Trivia / The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air S4 E24 "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse"

• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: The episode's final scene is notable on its own merits, but has been the subject of some persistent false rumors about its creation.
  • The final scene was not done in one take, as is sometimes claimed: in fact, Smith has gone on record that it took multiple takes because of his own anxieties over correctly delivering the monologue.
  • The most common story is that Will Smith drew from his experiences of himself having a deadbeat dad. However, in Real Life, although his parents did separate when Smith was young, his father continued to have an active role in his upbringing and was even the person who encouraged his rap career. Some sources instead cite Smith drawing experience from his friends, many of whom had deadbeat dads of their own although he had not.
  • Another common story is that Smith ad-libbed his ending monologue. This has been disproven in a 30-year retrospective on the episode, which states David Zuckerman and Bill Boulware scripted the whole thing, including the monologue. What is known is that Avery was greatly impressed by the raw emotion of Smith's performance, complimenting his acting skills after the scene had concluded. Karyn Parsons, who could be heard crying backstage in the aired episode, also stated that while the monologue was scripted, Smith had done it another way in the rehearsals. He didn't go in the dramatic route it took until the day it was taped. Smith himself notes in an interview about the scene that it wasn't until Avery pulled him aside during filming and gave him a pep talk with tips on how to reach the emotional state Will needed to be in; after a perfect take, during the hug Avery whispered into his ear, "That's fucking acting right there."
  • Other variations exist, including that elements of the scene were improvised, such as Will and Uncle Phil's hug at the end. None of this has ever actually been confirmed, and appears to be wishful thinking on the part of the viewers.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Laurence Fishburne was offered the role of Lou, but the producers felt his demeanor was too laid back for the part. That and also Fishburne is seven years older than Will Smith. It was later offered to Ben Vereen.
  • In the initial draft, Lou was originally a pool hustler, but Will Smith insisted that the character have a real job, so they decided to make him a truck driver.

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