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Bellaire the Official Podcast is produced

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by I Heart Podcast Network and Peacock.

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Hey, we're back with episode eight

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of bell Air the Official Podcast.

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I am d J Jazzy Jeff, and I'm

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Chrystal West. I'm so glad to be back

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here with you. Jeff. We just watched the season

0:17

finale of Bellair. I can't

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believe the season is already over and flew

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by. What did you think? I am so angry

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that this is over? But this has been

0:26

an amazing journey.

0:28

I mean, these episodes are

0:30

packed with everything. It

0:33

was filled with a lot of drama. Things

0:35

were emotional from the very beginning. We

0:37

saw Will and Philip Vill's art event

0:39

Steel reconnecting with his brothers. Will

0:42

telling Lisa how he felt. Did

0:45

you see that coming? No? I

0:47

didn't see it coming, and I was excited because

0:49

it seemed like she was trying

0:51

to receive it. And then all

0:54

hell broke loose. M yes,

0:56

and speaking of hell, we

0:59

have got to talk of Lou. That

1:01

was such a build up to this reveal.

1:04

I would love to get your thoughts on it, Jeff.

1:06

Was this what you thought it would be like between Lou

1:08

and Will? Well? I didn't know, and

1:11

I think that was a good sign of

1:13

me just really curious of what

1:15

this weird dynamic that everybody

1:17

was hiding from Will about. Lou

1:20

I thought it was really great at how

1:22

complex they made his character, you

1:24

know, like his own father had been in jail

1:27

and you know that had been so you

1:30

know, destructive to his relationship

1:32

with his dad that he thought staying

1:34

away from Will was for Will's

1:37

betterment, you know, instead of you

1:39

know, Will thinking that he's

1:41

the dead beat dad. It kind of showed

1:44

two sides of the coin. Yeah,

1:46

Will is dealing with the feeling of having been

1:48

abandoned by his father, um and then

1:50

learning that there's more to the story than

1:53

just that. But you know, this

1:55

is a sticky situation. Lou has been gone

1:57

for a long time. He still has his feeling

2:00

he's maybe not emotionally mature enough

2:02

to deal with Will's on you

2:05

know, feelings and anger and all that.

2:07

So when the conversation shifts towards Vide

2:10

and Loui is really critical of Vibe,

2:12

that's where Will was like, Okay, what you're not, don't

2:15

doubt about that's what you're

2:18

dude. I'm grateful last never appreciate

2:22

watch your mouth talking about my mom

2:24

one of the truth. Boy, what's up? Being

2:27

with your mama was worse? Misteakot and made in my life

2:29

better fun out talking my my mom like that. You

2:31

better back up, take that base out

2:33

your voice or something

2:39

jumping. Could you touch him, Luke, I

2:41

didn't come here to be disrespecting. You earned the respect.

2:44

I think you're the one that came looking for me. Remember

2:47

if I had him, would you have showed up?

2:49

She was one? Yeah,

2:52

you're not gonna talk about her? And that

2:54

was real because you kind of saw them

2:56

bonding a little bit that you almost thought

2:59

like, ok, you know now that Will knows a

3:01

little bit more of the truth, you know, maybe

3:03

he'll be a little bit more open to accepting

3:06

his dad in But once his dad

3:08

crossed that line, he lost.

3:11

It was not trying to hear that at

3:13

all. Such an incredible moment,

3:15

and you know, as you as someone

3:17

who was part of the original cast, you know probably

3:19

better than anyone that's seen in the original

3:21

show. Where Will unleashes all that anger

3:24

and hurt at his father in that speech

3:26

to Uncle Phil after Lou walked out yet

3:28

again, it was just such a seminal moment

3:30

in the series. What was it like for

3:32

you to watch Jabari Banks have his

3:35

own version of that moment here? And

3:37

do you think it was different seeing him

3:40

being able to direct that anger

3:43

straight at Lou instead of having

3:45

Uncle Phil be that barrier for it. I

3:48

think definitely on this one. This wasn't

3:50

the sitcom version. This was the real life

3:52

version. This is what would happen in

3:54

real life. You know, of

3:56

these were raw emotions. You

3:59

know that they were showing towards

4:01

each other. I'm not even gonna just give it to Will but

4:04

lose perspective, you know, right

4:06

or wrong. Lou was showing that perspective

4:08

to Will, Will was showing it back. It

4:11

was exactly how it would be in

4:13

real life, which I commend this show

4:16

for dotting eyes and crossing tees,

4:18

you know when it comes down to the realism

4:21

of how these situations will be. Yeah,

4:23

and a lot more custom than you can get away with on network

4:26

TV in the nineties.

4:29

Yes, scene,

4:31

oh yeah, Will did not hold

4:33

back well. Today we will

4:36

be looking back at highlights from this season

4:38

and getting a sneak peek of

4:40

what we can expect in season two.

4:43

That's right, Jeff, So let's start with you. What were

4:45

some of your favorite moments from the season, Well,

4:48

I mean I had a couple of them. I enjoyed Jazz,

4:51

of course. I enjoyed Jazz the fact that he

4:53

had his own record store. Um.

4:56

I enjoyed the fact that Jazz

4:58

got to pursue his relationship

5:00

with Hillary, and also that

5:03

he kind of showed that he is

5:05

this calming force. It seems

5:07

like with everybody, you know, I'm I'm

5:10

gonna check Hillary and tell her, you

5:12

know, that she's better than that and she needs

5:14

to be, you know, doing more. And

5:16

I'm gonna pull Will aside and give

5:19

will some sound advice, whether it be on a

5:21

basketball court, you know, or overlooking

5:23

the city. You know. He has shown that

5:25

he's been there. Um. So I really

5:28

enjoyed that relationship. I agree.

