Alfonso Ribeiro Says “Bel Air” Is Not A “Fresh Prince” Reboot: “A Totally Different Show”

The reboot of Will Smith’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air isn’t exactly what you’d think. The new series, which holds the shortened title Bel-Air, has already been purchased for two seasons and will air on the streaming service Peacock, but it isn’t going to maintain the sitcom genre of its predecessor. The show consists of a complete re-imagining of Will’s original character, before moving to Bel-Air, and is based off of a mock YouTube trailer that a fan made in 2019. Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton, gave his two cents recently on the upcoming series, dismissing the idea it’s a reboot. 

“A reboot would be taking the actual show and characters and bringing it back. This is a totally different show,” Ribeiro told E! News. “It’s not even based on the show. It’s based on the theme song. It’s a completely different thing. It’s drama. It’s not comedy. I have nothing to do with it so I don’t really know anything more.” 

Ribeiro went on to say that he’s actually more intrigued by this concept than he would be with a true reboot. “I actually appreciate it even more than a reboot,” he said. “Let’s take a concept and turn it into a different show. I’m like, roll the dice. Go ahead and try it and see what happens.”

It’s unclear when exactly the new show will be available on the small screen, but hopefully more news about the exciting collaboration with Peacock will come soon. Check out the announcement video and the original fan-made trailer below. 

[Via]