Just sit right there and Saturday Night Live will tell you how NBC's '90s classic sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air could be super dark in a parody you won't soon forget. On the Jan. 20 episode, SNL's Fresh Prince of Bel-Air parody gave viewers a look at the darkest timeline of the show. Cast member Chris Redd played Will Smith in the sketch, which takes the character from West Philadelphia (born and raised) to...White Ridge, New Hampshire? Oh, it happened. This dark alternate universe has no Jazz or Carlton dance.
The parody begins the same way the classic Fresh Prince opening credits start, with Will playing basketball in Philly, then getting in a cab to Bel-Air. But as he's about to complete the theme song — and enter Uncle Phil's mansion — some gangsters from Philly come after Will. These men (who are "up to no good") then kill Uncle Phil (played by Kenan Thompson) and cause Carlton to pee in his khakis and rat out Will. So instead of starting his life out in Bel-Air and going on wacky adventures (like in the sitcom), SNL's Will goes to a motel to lay low and gets help from a woman (played by Jessica Chastain) who tells him, "I'm FBI. If you stay here, you're dead."
The FBI agent's plan involves dressing a corpse up as Will, putting corpse Will in a car, and setting the car on fire, thus faking Will's death. As for Will, he takes on a new identity, which isn't entirely clear, but he does disguise himself with a new haircut and new teeth. He even attends his own funeral and the FBI agent stops him from telling his mother (played by SNL cast member Leslie Jones) that he's actually alive (aw). "Now, you're a ghost, say good night," Chastain's character says.
Next, Will wakes up in a warehouse, where it appears that he has been sold to Japanese gangsters and they are facing off with another set of gangsters (which include Method Man, in a cameo). I know, it's all super surreal. Chastain's character confesses that she wasn't actually an FBI agent and all the gangsters open fire. Chastain's character gets shot (her last words are "Yo homes, smell you later"), but suddenly, the twist is revealed: Uncle Phil is alive! And he calls himself "The Judge." Uncle Phil takes aim at the gangsters in the standoff. Will hides behind a chair, while taking in his uncle's advice: "You need to get off the grid. You can never go back to the life that you lived."
Then, Will crawls his way through the gunfire in the warehouse to his new life, right as Uncle Phil dies once again.
"And that's how my life got flipped turned upside down," Will raps. "And if anybody asks, just sit right there and tell them how I became Jasper Mitchell of White Ridge, New Hampshire." Yup, that's Will's brand new identity as an overall-wearing homeless man who lives in a box under a tree. Yikes.
The SNL parody of The Fresh Prince was basically the classic sitcom mashed up with a '90s crime/action/gangster flick and the sketch itself was a wild ride. I mean, how many '90s kids have ever thought of this alternate universe of Fresh Prince?
And fans on Twitter loved the dark turn the parody took.
Some viewers longed for the simple days of the Fresh Prince Carlton dance, and Hilary's hats.
Many fans adored the Method Man cameo in the sketch.
So if there is ever a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot, maybe it should have some dark elements? Fans certainly think so.
Judge for yourself and check out the sketch in the video below.
And this may not even be the end of the Fresh Prince's journey. Who knows what Jasper Mitchell will get up to next.