5:30

I think for me, can

5:33

I say everything because I have enjoyed so much

5:35

of this, Yes, But I

5:37

think what has struck me the most is,

5:41

as crazy as it might sound to say, Carlton. Carlton

5:45

was a character I could not

5:49

from the very beginning, From the very

5:51

beginning with the Book of Sugar and everything, I

5:53

was like this boy. But what

5:55

was so interesting about Carlton was that although

5:58

I could not stand the character. I

6:01

also felt like I could understand where

6:03

he was coming from, and I loved

6:05

that he wasn't just a

6:07

one note bad guy, you know, here

6:09

to be the villain and and rain

6:12

on Will's parade. For the entire season,

6:14

we got to see the growth in Carlton,

6:16

him overcoming that initial jealousy

6:19

and getting now to a place

6:21

where he is in a

6:23

space of questioning his father, which

6:25

is something he probably was never really comfortable

6:28

doing before, kind of would have just always taken

6:30

his dad's word for things and

6:32

always trying to please him, always

6:34

trying to gain his approval. And now we see

6:37

Carlton looking his father dead in the eyes,

6:39

hearing him tell a lie, and choosing

6:42

to go off and and help

6:44

Will. And when Will stormed out, slipping

6:46

that money clip in his pocket like

6:49

like a loving cousin would

6:51

do, it was just I think

6:54

seeing Carlton's growth and progress

6:56

has has truly been one

6:58

of the best things about this

7:01

this season. For me. Yeah. Yeah,

7:03

It's It's a true sign of

7:05

a great actor or actress

7:08

when fans don't like them

7:10

because of their performance, and you

7:12

know, and Carlton was the

7:14

one that no one liked and

7:17

didn't realize that you probably like

7:19

him more than anybody else. I

7:23

mean, and we didn't like him for a good reason, but

7:26

you know, he had

7:28

the chance to redeem himself and I'm so

7:30

glad he did. Um Well. Today,

7:33

we are so excited to welcome back co showrunners

7:35

t J. Brady and Rashid Nusson, who

7:38

are the perfect guest to have for

7:40

the finale because not only can they

7:42

give us some insight into some of these great moments

7:44

from the season, but also let us know

7:46

what we can expect in season two. They might be

7:48

a little tight lipped, but you

7:50

know, just give us a little something. Oh

7:53

yeah, we can we even ask, you know. T

7:55

J and Rashid have been writing partners since

7:58

two thousand eight. Together, they've written for

8:00

and produced such shows as The one hundred

8:02

Army Wives, Shooter and The Shy Bellaire.

8:05

Is their first job as co showrunners,

8:08

and we had great conversations with these two

8:10

on previous episodes. So I cannot

8:13

wait to talk to these guys again because

8:16

I'm gonna find out something

8:18

about what's coming up in season two

8:20

and I want to dig into

8:22

that scene with Lou and Will. So

8:26

without further ado, here's our

8:28

conversation with t J and Rashid. We

8:33

are so excited to be

8:35

joined today by t J. Brady and Rashid

8:38

Newsom are show runners of bel

8:40

Air, and I have to say, first and foremost

8:43

so impressed. Jeff, would you like to talk

8:45

just a little bit about that, since you know you

8:47

were part of the relation, just being

8:49

being from the original cast, not really

8:52

knowing what to expect and

8:54

then getting this. It has

8:56

so far exceeded any of

8:59

my ex spectations. This is you

9:02

know, I've said this and saying

9:04

it very honest. This is the best

9:06

show on television right now.

9:09

And I am I am, I am extremely

9:12

honored and happy to have

9:14

any kind of participation in

9:16

this. This would be the show that I would be watching

9:19

and binge watching every week. So

9:21

to be able to watch it and then talk about

9:23

it is amazing, amazing.

9:26

Congratulations to you guys. Thank

9:29

you. I'm hearing that from

9:31

you. Jeff is is meta

9:33

on Meta on Meta dream

9:35

come true. Um, thank you so

9:38

much. Rashid and I

9:40

have a great team around us, from

9:43

you know, him being on my team, from our

9:45

our partners and producing partners, to the

9:47

entire crew. Everybody made

9:49

this happen and I just feel blessed that

9:51

we could be a part of it. We had a wonderful

9:53

advantage that I didn't know we could count

9:56

on. But everybody who worked

9:58

on this show, so the Fresh Prince of bel Air, nobody

10:00

was already a fan of the original series

10:03

of Betimes. You're on a show and people aren't

10:06

rowing in the same direction. They've got different

10:08

ideas about what the show should be and

10:10

why we're here. And sometimes you have people

10:12

want to show they're just here for a paycheck, they're indifferent

10:15

to what they're working on, just just clocking

10:18

in on clocking out. Everybody

10:20

cared and it showed and everyone's

10:23

work. That's interesting because I was just gonna

10:25

ask what your experience has been

10:27

like working on the show with

10:29

Morgan and the whole cast, and it sounds like

10:32

because everyone was a fan from the

10:34

original Fresh Prince of the nineties,

10:36

that things kind of went in a more seamless

10:38

direction than they would have otherwise.

10:41

Well, you mentioned working with Morgan.

10:43

Morgan's trailer that went online provided

10:46

a visual template, a tone,

10:49

a vibe did Most shows

10:51

struggle for half a season

10:53

to find if they ever find it at all.

10:56

We had it right out the gate. Huge

10:58

advantage, huge advantage. I mean,

11:01

he gave birth to the idea of this

11:03

show, but he also helped

11:05

us, you know, with so many things

11:07

right off the bat that are up for debate

11:09

that we're never up for. Morgan's passion

11:12

was contagious. I mean, everybody was, everybody felt

11:14

that they were working on something special. Um

11:17

during the auditions, I had to stop watching

11:19

the slates because people people would be

11:22

making a personal appeal about I've got

11:24

to play this character. I've got to play this role.

11:26

I was born to do this. God told

11:28

me in a dream, this role with Yea

11:31

that I just had to stop wat we heard, we heard those

11:35

d you know, you can only pick one person. But

11:38

but people and every department came to

11:40

this. It was a passion project,

11:42

and you normally don't get an entire cast

11:44

and crew that feels that way about what they're

11:46

making. Yeah, but I also think that,

11:49

you know, that's great to have

11:51

that in the beginning, but then to deliver

11:54

on that, like from the very first

11:56

episode, you guys delivered

11:58

it, and it was it was eye popping

12:01

that you know, I'm watching this and

12:03

asking myself, have I ever seen

12:05

anything this authentic on television,

12:08

you know, especially me coming from Philly,

12:11

me being one of the original cast. I'm

12:13

looking at a real life version

12:16

of the Fresh Prince of bel Air.

12:18

Yeah, I mean, that's why it was important to us

12:21

to go to Philly. I mean, you see six in

12:23

market right up there on this. I mean we

12:25

were at market and right

12:27

off the side of where the camera

12:29

is pointing. I mean, the community came

12:31

out and supported. They couldn't be more excited

12:34

and just engaging that community

12:37

from the beginning and not not faking

12:40

it, you know, letting everybody know this

12:42

is Philly, this is West Philly.

12:44

We were not trying to paper over

12:46

that. We are here sweating because

12:48

it was hot. I'm

12:51

glad we went, but a little behind the scenes. That

12:53

was not an easy call in the middle of a pandemic.

12:56

I mean, you got it, you. I mean the meetings we had to

12:58

have about Okay, we're gonna take number

13:00

one on the call sheet to Philadelphia. What

13:03

are you gonna do if he catches COVID and

13:05

what I mean we're supposed to come back to l A

13:07

and start shooting on Monday. What are you gonna do if

13:09

he gets if he if he catches COVID, what's our

13:11

backup plan? And and so you're just talking

13:13

about all these protocols to keep

13:16

him safe, to keep everybody safe, the

13:18

crew. It was a very risky

13:20

move, but artistically we had to argue

13:22

we've got to go there. We just I mean, if

13:25

we try to shoot Philadelphia on the back, loot

13:27

in l all the

13:30

audience right,

13:33

and you're already in the hole. Yeah,

13:36

And the authenticity is very much appreciated.

13:38

It shines through in the series

13:41

over and over. So if we can, I would

13:43

love to dive into this finale. It

13:46

was not short on the trauma, the

13:48

mess, the excitement. A

13:50

lot of that is surrounding lou Will's

13:53

dad, who, of course, in the original Fresh

13:55

Prince didn't appear until a few seasons,

13:57

And I'd love to hear why you why

14:00

you guys decided to introduce him

14:02

now and at such a

14:04

moment for Will Well,

14:07

I mean, you know, a lot goes

14:09

into that discussion, A lot

14:11

of mention had been made

14:14

here and there. You

14:16

know Will not having a father, you know,

14:18

right in the beginning in the pilot, him

14:21

looking at Phil going I'm not your son, you

14:23

know, like letting us know in subtle

14:25

ways that this was a core wound

14:28

for this character that maybe

14:31

you know, explained a lot

14:33

of things and actions he was

14:35

doing, um, and bringing it to

14:37

a head of he's in a good place

14:40

with the bank's family. Um.

14:43

But then the scab gets ripped off of

14:45

that core wound and he finds out that

14:48

you know, his history, that that

14:50

history he's been given is

14:52

not the truth. And what's

14:54

he going to do with that? We just thought is storytellers,

14:57

there was a good place to shift the rama

15:01

of getting this young man to a good place

15:03

where the family and find out that they

15:05

haven't been given him the real truth all

15:07

these years. It's also a

15:09

way to continue that the story

15:11

we're telling about will shifting identity.

15:14

I mean, this is this is still a fish out of water

15:17

story. This is still a story about a young man who's

15:19

learning who he is and that definition is expanding.

15:22

So in the beginning he's saying, I'm from West

15:24

Philly, I'm not bel Air. Well,

15:26

through the season we get him to reconcile that

15:29

another thing he believes about himself is my father

15:31

abandoned me and and and left me. Well,

15:34

we've got to flip that on its head too. He has to redefine

15:37

who he is, and it gives us something to work

15:39

on going into season two. I mean, we

15:41

were very lucky to have a two season order. It

15:43

meant that we knew we'd be able to continue

15:46

storylines beyond

15:48

this this first ten episodes, and

15:50

so Lose great for us because it really supercharges

15:53

us. I mean, we have to come back next season

15:55

and put this family back together,

15:58

and we'll have to put him elf back together.

16:00

So it gives us a great way to

16:03

kind of end the season. I thought it was great

16:05

because, you know, in the original version

16:08

of the show, the moment with Will and

16:10

Uncle Phil and his father was so

16:13

iconic, like that resonated with

16:15

everybody. How much of that scene

16:17

was in your mind when you kind

16:19

of scripted Jabari because Jabari went

16:22

ham on his dad, he went I

16:26

was sitting in like wow. I

16:29

mean it shows it shows how much

16:32

hurt and pain, sense

16:34

of loss had been in that

16:36

the character of that young man all

16:39

these years. It was also a lot of in

16:41

the room. I mean we I mean this, we knew

16:43

what we were playing with, and

16:45

we you know, as you go through the episode, there's a

16:47

moment where they're kind of getting along like they're bonding

16:50

and we're going, well, what's going to be the trip wire?

16:53

And it's like, oh, well he should say something about his mother,

16:56

like, well, not gonna stand for that. You're

16:58

not gonna You're not gonna bad mount my mama. It's

17:01

also not taking responsibility,

17:04

like she's the one who pushed me to household.

