The Fresh Prince Project: How the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Remixed America

Sportswriter Palmer (Darkness to Light) delivers an entertaining take on the sitcom that propelled Will Smith from rapper to celebrated movie star. Smith grew up in a West Philadelphia home that “was warm and mostly loving, but discipline was paramount,” and earned the nickname Prince for his boyish charm. His comedic antics—born from his attempts to evade his father’s anger—later became the inspiration for his Fresh Prince persona. Desperate to be famous, Smith’s late 1980s collaboration with DJ Jazzy Jeff for “Parents Just Don’t Understand” won “the first-ever hip-hop Grammy,” but mainstream hip-hop quickly tired of his bubblegum rap style. Smith later moved to Los Angeles, where he met talent manager Benny Medina and landed an audition with producer Quincy Jones for a new sitcom in 1990. Smith, a first-time actor, immediately signed on to star in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Despite studio questions on whether white writers Andy and Susan Borowitz could accurately portray Black culture (the husband-and-wife team consulted Black writers and crew to authenticate the script’s nuances), the show became “groundbreaking for network television” and a cultural phenomenon. Palmer’s skillful study of Smith’s professional and personal development melds perfectly with his incisive analysis of the show’s cultural impact. This savvy outing offers much more than a simple hit of nostalgia. Agent: Tess Calero and Marc Gerald, Europa. (Jan.)