Will Smith’s beloved sitcom becomes a silly drama that’s not soapy or serious enough.
“Nostalgia’s a hell of a drug,” says Carlton Banks (Olly Sholotan).
And Carlton should know because all that Xanax he snorted literally starts pouring out of his nostril!
Jabari Banks as Will and Jordan L. Jones as Jazz in ‘Bel-Air.'.Peacock
Welcome toBel-Air, aFresh Princeupdate that replaces the laugh track with dramatic intensity.
The concept remains unchanged from the ’90s sitcom.
TheBel-Airpremiere remixes the original cheeky rap intro into an extended prologue about gang violence and police brutality.
Will’s mom (April Parker Jones) has a simple solution.
She sends him to live with her sister Vivian Banks (Cassandra Freeman) in a gigantic Bel-Air mansion.
And I do mean gigantic.
InFresh Prince, Will’s aunt and uncle were rich, butsitcomrich, like the-house-is-mostly-a-couch-to-sit-on rich.
He’s running for district attorney.
His daughter Hilary (Coco Jones) is an influencer with 75 thousand followers and counting.
At school, middle child Carlton is a popular athlete.
“I mean, look at us!”
Carlton tells his siblings.
“Pure, unadulterated Black excellence!”
Hilary left college last year and has lived at home ever since.
Carlton takes rich-kid drugs, and Will’s arrival sends his cousin spiraling for various reasons.
Carlton as Draco to Will’s Harry?
That’s certainly an angle.
(It doesn’t matter if your cousin is a goonwhen someone is trying to kill you.)
Peacock officially describesBel-Airas a “dramatic take,” yet the show bungles basic rules of drama.
Shocking cliffhangers quickly get resolved.
Philip keeps solving major legal issues with Lawyer powers.
You always felt the rapper-turned-actor standing a few steps back from the sitcom world with a cockeyed can-you-believe-this grin.
(Put another way:I make this look good.)
Even in the dramatic context,Bel-Aircould use more of that sardonic spirit.
There are stray moments of observational hilarity.
In his first basketball game for Bel-Air, Will sidles up to a player on the opposing team.
“You really from Malibu?”
“You really from Bel-Air?”
the guy responds, with a wink another non-white athletic star from a rich white enclave.
Conversely, too much ofBel-Airis just too much, representing that old rebooting instinct to make everything extra something.
It’s the opposite of fresh: Nostalgia from hell.C
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