17:06

She's the one who did. Like even

17:08

like he couldn't take responsibility for the

17:11

choices he made to put him in prison,

17:13

for the choices he made to not

17:15

see his son or reach out to his son all

17:18

these years. And then he's going to put

17:20

it on you know, Will's

17:22

mom wrong answer, and

17:25

we wanted to do it, but we also knew we had

17:27

to put our own spin

17:29

on it. So what's great about the one where

17:31

when Ben Vereen comes in and plays Will's

17:33

dad is it leads to this

17:36

great hug between Uncle Phil

17:38

and Will. It's it is their bonding moment. Yeah,

17:40

that's not what's happening in this episode. You

17:43

know, he's like, I'm actually pissed at you out

17:45

too. You should

17:47

be, I mean I want you to be. I want

17:49

everybody to be upset. It's

17:51

kind of like the thing I'll say is

17:53

if you look at how we started the season with Carlton

17:56

and the way it made people feel, and

17:59

you start to see the shift to

18:01

how people are starting to feel about Carlton

18:03

right about now. It's

18:06

different. Like I said in an interview

18:08

the other day, as storytellers,

18:11

our enemy is apathy. We

18:13

want people to feel something, whether

18:15

it's happy, sad, anger,

18:19

joy, whatever, it is the

18:21

biggest thing. I mean, I find myself turning

18:23

off shows in the middle. You know, I'll be watching

18:26

someone with my wife, I'll turn off and I'll

18:28

just I'll say, I just don't care. But

18:30

if you're mad, you care. We

18:33

relished working on these scenes and put a lot

18:35

into them. I have never worked

18:37

on any set of pages that got more

18:39

scrutiny all around

18:42

me. Everybody from the studios

18:44

to the network. We're reading these pages between

18:47

Will and lou and questioning

18:49

what are we doing and investing and it

18:52

was saying, oh, man, are we really

18:54

gonna blow this family up? And yet to remind

18:56

everybody, we're coming back next season. We can put

18:58

it back together, all

19:00

right. And some people were saying, well, should

19:03

Will really be mad at them? And I

19:05

loved it because we had a meeting and I can't. I think it might

19:07

have been Morgan who just sort of said, Will is

19:09

a seventeen year old boy. Yes,

19:12

he gets to be angry, he

19:14

gets to displace his anger. Maybe

19:16

in you know, season two, he'll realize I overreacted,

19:19

but for this moment, he can be mad

19:21

at everybody. Yes, and

19:25

yeah he right. First of all, he was he

19:27

did not hold back um.

19:29

And also I love that we got to see

19:31

a teenage black boy let

19:34

his emotions out without grown

19:36

people swinging on him or you

19:38

know, stepping out of you know, I feel

19:40

like we have a lot of conversations about children

19:43

staying in a child's place, but adults are

19:45

the ones who need to know their places. Like,

19:47

you're the adult here, You're the one whose

19:50

brain is fully formed. You're the one who

19:52

needs to have, you know, self

19:54

control. Catty

19:56

was great about that because you know, when he kind of going

19:58

at them in the foy, you

20:01

know, I talked to her and she was like, you know, she goes, what makes

20:03

this moment hurt? Is I have to eat this? Yeah?

20:06

Yeah, yeah for

20:08

ten years I did. I mean, I

20:11

have to just sit in this even

20:13

though it's really hard to hear and

20:15

I think she plays it so beautifully. And

20:18

she says that her character Viv

20:20

says to Lou after

20:23

he goes off, goes off

20:25

and drops some really hard language

20:28

at Lou. She says, Lou, he's

20:30

just a boy. If you care

20:33

about him, to give him a little time and

20:35

talk to him again. And of course, the character

20:37

we set up in Lou like he made his choice. He's got

20:39

to live with the consequences because Lu is

20:41

not in a place. You

20:43

know, at that point, Lou is

20:46

really not mature enough to accept that

20:48

you know his son's feelings. So we talked

20:51

about that in the room too. I mean, you know you can't.

20:53

It's hard to just show up and just start being a parent.

20:55

I mean, this is like you've been gone for

20:57

a long time. You know. You gotta put

20:59

that working day and day out year after

21:01

year, and so Lu doesn't really have the capacity

21:04

to be who will needs

21:06

him to be. And you're not showing up to a

21:08

parent the four year old that you left.

21:11

This is a boy who's almost grown

21:13

and and has been through a lot

21:15

without you. And I love that you

21:17

all switched it up from Lou just

21:20

being a deadbeat like he was in the original to

21:22

him having a more complex story here, a story

21:24

that Will himself even felt

21:27

a lot of empathy for his dad. You

21:29

know, he was in jail. He had these

21:31

priors that made it harder for him to stay

21:33

out. His own dad had

21:35

been in jail, which hurt their relationships.

21:38

So he didn't want Will to see him like that. Why

21:40

did you all decide to go this route

21:42

with the character? And do you do you think

21:44

we'll see him again? Because honestly, to me, that last line

21:46

of you know, he'll have to deal with the consequences, I felt

21:49

a little ominous. I was like, now, wait a minute, you

21:52

just gotta give him a little time. Came here to make

21:54

things right for that boy, but he made his choice.

21:57

Now he's gonna be the one that has to live with the consequences,

21:59

not me. I

22:02

think over the course of you know, hopefully

22:04

five six, seven seasons. Oh, we want

22:06

to see him. First

22:08

of all, we love Marlon is a person

22:11

and an actor, and working at him was fantastic.

22:14

That reveal was great. I was

22:16

a little nervous because he walked

22:18

in and you couldn't tell who it was until

22:21

he turned around, and it was just like,

22:24

that's lou hopefully we'll see

22:26

him again. That's that's all I can say, and making

22:28

no promises, but in our hearts would

22:30

love to love to see him again. But I'll just

22:32

as a peek behind the curtain. There was

22:35

even a story like the one we had. There was a

22:37

great deal of debate in the writer's room and

22:39

and all along the chain, because

22:41

there's a version of the story we talked about doing where

22:44

v decided I'm not taking my little

22:46

boy down to the prison to

22:48

see his father behind glass. That she was the

22:50

one who said, I'm not I'm

22:52

not gonna put that. I'm not gonna have that in his head. And

22:55

we went back and forth between what that meant

22:57

and who would be to blame, and that

23:00

version sort of took Lou off the hook

23:03

if I was the one to say, well, I'm gonna

23:05

disconnect you from your son, and

23:08

we wanted, we wanted Lou to own

23:10

more of what he'd done. So that's

23:12

why we landed where we landed. So

23:14

was that the point of making lose character

23:17

and his back story so much more complex

23:20

than he was in the original. Was it to

23:22

kind of get Will to see

23:24

that things weren't always as he

23:26

thought and you know, even

23:28

the people that he thought he could trust the most had

23:31

sort of been lying to him all this time,

23:33

Like what was what was the reason for that development?

23:36

We wanted to give everybody a compelling reason

23:38

to make a tough choice. Um,

23:41

you know, you don't want to have to tell a four year old,

23:43

well, your daddy's in prison and he doesn't want to

23:45

see you, right, I

23:47

mean, what how will he handle that? So

23:50

it was sort of easier to just let it drift

23:52

away. He's gone, baby, and I don't know when

23:54

he's coming back. But when you tell

23:57

that lie, how do you will? At what

23:59

age do you go? Hey, seven

24:01

year old, you know what I told you? When you well,

24:05

your dad is actually in jail and he doesn't want

24:07

to see Well, seven is still a little young, right,

24:09

Like that would be hard for a seven year old to take. Let's

24:11

wait a few more years, and you keep waiting

24:13

and waiting and waiting and wait. And that's what happened

24:15

with Viv v and Phil. I

24:18

mean, that's why we have those debates. When

24:20

Vai came out to visit

24:23

and she said to Viv, I think I

24:25

might tell him about his father. They said,

24:27

well, he might hate us. You

24:29

know. Well, I mean, and that it's

24:33

interesting because I don't think there's any good

24:35

age to tell a kid your father would

24:37

prefer to not see you. Um,

24:40

but I love that, you know. You

24:42

guys also made it that Lou had been out

24:44

of jail for three years and so had the opportunity

24:46

to find at some point

24:49

over these past three years and simply did not

24:51

do it. So again it comes

24:53

back on Lu, like, why are you making these decisions

24:56

and needing to be accountable for what

24:58

he has done? It? It's complicated.

