Valley’s football field featured in "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" reboot

Feb 12, 20222 min read

Among the hallmarks that led to the success of Will Smith’s version of "Bel-Air" and the nostalgia brought about by its reboot lies Monarch Stadium, the place Valley’s football team calls home.

By Edward Segal, Valley Life Editor

The Fresh Prince found his new throne at Valley College as the reboot of the fan-favorite show of the ‘90s will make its debut Sunday, showcasing the football field where the Monarchs play their home games.

The field appeared for two brief moments in the trailer, showing Carlton (Olly Sholotan) and Will (Jabari Banks) about to play Lacrosse, with Carlton telling the Fresh Prince that as the new kid on the block, Will should follow his lead. Valley was paid about $115,000 for the use of its football field and hopes to continue letting productions film on campus. According to Jennifer Borucki, manager of public relations, the college has nothing scheduled at the moment.

“Filming rentals is the area that we hope to grow to help the campus budget,” said Borucki. “[In order to do this], we will continue to cultivate our working relationships with filming location scouts.”

According to Borucki, the money will be reinvested into efforts to increase enrollment in future semesters, as well as cover unexpected expenditures such as those related to COVID-19.

"Bel-Air" will come out as a weekly release every Sunday on Peacock, a partly-free streaming service owned by NBC Universal, starting on Feb. 13 with three episodes. Kickstarted by director Morgan Cooper’s 2019 short film of the same title, the series aims to be a dramatic modern-day retelling of the ‘90s sitcom. The reboot will star Jabari Banks as Will Smith, a kid moving from Philadelphia to his uncle’s house in search of a new life, and Olly Sholotan as his nerd cousin Carlton Banks. The original Fresh Prince, Will Smith himself, is one of the executive producers of the show. Peacock already approved the series for two seasons.

Valley’s various facilities have been utilized by many productions, including "Goliath," "The Assassination of Gianni Versace," "Monster" and "Homecoming," as well as commercials for TJ Maxx and "I Can Afford College," a campaign to raise money for students of California Community Colleges.

In addition to the football stadium, Valley’s gym, swimming pool, Monarch Square and student union have been featured in various productions.

Premiering Sunday, Feb. 13, the show will be overshadowed by the Super Bowl, but with the fourth episode not dropping until the following Sunday, fans will have ample time to catch up to the remake of the hit-series.