Red Hood

Will Smith posted this photos of the cast together for a reunion special that will be shown on HBOMax. The big surprise is Will reuniting with the first Aunt Viv, Janet Hubert, after many years of not speaking to each other after the behind the scenes turmoil that ended with Hubert leaving/getting fired from the show.

The reunion special is supposed to be shown around Thanksgiving

Will Smith Shares Photos from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion Special for Show's 30th Anniversary

The reunion special will launch exclusively on HBO Max around Thanksgiving
By Gabrielle Chung
September 10, 2020 11:02 PM


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Warner Media/HBO MAXReunited, and it feels so good!

Will Smith gave fans a glimpse of HBO Max's upcoming The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion special on Thursday, sharing two photos from the set in celebration of the show's 30th anniversary.

"Today is exactly 30 YEARS since The @FreshPrince of Bel-Air debuted!" Smith, 51, . "So we’re doin’ something for y’all… a for real Banks Family Reunion is comin’ soon to @HBOmax!"

The actor also paid tribute to James Avery, who died at the age of 68 in 2014 and portrayed Uncle Phil, in the caption.

"RIP James," he wrote. "#FreshPrince30th."


Will Smith and Janet Hubert
Warner Media/HBO MAXIn one shot, Smith can be seen smiling in a group photo with former costars Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Another picture from the set shows Smith sitting down with Janet Hubert, the actress who originally played Aunt Viv for three seasons before she was replaced by Maxwell Reid.

Hubert, who previously criticized both The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Smith, had a candid conversation with the actor for the first time in 27 years as part of the emotional reunion, according to a news release from HBO Max.

The special, which is being touted as a "funny and heartfelt night full of music, dancing, and more special surprise guests," will premiere sometime around Thanksgiving, the streaming platform said.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ran for six seasons from 1990 to 1996.


The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
NBCUniversal via GettyRELATED: Will Smith Reunites with Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Cast: 'You Guys Are My Second Family'

Recently, Peacock ordered two seasons of a series adaptation of cinematographer Morgan Cooper's 2019 fan trailer titled Bel-Air — which centered around a dramatic reimagining of the beloved comedy.

Smith confirmed news of the adaptation in a video posted to his YouTube channel, telling Cooper and Bel-Air's executive producer Chris Collins, "I've been in this business for 30 years and that does not happen."

"They ordered two full seasons of Bel-Air based on the quality of the pitch and the work that you guys have done," he said.
According to Peacock, the new show will be a "serialized one-hour dramatic analogue of the '90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that leans into the original premise: Will's complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air."

"With a reimagined vision, Bel-Air will dive deeper into the inherent conflicts, emotions and biases that were impossible to fully explore in a 30-minute sitcom format, while still delivering swagger and nods to the original show," a press release read.

Smith's Westbrook Studios and Universal Television will serve as the studios on the project.

DJariya

I'm looking forward to seeing this. And I'm happy to see that Will and Janet Hubert seemed to have left all hard feelings behind.

Hard to believe that Tatiana Ali was 11 when the show started and now she's 41. I've started watching some of this on HBO Max and it's still funny now. I did not watch this show regularly back in the day, but I always got a few laughs when I tuned in.

I did not recognize Daphne Maxwell Reid, the 2nd from Will's left and 2nd Aunt Viv. Granted she is 72 now.

If the Fresh Prince of Bel Air can shoot this, assuming they all got tested, then I have to assume a Friends reunion can be shot similarly.

Red Hood

I think the Friends reunion wanted to have a crowd present and that's why is being delayed.

GoldenJCJ

Sad that James Avery passed away. It looks like Uncle Phil will be missed in this reunion.

I’m surprised the original Aunt Viv and Will made up. Last time I saw her talking about it she seemed like looney tunes!

I don’t have HBO Max and I don’t think this reunion is enough to push me to get it but I loved the show when it was on and still find it funny today. I’m glad to see them all back together.