25:01

Yeah, what hopefully back is pride.

25:04

His pride gets in the way of him doing

25:06

what he's supposed to do, which is not unlike

25:08

his son. We're in Will

25:10

is living in bel air because pride led him out

25:13

to that basketball course, because you just

25:15

let it go. So as

25:17

much as Will may rail against his father,

25:20

there there are connections between them. But

25:22

you know, Will is at least seventeen, so right,

25:25

I mean the thing. The thing is, so we wanted

25:27

to make it complicated and messy

25:30

because real life is complicated and

25:32

messy. Um. You know,

25:35

in a sitcom you have to make it quick,

25:37

you have to make it clearly understandable.

25:40

We need things in a drama

25:43

that take a while to figure out and

25:45

take a while to unpack. And and you

25:48

know, we're not doing a crime procedural

25:51

drama where every forty two

25:53

minutes we find the killer and put him in jail.

25:55

You know, we gotta go on and on

25:57

and on, and so all these issues

25:59

were talking about right now are conversations

26:02

that are going to continue into the second

26:04

season because good news, people, we got

26:06

our second season. Yeah, it's happening. And

26:09

one of the things we do with characters like

26:11

Lou, because it's very easy to look

26:13

at Lou through Will's eyes, are the people we know. But

26:16

you have to ask yourself, what's the story. Lou tells himself,

26:19

what's the heroic version of this? Lou,

26:22

in his mind thinks, I did

26:24

my son a favor. I did not burn

26:26

him with this legacy. I did

26:28

not burn him with having to see me like this, which

26:30

is what my father did to me, and I

26:32

feel that it held me back. I

26:34

cut you say, cut you loose, I say, I cut

26:36

you free. That is what

26:39

he believes, and so that gave us a

26:41

lot to work with in those scenes. And

26:43

that's real, that is real, that happens

26:46

a lot of times that two people

26:49

you know, believe that they're doing the right thing, and

26:51

they're doing completely different, opposite

26:54

versions of that thing that

26:57

you know, each of them say that the other

26:59

is wrong. It was born out of a real

27:02

We got one of the writers in our room,

27:04

right, Rashid from his father

27:07

was a prison guard who had seen

27:09

this type of thing where people don't bring

27:11

the child back here, but my heart can't take it,

27:13

and I don't think they should see it either, don't

27:15

bring the child back down here. Well, yeah,

27:18

so difficult conversations

27:20

that you know are leading to a lot of drama

27:23

and fireworks. This episode had

27:25

so much of that, plus this great cliffhanger

27:27

where we don't know what Will's next move is

27:29

gonna be um and it also touched

27:32

on so many of the themes and relationships

27:34

that we have been talking about throughout the season.

27:37

So I want to switch to Phil and Viv and talk about

27:39

them a little bit. The episode starts off

27:41

showing us how their dynamics have come, you

27:44

know, full circle in a way. She's shining

27:46

as an artist and he just gets to kind of sit

27:48

back in the background and and beam

27:50

and be proud of her and support

27:53

her. We see his friendly exchanges

27:55

with his alpha bros. And he

27:57

seems to kind of come back to

27:59

remember who he used to be, you

28:01

know, when he was Yamacra, before he was

28:04

you know, the man he has become.

28:06

So can you all talk about the

28:09

journey that Phil and Viv have

28:11

gone through the season, both individually

28:13

and as a unit. I mean, as

28:15

a unit, they've basically swapped places.

28:18

When the season started, Viv was

28:20

in the background and Phil it was his

28:22

fundraiser. He's this, you know, the candidate,

28:24

and people are donating and he's going to do all these

28:26

great things. By the end,

28:29

Viv is the center of attention and he's

28:31

in the back and you know, people asking

28:33

him because remember the episode before

28:36

he stepped down out of the d A Race

28:39

two preserve the secret

28:41

of what he did for will and to protect his family.

28:44

I can say this, I mean, Phil is

28:46

still a little in shock from that in this episode

28:49

unfamiliar. This is a man who has never

28:51

lost in his life, you

28:53

know, and even though he got

28:56

out of the race willingly, he did not accomplish

28:58

his goal. And so there's gonna be a lot

29:00

for us to unpack going into

29:02

season two. With that feeling

29:05

in his soul and with Viv taken

29:07

off like a rocket. I think it's been fun

29:09

to watch them navigate.

29:12

They're they're competing ambitions, and

29:15

I think we're having a very honest conversation

29:17

about the fact that it's hard for both of us.

29:19

Can't go out there and be the lead singer. Somebody

29:22

got sing back up, Ye, Who's who's

29:24

it comed be? And some marriages they

29:27

take turns and some somebody kind of always

29:29

is the lead. It's been great to watch I

29:31

think this evolution. I mean, these are the little things that

29:33

we kind of geek out on as a writer. But

29:35

when you look at Phil's party, it was during the

29:37

day, it was outside, brightly lit,

29:40

and it wasn't a fun party. Everybody kept

29:42

telling you it wasn't a fun

29:44

party. Whereas this one with

29:46

with on Viv, it's at night, it's indoors,

29:49

it's sexy, it's dark,

29:51

and it's artwork and there are stars there. Everybody

29:54

is ignoring themselves, and so I

29:56

just I love that flip that

29:58

they went to a world that was a little

30:00

bit it had more soul than the one they

30:02

had been inhabiting. And that's also a

30:04

sort of a metaphor for Will walking into their life.

