Fresh Prince Reunion Special Coming to HBO Max

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After reports of a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot were later found to be true, a lot is happening behind the scenes for Will Smith and the gang. Thanks to HBO Max pulling all the necessary strings, the original cast of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is making their eventual return to the small screens. They will be seen in the same frame as part of an unscripted reunion special that will be aired in the stream service’s platform. The classic comedy series is coming back folks. Prepare to relive moments of your childhood. This is going to be an emotional, bumpy ride.

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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air helped launch Will Smith’s career. The comedy series had its fair share of humor, drama, tragedy and a mix of everything else in the perfect amount. The immensely popular NBC Sitcom ended after six successful season about twenty four years ago. The Reunion Special will be live as well as unscripted. The cast coming back together is a part of the 30th anniversary of the show. It has been thirty years since the first episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air aired. Fell old yet?

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The reunion special headed by HBO Max intends to use the cast members to gauge the cultural impact the show has had over generations during and after the show’s run. The cast members that are set to return for the Fresh Prince Reunion Special include Will Smith, along with co-stars Tatyana Ali, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Alfonso Ribeiro, Joseph Marcell, and Karyn Parsons. Reports claim that recurring cast member DJ Jazzy Jeff might also making his way to star in the reunion special. The special will be directed by none other than Marcus Raboy. The special will be shot and taped on the 10th of September. That date marks the exact 30th anniversary since the first episode of the show aired back in 1990.

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The Fresh Prince Special Reunion will be produced by Will Smith’s Westbrook Media and will be launched on HBO Max around the time of Thanksgiving Day. As of now, streaming rights to the entire series spanning six seasons with a total of 148 episodes belong solely to HBO Max, HBO Max enjoys exclusive SVOD rights to the series and it has been airing it within its library since the platform launched in the month of May.

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The original Fresh Prince of Bel-Air looked at the life of Will Smith, who starred as a fictionalized character of him-self. Born and raised in West Philadelphia, he would move to live with his wealthy uncle and aunt in a posh neighborhood of California. While you can enjoy the entire show in HBO Max, there is even more good news if you are Fresh Prince fan, Will Smith is coming back to make another sequel series to the original Fresh Prince show. It will be a dark comedy-drama.

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HBO Max is leaving no stone un-turned when trying to advertise the new platform for the viewers. In a space so crowded by competitors like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime, HBO Max has decided to tap into loyal fan-bases of older classics, giving therm a new spin for generations both old and new to watch. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is merely one of the many reunion specials in the card by HBO Max. They are also planning to have a Friends Reunion Special although work on that has stalled due to the current corona virus pandemic. Another announcement made by HBO Max last week was the West Wing Special under development. The West Wing Special will bring back the original cats in a plot to generate voter awareness for the upcoming elections.

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Related: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reboot Confirmed. Will Smith To Make It Dark Drama

While exciting news, it is not the first time the cast of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air has come together. In the month of April this year, a virtual reunion led to the original core cast members coming together in Snapchat for Will Smith’s Snapchat Show – Will At Home. HBO Max will rope in an ample amount of new subscribers when the Fresh Prince Reunion Special airs during Thanksgiving. The reunion special will of course be without James Avery aka Uncle Phil. Avery departed in 2013. We would still like to see the Banks Family come together for this unscripted, live Fresh Prince reunion. It is time for nostalgia to hit us where it hurts the most.

HBO Max’s Official Press Release For the Fresh Prince Re-Union Special was released a while ago. It reads:

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Los Angeles, CA – Westbrook Media is celebrating the 30-year anniversary of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air by reuniting the cast for an unscripted special looking back at the series and the cultural impact the series has had since its debut. Set to tape September 10th, the actual 30th anniversary of the series in 1990, the reunion will launch exclusively on HBO Max around Thanksgiving. HBO Max is the exclusive SVOD home of the full series library in the US, debuting on the platform when it launched in May.

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Bringing the Banks family back together, series star Will Smith will be joined by series regulars Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid and Alfonso Ribeiro as well as the recurring DJ Jazzy Jeff, for a funny and heartfelt night full of music, dancing, and special surprise guests, in honor of the series that ran for six seasons and 148 episodes.

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While we do applaud the move, we cannot overlook the fact that it has become somewhat of a tradition to take a legacy series that is better left untouched and give it a modern spin. The last thing we need is a new installment to a perfectly good ending to a perfectly good series tarnishing the show’s history and legacy. For many of us, shows like Friends and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air are sacred. While we are most certainly welcome to reunion specials, what we would hate is for the shows to have an abominable offspring or spin-off. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot seems to be going into troubled waters. Just look at Joey, the spin-off show of Friends. You will know what we mean.

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Source: CBR

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Written by Bibhu Prasad Panda

Articles Published: 1230

With a Bachelor's in Engineering and a Master's in Marketing and Operations, Bibhu found a love for writing, working for many different websites. He joined FandomWire in July 2020 and worked his way to his current position of Content Strategist. Bibhu has been involved in operating and managing FandomWire's team of writers, diversifying into varied, exotic fields of pop culture.