AHHHH!!! This crossover is making me nuts. Not because of any quality issues or logic problems. It's making me nuts because I had it on my list at the very start but then, at the time, could find no proof it actually happened. Don't know why but the info was just not there. So I knocked it off the list. Then all of a sudden it's like the internet as a whole suddenly went, "Oh THAT crossover!" and, boom, verification that it did in fact happen was all over the place.

   Here's the poop in as small a package as possible. The bathroom is right over there if you could just... yeah... just flush it. Now that that crap is out of the way lets talk about this here crossover.

    NBC had a big ass hit on its hands with The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. It was a show starring rap star Will Smith as a fish out of water Philly boy living with his rich aunt and uncle in ritzy Bel-Air, California. It did so well that pretty soon NBC was giving sitcoms to hip black recording artists like they were candy. Now I don't want that to sound racial or anything so let me clarify: NBC would likely have also given such shows to hip white pop stars as well... if there actually were any. But... there aren't.

   Well, one of those lucky enough to score a show was the legendary Patti LaBelle. Patti played Chelsea Paige who like Patti was also a musical legend. Only Chelsea was a musical legend who also happened to own a hot L.A. nightclub. She hires a young man named Jeff Carswell to manage the club. Jeff, the responsible one, and his friend Vidal Thomas, the not so responsible one, live in an apartment also owned by Chelsea. On top of that, it turns out the boss has a hot daughter! Vivica a. Fox as Charisse Chamberlain? Hello? Don't get much hotter!

   So two young single guys in an L.A. hotspot with an utter babe and a rock star. Hmmm. That might get too out of control for a family audience. So what do ya do? Simple. Ya make Chelsea Paige a motherly type out to keep everyone safe and under control. Instant family values and the fun conflict of basically "kids trying to get away with stuff without mom knowing". Well... figuratively at least. Given that it only went the one season, maybe that squished the "out of control" vibe too much.

   Having said that it only went the one year already kinda says the show wasn't exactly zooming to the top of the ratings heap. By December it must have already been clear a little help for the show sure wouldn't hurt. So come December, Out All Night found the Fresh Prince's cousin Hillary Banks stopping by the club. Hillary was a rich, a bit shallow... okay, a lot shallow and very confident that she was the deal. The most impressive thing is that with a character description like that Karyn Parson who played Hillary managed to also make her sweet and likable. How'd she do that?

   Anyway, who better to pair up full-of-herself Hillary with than full-of-himself Vidal. Discovering that Hillary's taste in men ran towards successful rich weenies with less depth than herself, Vidal decides to pretend to be that kind of guy. First step in doing that? Well, pretend you manage the night club. When Chelsea finds out what he is up to she decides to ruin his chance at happiness-through-deception. He's running the club, right? So, oops, too bad. It turns out he has to work the same night as his date. D'oh! Kinda short sighted of Vidal. He might not be rich and successful but, again, other than that it would seem he would be right up her alley.

Other Fresh Prince Of Bel Air Crossover Links
The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and Blossom
The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and Diff'rent Strokes
The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and In The House
The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and The Jeffersons

Click here to return to main Crossover List

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