30:07

We were we were sort of somewhere sterile and

30:10

artificial before he got here, and

30:12

now we're back to our roots were tapped in

30:14

again. Yeah, but you know, I did

30:16

my heart broke for Will, just because

30:20

the sheer number of emotions he went through,

30:22

and then that feeling of like

30:25

maybe a little bit of hopefulness when you

30:27

see him and lou on the couch and it looks

30:29

like, you know, they're bonding over the sixes game and

30:32

maybe things are gonna be okay, And then Loose

30:34

starts talking about Will's mother and all hell

30:36

breaks loose, and so

30:38

you know, he ends up feeling not

30:40

just rejected by his father

30:43

or betrayed by his father, but also lied to,

30:45

but all by all the adults that

30:47

he loves and trust who are supposed to be looking

30:49

out for him. So maybe

30:52

you all can't talk about it too much, but I would love

30:54

to know, like the impact

30:56

of this moment meeting his father and

30:59

and and the reject from the parentals,

31:01

how much of that are we going to discover and

31:03

and dive deeper into in season

31:05

two. It's where we have to pick up the story

31:07

because here was this young man who

31:10

came to them very guarded, and

31:12

he let his guards down. He let himself become

31:14

a part of this family, and he trusted them

31:17

in ways that he had not trusted probably

31:19

anyone except his mama. And

31:21

now I found out you've been playing me, you

31:24

lie to me, Um,

31:26

I think it's gonna be very

31:28

hard for them to rebuild those bonds

31:31

and to re earn that trust again. And

31:33

let's not forget there came a

31:35

time over the course of the season they

31:38

had decided we'll just not tell him, We'll just not tell him.

31:40

There were a couple of times over the season he asked

31:43

his aunt and uncle and his mom point blank, what's

31:45

the deal with my father? And

31:47

they did not. I mean, as a

31:49

seventeen year old, he asked them, looking them in

31:51

the eye, and

31:54

they had a chance, and they didn't. I mean,

31:56

Phil went so far as to fire Jeffrey

32:00

insanity. And

32:02

now they know, now

32:05

they know that this wasn't a family emergency.

32:07

And and you know, and

32:11

Phil directly to Carlton's

32:14

face too. And when Carlton looked

32:16

him in the eye just like Will did and received

32:18

that lie back from his dad, I think that was

32:20

a huge moment, and it was really

32:22

reflective of how Carlton and Will's relationship

32:25

has changed so much over

32:28

the season. My god, Carlton

32:31

public enemy number one when we started

32:34

the season. Yeah, yeah, and

32:36

so can we talk a little bit about that relationship

32:38

and the changing dynamics between them?

32:41

Yeah. I mean, look, when when

32:45

Will showed up at that party, we all

32:47

remember the look on Carlton's face. Pilot

32:50

uh and talking to Lisa and just you

32:52

know, push his Will in the pool at the end of the

32:55

pilot because he's with Lisa and

32:57

they hate each other and fist fight, and

32:59

by the end, Carlton is that

33:01

Lisa's door with tears in his eyes, begging

33:03

her to help him get Will back. I need you to help me

33:05

find Well, he's gone missing. Missing. Yeah,

33:08

he left a few hours ago and no one knows where

33:10

he is. He stood me up today, Carlton, after

33:12

he told me he loved me. He stood me up. His

33:14

dad showed up at the house today. Oh

33:18

my god. Yeah. And it was bad,

33:20

Lisa, it was so bad. It's like everything

33:22

that he was afraid of about his father is

33:24

true, but it's somehow worse because my parents

33:27

had been lying to him this whole time. I

33:29

think it was all too much for him to take. And so he

33:32

ran away and

33:34

and I don't know if he's going to come back, so you have to help me

33:36

find him. Lease. He

33:38

never turned his back on me, and

33:42

I needed that and

33:45

I needed that. No, so please

33:48

please help

33:50

me find him, please Jesus.

33:55

Also, Carlton is the one who delivers when you say,

33:57

well goes are out asking this question, who

34:00

is my father? Who? If I asked Jeffrey, Jeffrey gets

34:02

fired. Carlton is the one who carries that

34:04

ball across across the goal line. He's

34:06

the one who says, here, I'm putting the answers in your

34:08

hand. I am defining my father.

34:11

I'm in his office. I am getting

34:13

this for you, and I know it's

34:15

gonna be rough, but here you go. I

34:18

mean, Will takes it and says I don't want to

34:20

open this, and Cardon does you gotta? I

34:22

mean, he gives he He does the thing that

34:24

that I think Jeffrey told fails to do, which is you

34:26

should have given him the encouragement to

34:28

open this thing. Carlton comes

34:30

through for well. I love

34:33

that, Yes he does. So we

34:35

feel that's that whole relationship

34:37

has taken on an amazing arc and

34:39

hopefully the viewers on an amazing

34:42

ride with how they feel about carl the character

34:44

of Carlton, oh completely,

34:47

because I couldn't said,

34:50

yeah, listen, I've

34:53

always said when you don't

34:55

like a character, that means they're doing their

34:57

job, because that's not actually

35:00

who you know. Only is for

35:02

everyone to have this hatred

35:05

In the first few episodes of Oh my

35:07

God, I hate Carlton. I hate Carlton. I

35:09

hate Carlton, and then you see the sentiment

35:12

just kind of change. You know, well, Carlton

35:14

is going through some things and to watch

35:16

this go full circle is

35:19

absolutely amazing. Yeah,

35:21

and we we love him as a

35:24

person as an actor and

35:26

just he has shown amazing poise

35:29

and strength of character dealing with a lot of

35:31

the crazy that has been thrown at

35:33

him online and uh like

35:35

a pro. Like a pro because

35:37

he is a pro. And it is exciting because

35:39

now we're at that point where we can play

35:42

the friendship of it all like they can be ado.

35:45

I'm looking forward to season two where you can put

35:47

you know, Will, Carlton

35:49

and Jazz together out there,

35:52

like just have the three of the and

35:54

and tearing out. I mean like now, like it's

35:56

like, oh, now we get to tell those stories,

35:59

and it feels think a little earned because

36:01

you know, you know, they've been through some things now, I mean

36:04

they've been between nine and ten, they

36:06

were really there for each other, and

36:09

I think that bond now allows us to have a

36:11

great place to go in season

36:13

two. We have to talk about Jazz and

36:16

Hillary. We absolutely

36:18

have to talk about Jazz and Hilly. So I was it

36:21

was mind blowing to see them kiss earlier

36:23

in the season. I was kind of like, Okay, didn't get a chance

36:25

to do that, but I get it. Um. But

36:30

we see the way that Jazz supports,

36:32

you know, Hillary in her career and pushes

36:35

her to be you know, like be

36:37

your true self. Um. At the

36:39

end of the episode, she takes advice and

36:41

it looks like this is gonna pay off.

