10 Scenes To Remind Us Why We Love The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air

7. Will's Dad €“ Papa's Got A Brand New Excuse

http://youtu.be/AgkqTFasfmA This is a fantastic glimpse of what was to come in Will Smith's acting career as he proves that he can play serious roles just as well. After 14 years Will's father comes back on the scene where he vows they will travel around the world together but leaves him in lurch in the end, leaving Uncle Phil to step in and pick up the pieces. The tone is a lot grittier than in most other episodes of the show, and serves as a perfect rejoinder to those who claim that the show was essentially just a frothy teen comedy about a fish-out-of-water streetwise kid. The writers could address real issues, and with a great deal of maturity and realism. There are plenty of people who will relate to Will's emotional monologue here. The grounding, serious moments are rare in The Fresh Prince but they're golden, as they add depth to the characters and prevent them from becoming too cartoonish and two-dimensional. Instances like this also prove the show can talk about things that the Generation X audience who first watched it would be experiencing in their own homes, as well as providing throwaway comedy. In his scene Will Smith improvised his dialogue, giving notice to the range and depth of his acting ability. Will had previously been thought of as a rapper with a huge personality, who could carry a show through the sheer weight of his charisma by largely playing himself. While this is true to a degree, he was beginning to show by this point the skill that would lead to Oscar nominations in the future. TFPOBA should have had more of these thoughtful episodes. I still remember being struck as a kid by how good the episode where Will is scolded for taking the legacy of Malcolm X's words too glibly. It wasn't always just about the comedy, and this episode shows that in bucket-loads.