The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is one of the '90s most iconic sitcoms unfortunately, for
every great episode, there's one that doesn't quite hit the mark. From the funniest highs
to the cringiest lows, these are the best and worst episodes of The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air.
"I, Clownius" is a truly cringe-worthy episode that doesn't really fit in with the vibe of
the series at all. While other episodes manage to combine serious, life-threatening scenarios
with Smith's signature brand of humor, this one just doesn't work.
The premise is that Uncle Phil is presiding over a high-profile trial, and is getting
some threatening messages as a result. So when he, Will, and Carlton stop at a gas station
and are suddenly held up by a clown with a bomb strapped to him, things get serious...
but not at all humorous.
The crazed, mad clown wants his big break via a TV appearance, but the whole thing is
really just kinda sad. The clown isn't funny, his performance is pathetic, and having Uncle
Phil, Will, and Carlton mock him just makes them seem mean. Sure, they're being held up
and threatened, but mockery isn't exactly a good angle to take when you're trying to
talk down somebody who's on the edge. All in all, this was one of those season six episodes
where it felt like, as the series was wrapping up, they had really begun to run out of ideas.
In the first season of Fresh Prince, Carlton gets a lesson in what Will's life is really
like. The Banks family are heading to Palm Springs to visit friends when Uncle Phil's
business partner asks Carlton to drive his Mercedes since everyone else is going via
helicopter.
Will tags along, but the two are soon pulled over and arrested. Carlton believes the official
story that they were pulled over for driving too slowly and arrested because the car wasn't
theirs. But Carlton's worldview is crushed when Will insists that they were only pulled
over because they were two black guys spotted driving a nice car.
Uncle Phil bails them out, but not without giving the cops a warranted lecture on their
legal mishandling of the situation. When Will, Carlton, and Uncle Phil get back home, Will
berates Carlton for believing that their race had nothing to do with the incident.
"I hope you like that system, because you're gonna be seeing a whole lot of it during your
lifetime."
In the end, Carlton appeals to his dad who wants nothing less than to destroy his son's
innocence with the realities of racial profiling in the criminal justice system. If any of
the more serious episodes of Fresh Prince are still relevant today, it's this one. "Mistaken
Identity," sadly, is a genuinely timeless classic.
"I don't wanna marry you."
"See? That wasn't that hard, was it?"
It was only a matter of time before playboy Will found a serious girlfriend, but settling
into marriage while barely through college? That's where this particular relationship
lost the love of a lot of fans.
Lisa was introduced during the early part of season five, in "Will's Misery." The premise
of that episode was that Lisa was pledging a sorority and had to capture the notorious
womanizer Will for some Misery-style shenanigans. That storyline already put some people off
to the character to begin with. So when the two ended up engaged less than a season later,
things still didn't feel right.
In "A Decent Proposal," Will finds himself healing in the hospital after being shot by
a mugger. He's probably under the influence of painkillers and definitely high on the
adrenaline of his near-death experience… so, naturally, that's when he proposes to
Lisa.
"Lisa, will you marry me?"
Lisa later confronts Will, and says he only proposed to her because he experienced a moment
of vulnerability.
"Well, getting shot kinda has that effect on a brother."
Eventually, the two go through counseling and end up not going through with the wedding
after all but the whole relationship made an otherwise top-notch season kind of a downer.
As for Lisa, she sadly didn't have a personality other than being Will's girlfriend, so she
quickly disappeared without a second thought.
Throughout the entire run of Fresh Prince, Will always aspired to be some sort of ladies'
man. He was constantly hitting on girls, taking them on dates, and trying to get them alone.
In later seasons, he finally devoted himself to Lisa but not without solidifying his reputation
as a total player. So when Will actually hit it off with a girl who was unlike any of the
others he'd dated, the show managed to tackle the issue of body shaming and sizeism long
before those words ever became a thing in society.
Season two's "She Ain't Heavy" features Queen Latifah as Dee Dee, Will's blind date to a
basketball game who's a little more plus-sized than he's used to. But Dee Dee calls him on
his snap judgment of her size, and the two really bond over their shared sense of humor
and similar interests. Will's still too afraid to ask Dee Dee to the school dance, however,
knowing that his friends have already made fun of him for hanging with her.
"That's right, I can't figure out how a brother goes from T-bone to rump roast, that's all."
Ultimately, Will and Dee Dee go with other dates, but they both have a miserable time.
Will recognizes the error of his ways, and the two make up. Unfortunately, the relationship
was soon forgotten, as is the way of episodic sitcoms but Dee Dee's storyline really brought
a breath of fresh air to Fresh Prince.
In the incredibly offensive episode "Get a Job," Will and Carlton both battle it out
for the position as an assistant on Hilary's daytime talk show. In order to get the gig,
Will lands a famous movie director named Maurice, played by Chris Rock. But Maurice says that
he'll only appear on Hilary's show if Will takes his sister, Jasmine, for a date night
out on the town. The sister turns out to be Chris Rock in drag, and she totally digs Will
who has to fake liking her to show her a good time.
