Fewer ’90s television theme songs are more memorable than that of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, rapped by then up-and-coming actor Will Smith.
Saturday Night Live took that original song and flipped it on its head on this week’s episode hosted by Jessica Chastain.
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The song stars out the same, with featured cast member Chris Redd doing the rapping. But then the song quickly takes a sharp turn when the “couple of guys who were up to no good” end up being in a dangerous gang, and as a result of that fight they fly out to Bel-Air to catch Redd. They storm the Banks mansion and beat up all the cast members, but Redd escapes.
The Fresh Prince theme song went WAY beyond what we remember from the ’90s. #SNL pic.twitter.com/JQyBsUU7hS
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) January 21, 2018
He then ends up being helped by an FBI agent (played by Chastain), who helps him fake his death only to be sold out to the Yakuza. The original Philadelphia gang pops back in and starts a fire fight, with Redd managing to escape after Uncle Phil (played by Keenan Thompson) comes in to make the save with a shotgun.
All the while, Redd never stops rapping in the same tempo as the original song.
Fans of the orginal show found the sketch to be hysterical.
This Fresh Prince parody on #SNL right now is KILLING me holy shit
— staci aka weetly. (@ihatecrayons) January 21, 2018
This Fresh Prince parody is incredible…Chris Redd is absolutely gonna be a future star on #SNL
— PJ Gaughan #RHAP #NotreDame (@PeeJayGawHan) January 21, 2018
whoa Chris Redd bringing back Fresh Prince!!!!! And Method Man as the gang member after him lol
— SNL in Review (@SNLinReview) January 21, 2018
I’m over here, 😭😭😭. That Fresh Prince sketch was the funniest thing this season. #Snl
— Gord St. Denis (@GordStDenis) January 21, 2018
That Fresh Prince #SNL video is all-time unreasonable. So good. Congrats @Reddsaidit.
— 🖤❄️PHILIP IV❄️🖤 (@philip_the_4th) January 21, 2018
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” is the funniest skit so far on tonight’s #SNL. #ChastainOnSNL
— thestormwithin (@thestormwithin) January 21, 2018
