to life.
NBC actually canceled The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air after season four. It wasn't until after fans sent letters to Will Smith and NBC, pleading to continue the show, that it was renewed and continued for two more seasons.
Source: IMDB
10.Will Smith ad-libbed one of The Fresh Prince's most emotional scenes.
In season four, an episode titled “Papa's Got A Brand New Excuse” featured some very touching acting by Will Smith. The emotional scene where Will works through some issues with his father, and then breaks down in front of Uncle Phil (James Avery) was improvised. The hug Uncle Phil gives Will at the end was also not in the script.
Source: IMDB
11.Alfonso Ribeiro helped Will Smith give The Fresh Prince a name.
On the show, Will's full name is “William” but in real life the actor's name is “Willard." When he and Alfonso Ribeiro started brainstorming character names, Ribeiro told Smith to choose a name with which he was comfortable being called in public, because he knew fans would call him whatever name the character went by for a long time.
Source: IMDB
12.Nicky was named after four very famous singers.
Nicky's name isn't just “Nicky”. The youngest of the Banks clan was named Nicholas Michael Shawn Nathan Wanya Banks. Sound familiar? That's because he was named after all four Boyz II Men singers, who performed at his christening in season four.
Source: YouTube
13.Jazz wasn't literally thrown out of the house every single time he got kicked out.
Remember how Uncle Phil had Jazz repeatedly thrown out of the house? Well, that original shot required on-location shooting at the Banks' house, and was only shot once, even though it's played multiple times throughout the series. Enjoy this 10 minute compilation of Jazz being thrown out.
Source: IMDB
14.Aunt Vivian No. 2 now runs a photography blog.
Daphne Maxwell Reid, also known as Aunt Vivian No. 2, now runs a cleverly titled photography blog (Daphne Maxwell Reid's Fresh Prints), and has published a collection of her photos of doors around the world.
Source: Daphne Maxwell Reid
15.Quincy Jones named Uncle Phil's law firm after one of his favorite bands (kind of).
Uncle Phil's law firm was given a clever name due to executive producer Quincy Jones' fan status of a certain musical group. The firm is called Firth, Wynn and Meyer, which is a reference to Earth, Wind & Fire.
Source: IMDB
16.The Banks family weren't the only ones to have experienced Geoffrey's great service.
Geoffrey was a butler for Led Zeppelin and Chuck Norris before working for the Banks family.
Source: Wikipedia
17.Ashley Banks was a lot more grown up than we thought.
When Nicky was born, we learned that Ashley Banks had apparently known how to drive since she was 12 years old.
Source: Wikipedia
18.What happened with Will's mom and Lisa's dad?
Nobody knows for sure whether or not Vy, Will's mom, ended up marrying Mr. Wilkes, Lisa's dad. It's not anywhere in the script for the series.
Source: Wikipedia
19.Sherman Hemsley appeared as two different characters throughout the series.
Sherman Hemlsey appeared as Judge Carl Robertson for a few episodes, but after that character dies in the show's third season, he shows up as his other iconic character, George Jefferson, from The Jeffersons, with his wife, Louise (Isabel Sanford).
Source: Wikipedia
20.No one knows where Tyra Banks' character went either.
Remember Jackie Ames? Played by supermodel Tyra Banks, Jackie appeared in season four as one of Will's old friends from Philadelphia, and reconnected with him at the fictional University of Los Angeles, but was more interested in Carlton. Carlton drives her home one night and she's never heard from again, so it's not certain whether or not she stayed at ULA or moved away.
Source: Wikipedia
21.Cast drama was one of the reasons Aunt Viv No. 1 left The Fresh Prince.
We all know Janet Hubert's Aunt Vivian was replaced with Daphne Maxwell Reid after the birth of Nicky in season four, but for a while no one really knew why that happened. Recently, Hubert revealed that her salary was cut, and she had an on-set feud with Will Smith. There really was something different about the new Aunt Viv…
Source: Vibe
22.Will Smith used to memorize everyone's lines.
Acting was fairly new to Will Smith at the time The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air premiered, so he used to memorize the lines of everyone in the entire cast so that he would not forget his own. If you watch the first season, you can see him mouthing along to some of the other characters' lines.
Source: Ask Men
23.Queen Latifah also appeared on The Fresh Prince as two different characters.
Queen Latifah made two separate guest appearances on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as different characters each time. The first time she played Hilary's boss, and she later appeared as Will's love interest, Dee-Dee, but was stood up by Will, who chose to go out on a date with Lisa instead.
Source: Funny or Die
24.One of our favorite Cosby Show stars appeared on The Fresh Prince.
A lot of people forget that a young Raven-Symoné made a guest appearance as Claudia, Will's potential new step-sister.
Source: IMDB
25.Will Smith is really, really smart.
In his Princeton interview, Will was not doing so well, until he started solving a Rubik's cube in the interviewer's office. Will Smith actually has a secret talent as someone who can solve a Rubik's cube in under a minute, and he's done it before on live television.
Source: YouTube