36:44

What was the decision to finally

36:46

bring these two together? Um?

36:48

And I'm really curious, you know, once

36:50

again, since we talked about season two, um,

36:53

where that relationship is going to go. Well,

36:56

I mean one of the reasons that happened, I mean we were we

36:58

had talked about teasing it. The

37:01

chemistry between Coco and Jordan's

37:04

was so good. We were like, we can't

37:06

run away from this. Yeah, yeah, I

37:08

mean because we're not playing for laughs,

37:11

like we're playing for drama and intrigue

37:13

and people leaning forward. That's where it went. You

37:16

know, we hadn't meeting like the in Jazz's

37:18

record store, and you know,

37:20

we had a couple of scenes and we wanted to just

37:22

sort of have a little bit of chemistry

37:25

and fun. But it was so good you're like,

37:27

oh, we we we can't, we can't

37:29

not go there. It also was great

37:32

to have a relationship that in a

37:34

lot of ways on paper looks like it shouldn't

37:36

work. And I won't even get into people online

37:38

like the height difference people,

37:42

and so I kind of enjoy watching this

37:44

couple that you go, well, why does this work?

37:47

But it works? And

37:49

we also though it works, but we want people

37:51

to ask how long can

37:54

this work? You know, her background,

37:56

his background, where she lives,

37:58

what she does, where he lives, what he does.

38:01

You know, they're gonna have fun, but there

38:03

are when you get in a relationship and you

38:05

get past the brand new phase, there are

38:07

things to figure out, and that's where it's going

38:10

in season two. Yeah, I mean I like playing

38:12

with just thinking of like who are their exes? And

38:14

what does that look like? Hillary

38:18

is active. I mean, it's private planes,

38:21

it's trips to Dubade, you

38:23

know, and and and it's like, you

38:25

know, you kind of go with your Jazz, Well, how long is she gonna

38:27

be happy with me taking her too? You

38:29

know Roscoe's chicken and water, Like

38:33

when does she you know? And and it's

38:35

it's kind of nice to maybe have Hillary say,

38:37

well, actually I love

38:39

this. I know you think I want that, but

38:42

I'm happy here. Um. I think

38:44

We've got a lot of story to tell with them. I'm

38:46

really excited about them in season two. Yeah, and

38:48

I love that we get more of Jazz

38:50

as a character. We

38:53

see him, like Jeff was

38:55

just saying, pushing Hillary um

38:58

to be more independent,

39:00

um, more forthright too, to

39:03

see herself as like an equal

39:06

player in this influencer game,

39:08

and to not feel so intimidated by

39:10

Karachi's character. And then also at

39:13

the end of the episode, when Jazz and Will

39:15

are looking out over l A and

39:17

and Jazz, you know, they bring up the whole

39:19

part about not letting l A forget who

39:21

you are. But then also like you

39:23

can also reconcile.

39:26

You know where you came from, where you are now,

39:29

and you can take this opportunity to

39:31

have this life that can be

39:33

better than what it was before. And that theme

39:35

of achieving success while staying

39:37

true to who you are has really been at the heart of the

39:39

show this season. How do you think that pushing

39:41

poll has affected Will throughout

39:44

the season and some of the other members

39:46

of the family like Hillary or viv It

39:48

never goes away, particularly I think

39:50

if you're I think if you're black, I mean, the

39:53

higher you go, it's still a

39:55

pushing pull of you

39:57

know, how much of my authentic self can I get

39:59

to be? Or you know, I'm trying to I'm trying

40:01

to get over I'm trying to achieve. Should

40:03

I tone this down? Should I hold this back?

40:05

Am I always going to speak my mind? Those

40:08

questions never go away. And it's great

40:10

to meet somebody young and talented and

40:13

to watch him navigate that every

40:15

time he sort of moves up in life. I mean, so,

40:17

I think that is a series long theme

40:20

and struggle for the character. We see it all

40:22

the time. I mean, you know, most

40:25

of the people of our

40:27

generation, Rashid who we work with

40:29

and stuff nobody's from l A, you

40:31

know, and so you get a lot

40:33

of people there's a

40:36

fun push and pull of discussion, people

40:39

just constantly repping their hometown all

40:41

the time, but living here, um,

40:44

you know, I find myself doing that sometimes

40:46

and then I'm like, if it's so great, why

40:48

am I hearing? How did I leave you? I'm

40:51

in that min order of people who eagerly shed where

40:54

I came from. I was like, I don't mean, but

40:58

never speak of India. I

41:00

mean, but it's like, I love where I come

41:02

from, but I don't live there, So there's something,

41:05

you know. Yeah, And

41:07

so it's because I need to be who

41:10

I really am and I and do

41:12

what I want to do, and I couldn't do that there. And

41:14

it's just so I can still be myself

41:17

and proud of who I am as a person, but

41:20

I don't need to to stay

41:22

in one place geographically to

41:25

feel authentic. And that's

41:26

what it takes the maturity to figure

41:28

that out. I think, yes, it does well.

41:31

The other thing I think is hard is you're

41:33

from a place at a particular

41:35

time, enough years

41:38

go by, you're a stranger to that land

41:40

too. All the stories are gone

41:42

at some point the connection probably

41:45

dies and that's hard to admit

41:48

and reconcile, but that's

41:50

how time works. It just you know you're

41:52

You're from Warwick, graduated

42:02

high school and nothing. Oh

42:05

man, well, gentlemen, I have to say

42:07

again, what an incredible job on season

42:09

one. We are so looking forward to season

42:12

two and since this was the finale,

42:14

we do want to share some love from the Fantasist

42:16

season. One

42:19

person on Twitter said they need to just clear bell Air

42:21

for five seasons. Jeffrey needs a spinoff.

