The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Movie star, rap star, and all-around superstar Will Smith (playing a character named...Will Smith), is sent to live with his Aunt's family in Bel-Air to escape the dangers of inner-city Philadelphia. Of course, Bel-Air has dangers of a different type...notably Will's uncle Philip (James Avery), who has quite a different (OK, snobby) outlook on life. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air introduces rap music and the hoity-toity Bel-Air lifestyle to television in one swoop. Fresh Prince also catches that prevalent sitcom flu with a "Bewitched"-like switch of actors midway through the show's run (both Janet Hubert-Whitten and Daphne Maxwell Reid played Vivian Banks). Catch the "man in black" when he was just a rapping youngster.