Andy & Susan Borowitz/USA/1990; R4, 4-disc
Warner Bros, NZ$59.95 | Reviewed by Kim Lesch

PENNSYLVANIANS the world over are personified by a few known products of our fair state: Heinz ketchup, Andy Warhol, Trent Reznor, Bill Cosby, and his arch nemisis – Will Smith. Without Will Smith there would be no Independence Day, no Parents Just Don't Understand, no Wild Wild West!

But Willard got his acting start on a little sitcom named The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, rapping his way through the credits and demonstrating exactly how real he was keeping it. While many of us 20-somethings remember the goofy argyle jumpers of Carlton, Hilary as the precursor to Alicia Silverstone's Cher, and all of Uncle Phil, we probably don't remember the overt racial messages included in the show. Episode 1 shows Smith stapling his Malcolm X poster to the shakey studio wall of his bedroom, and every episode after contains at least two fat Uncle Phil jokes and plenty of race/class context material. Anyways – it's a totally different ballgame watching the show in 2005. The jokes are still top notch and the nostalgia-o-meter is skyhigh which makes the rental of this bad boy a necessisty with the winter hermititis coming on. Strongly suggested for a weekend of staying in and avoiding the awfulness that is Hitch.


WHILE there aren't any juicey extras (apart from a brief retrospective look back on the series), there are a couple language options, and the titles of the episodes are terrific. Features 25 episodes spread across 4 discs.