Peacock's Bel-Air season 1 premieres on February 13, with several more episodes of the drama reboot dropping before its finale episode release date. Peacock’s Bel-Air is a dramatic reimagining of the 1990s hit sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which followed a fictionalized version of actor/rapper Will Smith moving from West Philadelphia to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousins in the affluent Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. The six-season Fresh Prince show typically explored the culture shock of Will with the wealthy Banks family, general family hi jinks, Black culture and treatment in America, and class issues.
Based on a fan-made dramatic short film, Bel-Air is co-created by Morgan Cooper and Will Smith, who was the basis of the original series. With newcomer Jabari Banks taking over the role of Will Smith, the modernization of Bel-Air leans heavier into the emotional conflicts, biases, and themes that couldn’t be told in a 30-minute sitcom in the 1990s. The serious tone of Bel-Air season 1 may initially shock many fans of the beloved Fresh Prince series, but is able to accomplish a more comprehensive projection of its social commentary that the original sitcom was only able to dip its toes in.
Peacock’s Bel-Air season 1 will premiere on Super Bowl Sunday, February 13, 2022, with three episodes released at launch. While The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air had 25 episodes in the first season of its 30-minute sitcom, Bel-Air’s serious reboot only has 10 hour-long episodes in season 1. The amount of screen-time eventually evens out, but Bel-Air season 1’s 10 episodes mean plenty of drama will occur in a relatively short amount of time. With the intense look at Will’s complex journey from West Philadelphia to Bel-Air in just episode 1, Bel-Air is releasing three episodes at once for its premiere is sensible, thus giving a more holistic look into Will’s adjustment to the culture shock of the Banks mansion right off the bat.
Following Bel-Air season 1’s three-episode release on Sunday, February 13, Peacock will stream the remaining episodes weekly on Thursdays. With seven more episodes remaining after the initial drop, Bel-Air season 1’s finale episode will be available to stream on Peacock on Thursday, March 31, 2022. The 10-episode format of Bel-Air’s season falls in line with Peacock’s original reboot series Saved by the Bell, which takes another beloved ‘90s sitcom into the 21st century. While Saved by the Bell maintains the original’s humor, the Bel-Air reboot features a completely different framing of Fresh Prince’s themes. As such, it makes sense that Peacock’s Saved by the Bell comedy only has 10 30-minute episodes per season, while Bel-Air has 10 hour-long installments.
Although 10 episodes for Bel-Air season 1 may seem short, the highly anticipated drama series is already in a comfortable position with Peacock for its future. When Peacock acquired the rights to stream Bel-Air, the NBCUniversal service also ordered two seasons. This is phenomenal news for Bel-Air, meaning the series can spend season 1’s 10 episodes delving deeper into the new Fresh Prince character changes rather than worrying about moving too quickly with its plot. Securing a series with a two-season-order pitch isn’t common for new shows, even with reboots, which bodes well for the quality of Bel-Air’s reimagining. Following Bel-Air season 1’s finale episode on March 31, viewers won’t be worried about the uncertainty of the drama continuing in season 2.