The funny thing about "Bel-Air," Peacock's dramatic reimagining of NBC's '90s sitcom classic "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," is that the pitch has been spelled out in front of us for more than 30 years. Every line of Will Smith raps in the comedy's jaunty theme plays out in some fashion in this serious story about good-natured West Philly teenager Will Smith (Jabari Banks), a top-student and basketball star with scholarship offers waiting in the wings.
Will's life is upended when he runs into "a couple of guys who were up to no good" who "started making trouble in [his] neighborhood." Only here, the mix-up isn't slapstick – it lands Will in jail facing a weapons charge and threats scary enough that his mother calls in a favor to her rich brother Phil (Adrian Holmes).
