The Fresh Prince Project: How The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Remixed America

Palmer (co-author of Lamar Odom’s memoir Darkness to Light) provides a nostalgic and often effusive look back at one of the most popular sitcoms of the nineties, treading carefully around any scandals, while cementing the show’s place in Black family television history. Palmer offers an interesting examination of the efforts to bring the show to life, starting with the background of the major players, such as Benny Medina, whose personal history (bounced around in foster homes, taken in by a family in Beverly Hills) was the basis for the show, and young rapper Will Smith, whose friends oversaw the show’s authenticity. Palmer utilizes Fresh Prince to probe different Black American experiences based on socioeconomic backgrounds, and he looks at the characters of cousins Will and Carlton to illustrate opposing Blackness and differing definitions of Black success. The author’s portrayal of Smith’s rise to power as he transforms from an inexperienced kid to a major Hollywood movie star, often bringing turmoil to the set and eventually ensuring the show’s demise, avoids gossipy innuendo.