this is a story all about how, my life got flipped turned upside down..

[intro] The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their wealthy Bel Air mansion, where his lifestyle often clashes with that of his relatives. The 148 episodes were broadcast over six seasons.[1][2]Contents [hide] 1 Background2 Theme song and opening sequence3 Cast and characters4 Episodes5 Recurring settings5.1 The Banks mansion5.2 Bel-Air Academy5.3 Jazz's apartment in Compton5.4 KFPB Channel 8 News station5.5 ULA Student Store6 Syndication7 DVD releases8 Awards and nominations9 References10 External links[edit] BackgroundWill Smith was a popular and successful rapper during the late 1980s, but because he spent money too freely and grossly underpaid his income taxes, he was assessed a penalty of $2.8 million by the IRS. The agency subsequently seized many of his possessions and garnished his income.[3] This left Smith nearly bankrupt when, in 1990, he was approached by the television network NBC who signed him on to a contract and built a sitcom around him.[4][edit] Theme song and opening sequenceThe theme song and opening sequence set the premise of the show. Will Smith is a street-smart teenager, born and raised in West Philadelphia, who was sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Bel Air, Los Angeles after getting in a fight.The theme song was written and performed by Smith, as "The Fresh Prince". The music was composed by Quincy Jones, who is credited with Smith at the end of each episode. The music often used to bridge scenes together during the show is based on a similar chord structure. The full version of the theme song was used unedited on some early episodes. The full-length version, which is 2:52", was included on Will Smith's Greatest Hits album and attributed to himself only. A 3:23" version was released in the Netherlands in 1992, and reached #3 on the charts.For the first few episodes of the show stanzas one to three and stanzas six and seven were used. Beginning with Episode #4 (titled "Not With My Pig, You Don't"), only the first two and the last two stanzas of the song were used. The change to the theme song allowed for longer episodes to be created.Seasons 1, 5, and 6 featured an instrumental version of the theme and still photographs from the episode for the closing credits. In Seasons 2, 3, and 4, the music and stills were dropped and closing credits would almost always appear over bloopers and outtakes from the episode.[edit] Cast and charactersMain article: List of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air charactersWill Smith as Will "The Fresh Prince" SmithAlfonso Ribeiro as Carlton BanksJames Avery as Philip "Uncle Phil" BanksKaryn Parsons as Hilary BanksJanet Hubert-Whitten as Vivian Banks (Seasons 1–3;)Daphne Maxwell Reid as Vivian Banks (Seasons 4–6;)Tatyana M. Ali as Ashley BanksJoseph Marcell as Geoffrey, the ButlerRoss Bagley as Nicky BanksJeffrey Townes as DJ Jazzy Jeff "Jazz"