Looking back now, the whole thing comes off as incredibly transphobic, and the cross-dressing
comedy is pretty out of date and not at all funny. From the leopard print dress to the
bad platinum blonde wig to the bright red lipstick, it's clear that the whole role of
Jasmine is supposed to be a caricature of a drag queen, which by today's standards is
more than a little insensitive. This was another late-series episode, with the only plus side
being that Rock's career took off after the appearance.
In "Blood Is Thicker Than Mud," Will and Carlton participate in Rush Week at college and decide
to pledge Phi Beta Gamma, a black fraternity on campus. Like any other frat rush, the tasks
are humiliating and grueling, but Carlton is definitely treated the worst by Top Dog,
the leader of the frat, because of his rich background.
So when Will makes Phi Beta Gamma but Carlton doesn't, Will tries to pretend that neither
of them made it. However, when Carlton eventually confronts Top Dog, the frat leader calls Carlton
a sell-out.
"I'm not accepting no prep school Bel-Air-bred sell-out into my fraternity."
But Carlton, surprisingly enough, stands up for himself.
"Being black isn't what I'm trying to be, it's what I am. I'm running the same race
and jumping the same hurdles as you are, so why are you tripping me up?"
When Will and Carlton get home, Uncle Phil expresses his sympathy in a truly heartbreaking
way.
"When are we going to stop doing this to each other?"
The episode did a wonderful job of showing just how complex Carlton Banks is as a character.
As a young Black man going to prestigious schools and living among affluence and wealth,
he's constantly called on to prove that he belongs in the world of the wealthy elite.
Yet on the other end of the spectrum, his Blackness is constantly called into question
because of that affluence, and his cultural identity is questioned by other Black people
because of his wealthy upbringing. It must have been a pretty strange way to have grown
up, and as this episode proves, there's far more to Carlton than Tom Jones and sweater
vests.
Clip shows are almost always boring, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air had a good handful
of them during its six-season run. By far the worst, however, was during season four,
in "For Sale By Owner" when the Bankses are offered $1 million to sell their home to a
wealthy, anonymous buyer. The episode then revisits some of the Banks' most cherished
times in their home, with only Ashley wanting to stay put. The rest of the family is chomping
at the bit for a big payday.
In the end, though, they're out of luck. The anonymous buyer turns out to be Donald Trump
and his then-wife Marla Maples. As it turns out, however, Trump was actually talking about
the house next door to the Banks', so the deal is off.
"The Big Four-Oh" really showcases the comedy and confidence that all of the characters
exuded throughout the show's run especially when it comes to Aunt Viv. Facing the reality
of turning 40 years old, Aunt Viv starts having a bit of a midlife crisis. When her kids play
her a video at her birthday party showing some old home movies and photos, she remembers
that, at one point in her life, all she wanted to do was dance.
So Aunt Viv decides to head to a dance class… and also audition for a major role. The other
younger dancers in the group question her abilities, but Aunt Viv proves them all wrong.
She blows the other dancers out of the water in an amazing performance driven by Janet
Hubert-Whitten, who was originally a Broadway star herself. Once she's done, she gives the
mocking dancers a snap before proudly leaving the room.
As a result, Aunt Viv is offered one of the lead roles, but she turns it down, devoting
herself to her job as a college professor and her family. She just wanted to know that
she could still do it if she wanted to and boy, does she prove it.
Without a doubt, the very worst episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is the one where
Will lies to a girl and fakes their wedding just to have sex with her and take her virginity.
Yes, you heard that right. This was a new low not just for Fresh Prince, but for TV
sitcoms in general.
Here's how it goes down. Will's girlfriend Monique tells him that she's saving herself
for marriage. So what does Will do? Rather than respect her wishes and self-confidence,
he proposes to her, and of course. Monique, for some reason, says yes, and Will has Jazz
officiate a fake wedding. Will even gets all the way to their wedding night hotel room
before he finally comes clean and doesn't let Monique go through with it.
Watching the episode now, Will's behavior is such a serious act of deviant mistrust
that it's practically criminal. Will's actions are so disgusting, disrespectful, and vile
that the episode is genuinely hard to watch.
After Will's dad, Lou, abandoned him and his mother when Will was just a little kid, Will
grew up without a father figure in his life. So when Lou returns after 14 years, Will is
simultaneously hesitant and excited when his dad tells him he's finally ready to be a part
of his life. It's too little too late, but Will forgives his dad much to the distress
of Uncle Phil, who can't forgive Lou for abandoning his family.
Lou and Will start planning a summer-long road trip together, but when the time to leave
rolls around, Lou refuses to commit yet again, and tries to bail without even saying goodbye
to Will. Thankfully, Uncle Phil catches him and makes him face Will himself.
"Some business came up I gotta handle, so we're gonna have to put our trip on hold.
You understand."
Once Lou is gone, however, Will breaks down, in a mixture of anger and sadness.
"How come he don't want me, man?"
That's when he collapses, crying into the arms of the only man who's ever been a father
figure to him. The episode proved not only that Smith could really act when the drama
called for it, but the show wasn't afraid to tackle serious issues like absentee fathers
and psychological trauma. The episode was funny, touching, sad, and filled with love.
In other words, it was Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at its very best.
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