And speaking of Friends, I know Pumpkin spice latte swilling, 40-something white women are eagerly anticipating a reunion but I caught a few reruns over the last few months in TBS and holy shit did this show age poorly! Every single character is excruciatingly annoying!

DJariya

Don't you have HBO? Some providers have a deal that lets you have HBO Max for free with your subscription. I have DirecTV and get HBO and HBO Max is free for me. It's basically become the main streaming app for HBO now.

GoldenJCJ

^I do have HBO. I’ll have to look into this.

Sonny Corinthos

The first two seasons of the show were great IMO. Starting around the 3rd season (I think) Will started dating Lisa and the two got engaged. Single Will was much more funny than fiancé Will and the show started to decline. JMO though.

Mike86

DJariya

This is now up on HBO Max. They posted it at 8pm ET

bluetoast

Thanks for the heads up, that was a great reunion. A lot of honesty and emotions.

ddrknghtrtns

Still find Fraiser, Seinfeld and Fresh Prince funny, but Friends is the frickin pits. Really hate everything about that stupid show. Friends don't let friends watch Friends.

dex14

The reunion made me want to rewatch the show.

bluetoast

I have been on a rewatch over the past few months, there’s so many I haven’t seen. Just started season 3.

So I noticed when Janet visited the cast, Alfonso was not there, nor did they show a hug with him, and they definitely edited around that. He slammed her pretty hard during his college tours, so I think that rift is still there. But her reunion with Will specifically and the others was great.

DJariya

Just watched it. Really well done special. The tribute to James Avery was very moving. It was really nice to see how much everyone on the cast loved and respected him.

And I enjoyed the conversation between Will and Janet Hubert. I didn't realize that she had so many personal problems during that time, which was not relayed to the media. I vaguely recall at the time the media made it sound like Hubert was some kind of Diva. Daphne Maxwell Reid was actually 8 years older than her.

I never watched Fresh Prince religiously when it was on. I was in High School at the time and was only a casual TV watcher. But, when I did it did make me laugh. And I did see most of the final season from what I recall.

Double_Oh_7

I hope the Friends reunion is better than this; these people take themselves way too seriously.

OldBoy

I knew of, saw some eps, but no where near a fan. Know some of the news. Will I still get something out of it?

DJariya

Just my opinion. But no. If this show was really never on your radar or never resonated with you, you would get zero out of it. You have to know these characters and their relationships.

whotony

Can you be a little specific?
Anyone who watched this show and is familiar with it will find this special funny and emotionally moving.

cultshock

I just watched it, it was nicely done. I was a big fan of the show when it originally aired, and enjoy watching it in reruns now with my kids, who think it's great. Nice to see some closure between (most) of the cast and Janet.

BrewCrew

It was only a couple of years ago Janet called Ribeiro a hoe and asswipe for Will Smith so can see why he wouldn't welcome her with open arms.

bluetoast

He wasn't exactly nice about her a few years back:

Shannon Nutt

I thought this was great. Friends will have a hard time topping it - particularly since I'll be sitting there knowing each one of the Friends cast got $1 million to do the retrospective, while I'm guessing the Fresh Prince cast (including Smith) didn't get paid anywhere near that but rather agreed to come back for a nice stipend and for the love of the series.

I know they're all actors, but you could tell these guys loved each other.

DJariya

Absolutely. And it was pretty evident at the love and respect they had for James Avery, who was the patriarch of the show.

I loved how Will reflected back to that episode where Ben Vereen guest starred as his loser father and Uncle Phil comforted him after Vereen bailed. That was such a powerful and emotional moment in the show. And then when he said Avery told him....Now that's acting!! That was such an awesome moment.

To say they took themselves too seriously is a baffling comment.

cultshock

That was really awesome.

DJariya

Just to update this. I saw a post about Alfonso being missing when Janet Hubert showed up. Apparently he claims he had to go tape America's Funniest Home Videos and had to leave. Hubert also said he had to work.

Seems a little too convenient, but that's the "official" explanation. That's assuming they shot this special over multiple days.