The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American sitcom television series created by Andy and Susan Borowitz that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996.

Plot
The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager born and raised in West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his wealthy uncle and aunt in their Bel-Air mansion after getting into a fight in the local playground in his neighborhood. However, his lifestyle often clashes with the lifestyle of his upper-class relatives.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Will Smith is absolutely hilarious in the show.
 * 2) The iconic theme song (sung by Will himself) is unforgettable, extremely catchy, and fun to watch.
 * 3) Great acting.
 * 4) Likable characters such as Will, Uncle Phil, Aunt Vivian (in the first three seasons), Carlton, Hilary, Ashley, Geoffrey and Jazz.
 * 5) The show taught a lot of valuable lessons.
 * 6) Excellent running gags like Carlton's dancing and Jazz getting thrown out of the house by Uncle Phil.
 * 7) Great character development, like how Will gradually adjusts to life in Bel-Air.
 * 8) Like many shows here, the pacing is outstanding.
 * 9) Many memorable episodes, such as:
 * 10) *The Fresh Prince Project
 * 11) *Mistaken Identity
 * 12) *Banks Shot
 * 13) *72 Hours
 * 14) *The Big Four-Oh
 * 15) *She Ain't Heavy
 * 16) *Striptease for Two
 * 17) *Asses to Ashes
 * 18) *Winner Takes Off
 * 19) *The Alma Matter
 * 20) *Just Say Yo
 * 21) *Six Degrees of Graduation
 * 22) *Blood Is Thicker Than Mud
 * 23) *Home is Where the Heart Attack is
 * 24) *Papa's Got a Brand-New Excuse
 * 25) *Bullets Over Bel-Air
 * 26) *Viva Lost Wages
 * 27) *I, Done
 * 28) The scripts are well-written and creative.
 * 29) A good number of emotional moments, such as:
 * 30) *Will crying when he realizes just how deadbeat his long-lost dad Lou is in Papa's Got a Brand-New Excuse.
 * 31) *Will finding out that Carlton's gun was loaded in Bullets over Bel-Air.
 * 32) *Uncle Phil's shame at having grown up on a farm in Not with My Pig, You Don't.
 * 33) *Will and Carlton's reactions when Uncle Phil suffers a near-fatal heart attack in Home is Where the Heart Attack is.
 * 34) *Uncle Phil revealing to Carlton that he too was harassed by a racist cop when he was younger in Mistaken Identity.
 * 35) *Will breaking down in tears after admitting to Uncle Phil that the amphetamines Carlton mistook for vitamins and overdosed on came from his locker in Just Say Yo.
 * 36) Like Full House and Family Matters, the show was not afraid to tackle serious issues like racial discrimination, gun violence, accepting those for who they are, etc.
 * 37) The laugh track plays at the right moments, unlike most modern sitcoms.
 * 38) It had crossovers with Blossom, Out All Night and In the House.
 * 39) *Characters from Diff'rent Strokes and The Jeffersons also made appearances in the series finale.
 * 40) The series finale, I, Done, is a good way to send off the series.
 * 41) The 2020 reunion special was excellent, and served as a fitting tribute to the late James Avery.
 * 42) *It also saw Will Smith and Janet Hubert-Whitten (Aunt Vivian's original actress) finally reconciling and ending a decades-long feud that led to Hubert-Whitten quitting the show after Season 3.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Uncle Phil can be a bit unlikable at times with how he treats Will, though their relationship does get stronger in later seasons.
 * 2) Hilary can be quite annoying, though her character improves in Season 2.
 * 3) Aunt Vivian faded into the background in Seasons 4-6 after her original actress, Janet Hubert-Whitten, quit the show due to personal problems (with the most notable being her involvement in an on-set feud with Will Smith).
 * 4) Some bad episodes, such as:
 * 5) *Will Gets a Job
 * 6) *The Best Laid Plans, which is arguably the most despised episode of the entire show
 * 7) *The Client
 * 8) *Will's Misery
 * 9) *Will's Up the Dirt Road
 * 10) *I, Clownius
 * 11) *Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
 * 12) The 1st season, while still good, started off mediocre.
 * 13) The show gradually declined in Season 6 as it became clear that the writers were beginning to run out of ideas. While Season 6 is decent, there are a handful of problems that this season has, compared to Seasons 1-5:
 * 14) *The writing took a nosedive in quality, either by rehashing older plots or having bad-to-mediocre writing in general. The Season 6 premiere Burnin' Down the House is a literal rehash of the pilot episode as Will embarrasses himself in front of Uncle Phil's friends.
 * 15) *There are a few more bad episodes compared to Seasons 1-5.
 * 16) *Will became more and more annoying and much more obnoxious in the beginning of the season. Luckily, later episodes see him change for the better.

Reception
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is considered to be one of the greatest TV shows of the '90s. The series has an 100% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.9/10 on IMDb and an 8.8/10 on TV.com.

Episodes with their own pages (Work in Progress)

 * The Fresh Prince Project
 * Mistaken Identity
 * The Big Four-Oh (Season 2, Episode 7)
 * She Ain't Heavy (Season 2, Episode 8)
 * Just Say Yo (Season 3, Episode 19)
 * Blood Is Thicker Than Mud (Season 4, Episode 8)
 * Papa's Got a Brand-New Excuse (Season 4, Episode 24)
 * Bullets Over Bel-Air (Season 5, Episode 15)
 * Viva Lost Wages (Season 6, Episode 8)
 * I, Done (Season 6, Episode 24)