The Fresh Prince

A lot of people think The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is just a light comedy show from the '90s where nothing serious happens. That's not quite right. It's a sitcom — a half-hour television show designed to be funny — but it's one that sneaks real ideas about class, race, and belonging into the laughs.

The show is about a teenager named Will Smith who gets sent from Philadelphia, a working-class city on the East Coast, to live with his wealthy aunt and uncle in Bel-Air, California. Bel-Air is one of the richest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, full of mansions and people with old money — the kind of wealth that's been in families for generations. Will's aunt and uncle live in a sprawling mansion; his cousin Carlton went to private school; everything is fancy and formal.

Will, though, grew up on the streets in a poor neighborhood. He's funny, street-smart, and has a completely different way of talking and acting than his relatives. That clash — between Will's casual, hip-hop-influenced style and his relatives' buttoned-up, upper-class world — creates most of the comedy. But underneath the jokes, the show is really asking: What does it mean when two completely different worlds collide? Can you stay true to who you are when you're surrounded by people living a totally different life?

That tension between humor and real questions about identity and belonging is what made the show matter when it aired in 1990, and why people still watch it today.