The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Alfonso Ribeiro revealed the cast shot hours of footage not used in the recent reunion special, which aired on HBO Max.
"They edited out a lot. I really felt like that could have been a two-and-a-half-hour special, but short and sweet always works," Ribeiro told The Hollywood Reporter. "Maybe they'll do The Reunion Special 2 one day, where they take the other stuff that we talked about. That’s the only thing I didn’t really know what to expect." Ribeiro -- who portrayed Carlton Banks on the series -- went on to explain that he was only able to be on the set for one of the three days they shot, asking, "How do you turn three days into an hour and 10 minutes?"
The actor further detailed some of the things fans didn't see in the special, adding, "We did a lot more showcasing the fun and our show night rituals. There was a lot more of that -- and a lot of other stuff as well, but I’m really not sure how much I’m allowed to talk about."
Ribeiro also opened up about filming the special without his TV dad, James Avery, who portrayed Philip Banks on the show but passed away in 2013. Speaking about the homage to Avery featured in the special, Ribeiro shared, "I think the entire emotion of what James Avery brought to our entire family and to the world made people really feel what we were feeling about that incredible man."
The Fresh Prince reunion special aired on HBO Max on Nov. 19 and took a look at the cultural impact the series has had since its debut. It featured appearances from original cast members Smith, Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid and DJ Jazzy Jeff. The special also featured the years-in-the-making reconciliation between Smith and his former TV aunt Janet Hubert, who was replaced as Aunt Viv halfway through the series' run amid rising tensions.
While there was speculation of an ongoing beef between Hubert and Ribeiro because he wasn't on set the day of her return, Hubert later cleared up the rumors on Twitter, writing, "Don't assume, he was working and I wasn't there. Let it go sweetie, we have." Ribeiro also clarified he was absent because he was filming new episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos, telling ET Canada, "Unfortunately I had to go shoot that day. All of the social media content and the photographs were taken without me. I literally did my own photo shoot on the couch so they could put me in the group photo."
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air premiered on Sept. 10, 1990, and followed a fictionalized version of Will Smith, who moves from Philadelphia to live with his aunt and uncle in Bel-Air. The comedy series ran for a total of six seasons, from 1990 to 1996. A dramatic reboot of the series called Bel-Air is set to debut on NBC's Peacock streaming service in the near future.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter