Will Smith may be more of an actor than a rapper these days, but that doesn't mean he's ever forgotten how to hold a tune, and Jimmy Fallon seemed intent to prove that on The Tonight Show. The host put the actor through the ringer for a medley of classic television theme intros, and it might just be the most hype performance of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's theme song since the '90s.
Will Smith knocked it out of the park, y'all, although few would've expected anything different prior to watching this video. What was more surprising was that Jimmy Fallon was able to keep up with Smith, and The Tonight Show host indeed managed to keep in step with Smith's swinging and swaying throughout the bit. The two sang through show themes that were surprisingly older than one might have expected, given the current primary Tonight Show demographic. Granted, modern shows largely avoid the originally crafted lyric-filled tunes of classic series, but perhaps younger viewers might have better recognized the two humming through The Office's theme, or Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's auto-tuned silliness, as opposed to I Dream Of Jeannie.
The crowd responded to the classic television medley enthusiastically enough, but The Tonight Show audience went absolutely bananas when Will Smith took everyone back to West Philly for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's opening ditty. Not that anyone could blame them; Smith doesn't do a lot of concert tours anymore (where this track probably wouldn't have been used anyway), and the chance of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air getting a reunion series sounds pretty slim at the moment. For now, this fairly rare performance is about as good as it gets, which is clear, judging from the faces of everyone in that crowd:
That studio audience is the gif(t) that keeps on giving, as it shows the massive joy Will Smith inspires upon entering an unsuspecting crowd zone. Responses ranged from random pointing to fist pumps to just awkward out-of-sync clapping. By far the best reaction is that guy towards the front, in the blue flannel and ball cap, who takes a quick look at Smith over his shoulder but then immediately directs his eyes back to the empty stage. What was going on with The Roots that's cooler than Smith hyping up a crowd? Regardless, he seems to be having a good time, and that's really all that matters.
May everyone this weekend be as happy as that man was, and let us all dance like a live studio audience is watching, which means doing something like this:
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs weeknights on NBC at 11:35 p.m. ET. For some information regarding upcoming television, head on over to our midseason premiere guide. For more on Will Smith, check out his reason why he can't bear to watch old episodes of himself on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