42:23

I want to see him go on missions. They might

42:25

have taken that from my Twitter because I feel like Jeffrey's

42:28

a secret agent because we can. I want

42:30

to find out more about how Jeffrey got

42:32

all the links, all the connections

42:35

and can seem to do anything. People love

42:37

that character and I we want to explore that to Jimmy

42:39

is great as an actor, and

42:42

the trick of that role is he's

42:44

not actually telling you that much. He's not revealing

42:46

that much, but you can feel all of this playing

42:50

absolutely. You also got some love

42:53

for the dramatic reimagination of

42:55

the series. This one says Bellair

42:57

is well done. A reimagined shouldn't

42:59

be a mimicry at an homage and an evolution.

43:02

It's a different show, but the roots of tenderness

43:04

and family are clear. The spirit

43:06

is there, and I love its nuanced portrayal

43:08

of black masculinity. Could not agree

43:10

more. Yes, thank

43:12

you for reading that. Yeah, I was gonna

43:15

say those people peered into my heart. I

43:17

mean, that's exactly what we hope to do. I

43:19

know for a fact, Rashid and I all the time talk

43:22

about how grateful we are for

43:25

people's reaction to this show, and and

43:27

and grateful that the people tuned

43:29

who tuned in wanting to hate

43:32

it I have come around and

43:34

admit, you know, is

43:37

pretty good. Give it a chance. That's the thing I'm most

43:39

proud of. It's hard to overcome that initial

43:41

barrier. And because of the cast

43:44

we have, the team we have,

43:46

and and you know, Morgan's

43:48

vision and and everybody

43:51

up and down the chain, we were able to do

43:53

it. It's rare thing in Hollywood. I'm

43:55

gonna savor every second of it. Yeah,

43:57

and we love and respect the fans of the show. Is

44:00

it's it's a big commitment. Thank you for giving

44:02

us ten hours of your time. Yes,

44:05

I mean you could certainly know, you had a lot

44:07

of options, and it's that we're glad people invested

44:10

in the show and continue to invest in this show. Let

44:12

me just say that All Pro linebacker

44:15

Khalil Mack said he was watching

44:17

bel Air when he found out

44:20

he was being traded to the Chargers like

44:25

and he and he called it a strange coincidence.

44:27

So you know, you have everybody

44:30

watching this show and on the edge

44:32

of their seats. And what I will say

44:34

is every episode had

44:37

its thing. Episode eight, nine,

44:39

and ten, oh you smacked it out the park.

44:42

I felt. I really felt like nine

44:45

could have been the season finality, and

44:47

I was saying, I need to see what

44:49

they're going to do intend And

44:51

the way that you round it tend up the

44:54

fact that one of the early scenes

44:56

was Jazz and Will overlooking

44:59

l A and Jazz telling

45:01

him not to lose himself. That

45:03

in scene with Jazz saying

45:05

the exact same thing, I was

45:08

like, oh my god, talk about a full circle

45:10

moment. Did you hear the song playing? Yes,

45:14

I know what I said, It's gonna be dreams of Nightmares.

45:18

But the flip side of it, at the beginning,

45:20

you know we're playing you know, yes, playing

45:23

the wait a minute part and this started

45:25

with our piano, you know, and

45:28

that iconic song for that iconic

45:30

moment, not back to

45:32

Philly. I mean, it just it felt really good.

45:35

You live for moments like that in a room

45:37

like we kind of knew we had that in our pocket,

45:40

and you just I mean, it becomes this whole thing where

45:42

you're just waiting months. You can't wait for the rest

45:45

of the world to see it. We're

45:47

finally here. Yeah, Well, speaking

45:49

of how bad we can't wait to see it, is there anything

45:51

I mean, just give us a drop, any

45:54

kind of tease we can get for season two, please

45:56

the people that thirsty. I think we've got

45:58

to reassemble

46:00

this family. I think you're gonna see

46:02

a family having to pull it back together. I

46:05

think you're gonna see Will sort of regressing

46:08

a little bit. He's he's a little

46:10

angry, he feels he's been hurt,

46:13

and um, I think we're

46:15

gonna bring I think, I mean, what we're always trying to

46:17

do is sort of expand our canvas

46:19

and meet more people in the lives

46:22

of the Bank's family. So I think we'll have some

46:24

great cameos and some great appearances in season

46:26

two. And I would like to say, um,

46:28

We're going to continue to explore some iconic

46:31

locations in l A, but different

46:34

parts of l A than we've seen this season. That's

46:36

all I'm gonna say. Okay,

46:38

okay, well you know I'm gonna be thinking a lot about it

46:40

till season two. It's

46:43

us again on Peacock. Rashid Nussen,

46:46

t J Brady, thank you so

46:48

so much for your time today and for your

46:50

excellent work on this series. Gradually

46:52

incredibly well done. Oh

46:56

man, Jeff, what a great conversation we

46:58

have with t J and Rashid. I'm

47:00

so excited for what is to come. It

47:02

has been such an honor and such a pleasure

47:04

to work with you, the icon

47:07

himself, the DJ Jazzy Jeff

47:10

on this show. Um, as you as

47:12

part of the original cast and hearing your

47:14

perspective in your opinion on things, this

47:16

has just been such a fulfilling experience.

47:19

Yeah, this has been amazing for me. Um,

47:21

just being a part of the original show, not really

47:23

knowing what they expect and then getting

47:26

your socks blown off basically

47:29

from the quality the authenticity

47:31

of this show. And to be a part of

47:34

the podcast. Listen, I am I'm

47:36

in heaven right now. I just

47:38

can't wait to season two because

47:41

season one knocked it out of the park. Yeah,

47:44

I cannot wait to see what they

47:46

do going forward. If you have

47:48

not already, you can check out all episodes

47:50

of bell Air season one streaming

47:52

now on Peacock. Bellair, the

47:54

official podcast is produced by I

47:56

Heart Podcast Network and Peacock. This

47:59

show is ho did by me, DJ

48:01

Jazzy Jeff and by Me Chris the

48:03

West, supervising producer Mike

48:05

Coscarelli, producer and mastering

48:08

engineer by he Crazier. Executive

48:10

producers from My Heart are Nicky

48:12

Etre, Hona Stump, and

48:14

Miles Gray. Executive producers from Peacock

48:17

are Lindsay Vogelman and Amber Ferguson.

48:19

And special thanks to Will Pearson

48:22

from I Heeart and Michael Scoggin

48:24

from PECAU