To those who watched Fresh Prince when it was on air....

[DamienWayne]

This is the era I came from. When fresh prince was prime time I wasn’t watching it until season 4 with the new aunt viv. There were obviously other changes to the set, music, and overall production.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

This is the era I came from. When fresh prince was prime time I wasn’t watching it until season 4 with the new aunt viv. There were obviously other changes to the set, music, and overall production.

...So you're talking about reruns, then.

 

[Mandarin Duck]

This is the era I came from. When fresh prince was prime time I wasn’t watching it until season 4 with the new aunt viv. There were obviously other changes to the set, music, and overall production.

That's syndication.

 

[CreepyMcCreeperson]

It was aired on upn or wb I think

Those networks didn’t exist back then. WB, which was channel 11 in New York was WPIX, and wouldn’t have had a major prime time show like that.

 

[Wise]

I remember when it went to nbc, that’s when most people I knew stopped watching it, but at its peak it was as big as something like blackish

I don’t find Blackish to be a widely known show nor making a cultural impact.

Not that it’s a bad show (although I stopped watching right before the baby arrived) but it’s not a show I feel made an impact on society and I’ve never heard anybody talk about it.

I believe the shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones have made a big impact. Last sitcom I’m guessing that was big was Friends. Dont think Modern Family even hot that status. Nobody talks about Brooklyn Nine Nine or those CSI, Hawaii 5-0 shows. It’s probably a handful of shows that can coincide in the current social media climate

hence, why I made this thread to see how much of an impact and how widely know this show was.

With social media out these days, I believe lots of people are distracted with that than to watch shows. My personal opinion.

 

[Wise]

I remember watching the 1st episode. definitely loved it as a kid. I remember my dad saying it wasn't going to last. I reminded him of that a couple seasons later. Kids liked the fresh prince, He made Parents just don't understand and a Nightmare of My street. those were definitely made for a young audience. I stopped watching as much as I got older tho

Damn you remember the pilot episode live? How old are you?

 

[Wise]

TV shows were the only media to talk about back the day. There wasn't any memes, or viral shyt to talk about. So any popular show dominated the convo's back then.
I always talked about the latest episode of whatever show including fresh prince with my friends. Sort of like how people did with game of thrones, every show was like that to me.

great post. Posted before I even read this and I can fondly remember that of other shows later on like The Simpson’s and Malcolm in the Middle

 

[FruitOfTheVale]

I don’t find Blackish to be a widely known show nor making a cultural impact.

Not that it’s a bad show (although I stopped watching right before the baby arrived) but it’s not a show I feel made an impact on society and I’ve never heard anybody talk about it.

I believe the shows like Breaking Bad ANS Game of Thrones have made a big impact. Last sitcom I’m guessing that was big was Friends. Dont think Modern Family even hot that status. Nobody talks about Brooklyn Nine Nine or those CSI, Hawaii 5-0 shows. It’s probably a handful of shows that can coincide in the current social media climate

hence, why I made this thread to see how much of an impact and how widely know this show was.

With social media out these days, I believe lots of people are distracted with that than to watch shows. My personal opinion.

There were a few shows that hit like that this decade

Breaking Bad
GoT
Atlanta
Stranger Things
House of Cards
Power
Empire

I don’t fukk with Empire but I ain’t gon deny that it had/has a huge following.

Intriguingly, HBO only had 1 show that really landed. Netflix had 2, arguably 3 if you include Daredevil.

 

[NobodyReally]

It was must-see TV for me and my family. We loved watch Blossom too. I was legitimately upset when they dropped the original Aunt Vivian. She felt like fam to me. It took me almost a year to accept the new one.

 

[Roid Jones]

I remember there being a debate between folks about which show was better? Martin or Fresh Prince

Not much of a debate, Martin was always better

 

[Optimus Prime]

Not much of a debate, Martin was always better

I don’t agree

 

[letti cook]

my earliest memory of watching Fresh Prince in real time was the episode when Lisa had him tied up in that cabin...and i remember the commercials for the episode when Will got shot

i caught the rest from reruns...when i first saw the old house and og Aunt Viv, i was lost as shyt

 

[Moesha’s Overbearing Dad]

TV shows were the only media to talk about back the day. There wasn't any memes, or viral shyt to talk about. So any popular show dominated the convo's back then.
I always talked about the latest episode of whatever show including fresh prince with my friends. Sort of like how people did with game of thrones, every show was like that to me.

I feel you on this!! As a youngin the number 1 show I remember being talked about was In Living Color!! I think I was in the fifth grade or so... I could never join the combo tho...my mom's banned it from me and my sister.. but I would sit at the top of the stairs and watch from her room until she caught me..

Fresh Prince kinda lost me when
1. Obviously the new Aunt Viv came.. the whole vibe of the show changed..it's not directly her fault.. they were just tossing Will in all different directions( I don't know if she was on the road with Pam Grier but that is a goat episode tho )
2. I LOVED Jackie ( I think that's her name on the show) played by Tyra Banks.. I liked her and will chemistry... I think an on and off love and basketball type relationship coulda went far.

3. Lastly.. I liked pretentious "I'm better than you" Carlton.. they kinda made him a goofball towards the end.



Have any of y'all seen the two episodes in season 1 with the extended version of the theme song??

 

[hex]

I'm a big Fresh Prince fan, so I'm curious to know, to you older folks, how big of a show was it on the air when it came on? Yall remember what day of the week it came on? Was it the talk of TV? How much of an effect did it have on society? etc


This is all pre social media. I am old enough to remember life before social media and dial up internet and there was just a different buzz to life back then.

I am old enough to remember the show in real time (43) but it was hard to gauge how big a show was back then. Kinda like how people in The Booth ask about first week sales or "buzz" from artists 25+ years ago. Nobody really thought in those terms back then.

I found this from 1991:

https://library.uoregon.edu/sites/default/files/data/guides/english/nielsen_ratings.pdf

Basically, it was extremely popular among black audiences and fairly popular to white people. About as popular as "Family Matters" but not as big as something like "Cheers" or "Roseanne".

Fred.

 

[85 East]

It came on Mondays before Blossom, which I didn't watch unless I wanted to see her friends big ass... It was great. Funny show that had some decent values. Will always had fresh Jordan's on, and Ashley was super cute.