Now, this is a story all about how The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air premiered 30 years ago this week. To celebrate the occasion, the Fresh Prince himself Will Smith shared photos from the show’s upcoming HBO Max reunion, which just began filming (your move, Friends). “Today is exactly 30 YEARS since The @FreshPrince of Bel-Air debuted! So we’re doin’ something for y’all… a for real Banks Family Reunion is comin’ soon to @HBOmax! RIP James,” Smith wrote, referring to his on-screen uncle, James Avery.
But the rest of the main cast from the sitcom, which aired for six seasons on NBC, was in attendance, including Tatyana Ali (Ashley), Karyn Parsons (Hilary), Joseph Marcell (Geoffrey), Daphne Maxwell Reid (the second Aunt Viv), Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton), and DJ Jazzy Jeff (Jazz). Smith and Ribeiro are always reuniting on The Tonight Show, or whatever, so that’s not a big deal. The real news here is that the original Aunt Viv, Janet Hubert, agreed to take part in the reunion, 27 years after she and Smith, who once said that “Hubert wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show,” last spoke.
“There will never be a reunion… as I will never do anything with an asshole like Will Smith,” Hubert said back in 2011. “He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up. This constant reunion thing will never ever happen in my lifetime unless there is an apology, which he doesn’t know the word.”
While it doesn’t appear that Hubert will join the rest of the cast for the reunion, her segment with Smith, an “emotional reunion and a candid conversation,” will be part of the televised event, HBO Max said in a news release.
The Fresh Prince reunion is expected to premiere on HBO Max around Thanksgiving.
