History Trivia / ThefreshPrinceOfBelair

** Music/KidNPlay, who had a cartoon on NBC at the time, had a sitcom deal that ultimately morphed into ''Bel-Air'' after they turned it down. According to Christopher "Kid" Reid, NBC had cancelled their cartoon, and they got pretty salty about it, leading to them rejecting the deal. Ironically, Kid N' Play had landed hthe lead roles in ''[[Film/HouseParty1990 House Party]]'' after Will Smith and Jeff Townes turned it down a couple years prior.

* RecastAsARegular: Creator/NiaLong once played a one-shot role as Will's rather airheaded prom date, Claudia, before coming back three seasons later to play Lisa, his long time girlfriend.

** Vivian turned 40 in Season 2. Janet Hubert-Whitten was in her mid 30s when she was cast. Additionally, Hubert-Whitten was only 10 years older than Karyn Parsons and 15 years older than Alfonso Ribiero, but was playing their mother.
** In "Working It Out", Music/QueenLatifah plays an overbearing and implied to be middle-aged actress who Hilary works for and who becomes interested in high-schooler Will. In real life, Latifah is younger than both actors, being only ''21'' when the episode first aired.

** Music/KidNPlay, who had a cartoon on NBC at the time, had a sitcom deal that ultimately morphed into ''Bel-Air'' after they turned it down. According to Christopher "Kid" Reid, NBC had cancelled their cartoon, and they got pretty salty about it, leading to them rejecting the deal. Ironically, Kid N' Play had gotten the leads roles for ''[[Film/HouseParty1990 House Party]]'' after Will Smith and Jeff Townes turned it down a couple years prior.

** The third,[[note]]Will graduating from high school, though the last episode filmed for that season involved Phil and Vivian renewing their vows[[/note]] fourth,[[note]]Will visiting his mother in Philadelphia, only for them to realize they weren't ready for marriage on their wedding day[[/note]] and fifth[[note]]Will getting married to Lisa[[/note]] season finales were written to be a respectable farewell in case they didn't get another season. The sixth season GrandFinale was written with the full knowledge it would not continue.

** The third,[[note]]Will getting graduated from high school, though last filmed from that season was Phil and Vivian renewing their vows[[/note]] fourth,[[note]]Will visiting his mother at Philadelphia[[/note]] and fifth[[note]]Will getting married to Lisa[[/note]] season finales were written to be a respectable farewell in case they didn't get another season. The sixth season GrandFinale was written with the full knowledge it would not continue.

** At the start of the series, Will Smith was not a trained actor but simply had loads of energy and charisma. His immaturity and ego was rampant early on, which made it more difficult for the other actors who were more afraid of losing their job if they didn't perform. Karyn Parsons and Tatyana Ali admitted to being frustrated with his unprofessional behavior, messing up his own lines while also mouthing their lines to himself during their performance ([[{{Blooper}} sometimes seen on camera]]). They all credited James Avery stepping in as TeamDad to get Smith to clean up and take it more seriously.

* Creator/AlfonsoRibeiro has made it no secret that he absolutely ''detests'' being known for [[MemeticMutation the Carlton dance]] and constantly being asked to do it since.

* This was one of just two freshman shows in the 1990-91 Creator/{{NBC}} primetime lineup to get a second season. The other was ''Series/LawAndOrder''.

!!Listed Trivia:

* AdoredByTheNetwork: Regardless of who airs it, the show is broadcast every day. Creator/{{VH1}}, [[Creator/{{MTV}} MTV2]] and Creator/{{BET}} have assured this airing it in blocks on weekdays, weeknights, and weekends, respectively. During the TurnOfTheMillennium this show was downright inescapable, almost seemingly airing on some channel 24 hours a day.
* CastIncest: Will Smith revealed in his memoir that he had a crush on Creator/KarynParsons (who played his cousin Hilary) and wanted to go out with her, but she rebuffed him, citing how awkward it would be to continue working together if it didn't work out.
* TheCastShowoff: Alfonso Ribeiro [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyfKIKYmcA getting to show off his dancing chops]], as did [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOJSuIVmv_g Janet Hubert-Whitten]], a Julliard graduate who danced in ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'' on Broadway. She, Ribeiro, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtXHKGoqEwQ Tatyana Ali]] also showed off their singing skills in multiple episodes.

** Creator/WillSmith has said he cannot watch the first few episodes because he considers his acting in them to be terrible, noting how he was mouthing the other actors' lines.

** Creator/WillSmith plays Will Smith. However, in real life, Will's actual name is Willard, while in-show, Will's name is William. On an episode of ''Series/TheLateShowWithDavidLetterman'', and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFjwbKMlmF4&feature=relmfu again on]] ''Series/TheGrahamNortonShow'', Smith said that Alfonso Ribero advised him to do this, because people would be calling him by his character's name for the rest of his life, as demonstrated by the fact they went out and were called "Will!" and "Carlton!"

