Will Smith has announced the Nov. 19 release date for the previously teased “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reunion.
In a video posted to his official YouTube channel, the actor and star of the hit NBC sitcom also revealed that the reunion special, which will include archival behind-the-scenes footage of the show, will air on HBO Max.
In the trailer, most of the original cast appears on the set of the Banks family home to talk about the show’s 1990 to 1996 run and its continued impact as the show remains in syndication.
Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro, Karyn Parsons, Tatyana Ali, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Joseph Marcell and DJ Jazzy Jeff are seen in the living room of the Banks home reminiscing on the show and how they got involved.
“Jeff turned down the show literally 10 times,” Smith said of getting his friend and other half of their hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince on board.
The cast previously reunited virtually on Smith’s Snapchat show, “Will from Home.”
Notably absent is James Avery, who played Uncle Phil. Avery died in 2013 after complications from open heart surgery. But the cast fondly remembers him. At one point, Ali refers to Avery as “the heart of the show.”
And, at the end of the clip, Smith teases his reunion with the original Aunt Viv, actor Janet Hubert.
Hubert has been vocal over the years about her dissatisfaction with being fired from the show and replaced. In many of her comments, she largely blamed Smith.
“I couldn’t celebrate 30 years of ‘Fresh Prince’ without Janet,” Smith says.
Watch the trailer below:
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