"The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" becomes "Bel Air": You Win Some and You Lose Some

In the early 1990s, the violent crime rate was the highest of the century,  AIDS deaths peaked at 40,000 per year,  and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" allowed gay people to serve in the military as long as they stayed closeted.  Still, I remember it as the best of times: book readings at the Different Light, cruising at Mugi, brunch at the French Quarter, Friday night services at the gay synagogue, parties, dinners, classes, a world of infinite promise.  Not much time for television, although on Monday nights we might settle down to watch Murphy Brown, Designing Women, The Nanny, or Blossom, with a yet-to-hunkify Joey Lawrence.  Rarely if ever The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990-96) starring Will Smith as a poor South-Philly teen sent to live with his rich uncle and auntie.  The premise sounded ridiculous, andWill Smith was openly homophobic, so we assumed that his show would be homophobic, too.  I only remember glimpses of a few episodes.

1. Will's Auntie Viv teaches a course in African-American spirtuals at his prep school.  She points out that many "slave songs" contained hidden references giving detailed instructions on how to escape to the North, and sings one to demonstrate.

2. Cousin Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro), who bulked up in spite of continually being portrayed as a polo-shirt-wearing yuppie, performs as a stripper.  We watched this one after seeing the synopsis in TV Guide.

3. Will argues that Carlton has assimilated into white culture, and no longer remembers how to be black.

4. Sunday morning.  The family is preparing for church (Episcopalian), when Geoffrey the Butler enters after a night of carousing.  He is wearing a full South of Market leathman costume.  Wait -- is Geoffrey gay?

"You should come to church with us," Aunt Viv says disapprovingly.

"Maybe I should," he agrees.

The only gay reference in the series ends with the gay guy "repenting"?  A the time, the inference didn't bother us.  Seeing ourselves on tv was always a cause for celebration.

Googling "Fresh Prince" and "gay" reveals another gay-themed episode: "As the Will Turns" (April 10, 1995):  Will gets a job on a soap opera, but balks when he discovers that his character will be gay.

5. At a gay B&B in England, some guys were watching "The Crazy American Hour" on tv.  One of the segments was an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  We started to watch.  Someone criticized us: "You travel all the way to England, and spend your time watching American sitcoms."   

"Have you seen Carlton lately?" I responded.  "Major hunk."

That's all for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

The 2022 remake, Bel-Air, retains the basic situation and the names of all the characters, but makes it a somber drama, with Will fleeing South Philly to hide from a gang-banger who wants to kill him, Uncle Philip worrying that "ghetto kid" will ruin his political career, bullies using racist slurs and planting drugs in Will's bag, and so on.  In the first episode, Will flirts with the ex-girlfriend of Cousin Carlton (Olly Sholotan, left), who thereafter hates him.  The overt heterosexism didn't bother me in the 1990s, but it does now.

Oddly, for a show produced by the less-than-gay-friendly Will Smith, the reboot has a gay character, 12-year old Cousin Ashley.  In Episode #5, she tells her sister Hilary that she has a crush on a girl.  Hilary is supportive.

You win some and you lose some.