** Helen Lewis was played by Jenifer Lewis.

* DuelingWorks: With ''Series/FamilyMatters''. Both series made occasional mention of the fact that James Avery and Creator/ReginaldVelJohnson looked similar; Avery himself appeared in the closing of one ''Family Matters'' episode that lampshaded the similarities. In a later ''Fresh Prince'' episode, Creator/JaleelWhite guest-starred as one of Ashley's boyfriends.

** Similarly, what's become known as the "NBC dings", heard on such game shows as ''Series/{{Scrabble}}'' and ''Series/CardSharks'', play in "Knowledge Is Power" when Will learns that Hilary dropped out of college.

* OutOfOrder: "The Ethnic Tip" (January 14, 1991) aired after "The Lucky Charm" (January 7, 1991), but should be watched first, because of continuity about Hilary's Art Gallery job. In addition, Season 6 on HBOMAX has all episodes listed by taping order, except for "I, Whoops, There It Is" (placed right before "I, Stank Hole in One"), and "Eye, Tooth" (placed right before the finale).

* TheWikiRule: The [[http://freshprince.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Wiki]], and another [[http://thefreshprinceofbelair.wikia.com/wiki/The_fresh_prince_of_bel_air_Wiki The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Wiki]].

* OldShame:
** Creator/WillSmith has said he cannot watch the first few episodes because he considers his acting in them to be terrible, noting how he was mouthing the other actors' lines.
** Interesting case with Janet Hubert-Whitten -- sometimes she seemed as though she's came to regret taking the role, [[FlipFlopOfGod sometimes she didn't]]. The times she did were mainly due to her conflict with Will Smith, and she's even requested for fans [[IAmNotSpock not to refer to her as Aunt Viv]]. The times she didn't, she seemed to look back on her role with pride, as she posted various fan-created memes claiming her to be "the true Aunt Viv" on her social media accounts. This would change in November 2020 when she and Smith reconciled.

* HeyItsThatSound: In "Hilary Gets a Job", you can briefly hear the buzz-in noise from the 1983-89 NBC revival of ''Series/SaleOfTheCentury'' as a telephone ring.
** Similarly The ''Series/{{Scrabble}}'' dings for correct guesses, or correctly guessing a letter on a Blue or Pink Bonus Square, plays in "Knowledge Is Power", when Will finds out that Hilary dropped out of College.

** Similarly The ''Series/{{Scrabble}}'' dings for correct guesses, or correctly guessing a letter or a Blue or Pink Bonus Square, plays in "Knowledge Is Power", when Will finds out that Hilary dropped out of College.

** Similarly The ''Series/{{Scrabble}}'' dings for correct guesses, or correctly guessing a letter or a Blue or Pink Bonus Square plays in "Knowledge Is Power", when Will finds out that Hilary dropped out of College.

** Similarly The ''[[Series/{{Scrabble}}]]'' dings for correct guess, or correctly guessing a letter or a Blue or Pink Bonus Square plays in "Knowledge Is Power", when Will finds out that Hilary dropped out of College.

** Another common story is that Smith ad-libbed his ending monologue. However, David Zuckerman, the co-writer of the episode, denied this [[https://web.archive.org/web/20200912093222/https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/09/11/fresh-prince-bel-air-hug-father-scene/ in a 2020 retrospective]] for ''The Washington Post''. What ''is'' known is that Avery was greatly impressed by the raw emotion of Smith's performance, complimenting his acting skills after the scene had concluded. Furthermore, Zuckerman admitted that Smith's performance was so good it does seem like he was ab-libbing. Karyn Parsons, who could be heard crying backstage in the aired episode, also stated that while the monologue was scripted, Smith had done it another way in the rehearsals. He didn't go in the dramatic route it took until the day it was taped.

** Downplayed for a while with Tatyana Ali being 11 when she first played Ashley, whose age was inconsistent throughout Season 1 but put her as younger than 11. "Just Infatuation" would properly establish Ashley's age as being the same as Ali's.

* EnforcedMethodActing:
** The resentment the cast had towards Janet Hubert-Whitten probably made episodes like "The Baby Comes Out" easier to act.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: The ending of "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse" is notable on its own merits, but has been the subject of some persistent (and false) rumors over the years:

** Another common story is that Smith ad-libbed his ending monologue. This is NOT true, as confirmed by episode co-writer David Zuckerman in a 2020 retrospective on the episode for the Washington Post, and is essentially a textbook example of people making up claims on the internet for clout. What ''is'' known is that Avery was greatly impressed by the raw emotion of Smith's performance, complimenting his acting skills after the scene had concluded. Karyn Parsons, who could be heard crying backstage in the aired episode, also stated that while the monologue was scripted, Smith had done it another way in the rehearsals. He didn't go in the dramatic route it took until the day it was taped.

** While filming his now famous monologue at the end of "Papa's Got A Brand New Excuse," Will Smith was so overcome by the scene's RealitySubtext that James Avery went off-script and gave him a much-needed hug. Fortunately, this still fit the context of the scene.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: The RealitySubtext behind the ending scene of "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse" has taken on a life of its own: