(CNN) — Upon reflection, the odd couple sensibilities that captivated viewers of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” were in place even before the cameras started rolling. The perfectly mismatched casting of Will Smith, then known as one half of a successful rap duo hailing from West Philadelphia, and James Avery, a classically trained Shakespearean actor, as nephew and uncle respectively made for a hilarious, if at times uneven, pairing in the early seasons of the show.
There was nothing on air at the time quite like “The Fresh Prince.” The NBC sitcom told the story of a fictionalized version of Smith, a troubled teen who moves to California to live with wealthy relatives after getting into a gang fight in his hometown. Smith, and his character (also named Will Smith), hailed from the insurgent hip-hop generation whose bombastic music and style had created a burgeoning cultural movement in the United States. Avery as Philip Banks (or Uncle Phil), in contrast, represented the post-Civil Rights class of professional Black Americans who had come to harness their rage through more ‘respectable’ vehicles.
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