'Damn!': Here's How Will Smith and Tyra Banks Celebrated 30 Years of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)
Photo: Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution

“In West Philadelphia born and raised,” in the house self-isolating is where we spent most of our days…during the stay-at-home order.

If you can believe it, 2020 will mark 30 years since The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air debuted on NBC (September 10, 1990, to be exact) and catapulted Will Smith’s career into stardom.

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In the 4th season episode titled, “Father of the Year,” Will tries to pass off his baby cousin Nicky as his own child to attract ladies and Jackie (Tyra Banks) calls him out on it. What followed was a well-executed comedic display of over-talking during an argument.

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“You know what, you ain’t never gon’ change!”

“Oh, I’m gettin’ the last word!”

“Oh, no you not!”

“Oh, yes I am!”

“Damn!!”

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the popular show, Will Smith decided to call up Tyra to reminisce about that very scene for his #WillFromHome series.

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The two recited lines from the scene, with Tyra especially showing off that the scene has been etched in her memory. Will was clearly impressed, captioning the post, “Yo it’s 30 YEARS LATER and @tyrabanks still has this scene memorized!! Love that!”

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Tyra also noted that Fresh Prince was her very first acting gig, which she landed at 19 years old.

“It was my first acting job ever!” Tyra recounted. “Because I had this acting agent, even though I hadn’t acted yet, and he was like, ‘You’ve got to go and do this audition for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and you’re going to be playing Will Smith’s ex-girlfriend from Philly.”

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In my mind, this energy is what inspired her hugely popular and meme-worthy climax during the 4th “cycle” of America’s Next Top Model. You know the one.

America’s Next Top Model / YouTube

Ever since Will created his Instagram account, he’s been using it to provide prime entertainment, so it only makes sense that he’d use our shelter-in-place life to spark his creativity even further. This Instagram reunion is definitely the feel-good content we need right now so get into it. Plus, there’s a cute moment where her mama interrupts the call because she had to get a snack. Oh, Mama Banks!

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The full iconic scene with Will and Tyra is below:

Will Smith and Tyra Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air / YouTube