Dantes Inferno
Posts: 5885
Joined: 27/10/2007
From: Norway
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 Played by: Alfonso Ribeiro Appears in: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996)
It's not a secret that opposites often make great comedy, as evidenced by the character Carlton Banks in the popular early 90's sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show centered around Will Smith (playing a fictionalized version of himself) who, after getting into a street brawl in his home town Philadelphia, was sent to live with his uncle Philip Banks and his family in Bel-Air, the affluent Los Angeles residential community. Will's street-like behavior was often at odds with the more preppy lifestyle of the Banks, who were rich, educated and quite conservative. However, no relationship were more strained (and as funny) than the one with the aforementioned Carlton.
Carlton was, in many ways, Will's true opposite. Whereas Will was tall, cool, laid-back, street smart and down with women, Carlton was an intelligent, conservative and openly virginal man of quite short stature. He was also a lifelong fan of William Shatner and Macauley Culkin, and had quite the unhealthy obsession with Tom Jones and his song "It's Not Unusual", which he would blast at a high volume when home alone, simultaneously singing and dancing along to it with little to no awareness how ridiculously he looked. There have been many a famous dance in the history of visual entertainment, but has there ever been one as visually (and aurally) entertaining as Carlton's? The thought alone of him swinging his arms like is enough erupt massive laughter.
Alfonso Ribeiro never found the success equal to the one he got as Carlton. Besting Will Smith on screen is not a feat most often seen, and one might wonder if the former rapper perhaps didn't use some of his many dollars to sabotage Ribeiro's career. Okay, that's perhaps one conspiracy theory that not even Jim Garrison would believe. Nevertheless, Ribeiro deserves credit for stealing the spotlight completely from an actor who is now considered to be one of the most bankable stars in the world. I know I couldn't have done it.
There have been many memorable moments in this forum (when is someone going to make a list of that?), including the great verbal war that was the middle of Miles' "unseen films" thread, the list finished by Piles in the early days (which broke the tradition of no one in this forum ever finishing list), the many lists never finished by jamesbondguy (who seemed intent on keeping the tradition), and the top 1000 list. But my personal favorite has to be the one where I realized exactly how large a fan-base Carlton Banks has here. The club that followed didn't garner as many members as it deserved, but there are still those who believe, as seen in the occasional signature stating such titles as "Biscuits & Tea Chief" and "Rapid Response Director".
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