Peacock
Feeding our cultural obsession with “gritty” storytelling, Bel-Air presented itself as a darker, more authentic take on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when it premiered on Peacock last year. Ultimately, the reboot was more glossy than gritty, melodramatic but not really macabre. The episode’s conflicts and overall structure resembled a network soap rather than something intentionally provocative or experimental, like Euphoria.
It turns out, that’s a great thing. For the most part—certainly, in regards to ratings—those creative decisions and bucking those trends has been a recipe for success.
More than its actual source material, Bel-Air offers a certain nostalgia for addictive, adolescent dramas like The O.C, The CW’s 90210 and previous eras of Degrassi. In its second season, premiering on Feb. 23, it continues to scratch this itch. Once again, creator and executive producer Morgan Cooper and the show’s writers combine teen hijinks, family drama, and afterschool special-esque lessons in a way that’s compelling and not annoyingly didactic.