We’re going to start off with some sad news which you may
well have heard by now. James Avery, or Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel
Air, has recently died. This has obviously caused sadness for fans and former
cast members alike. Or, for one chap, an opportunity for pranks.
In light of this death, a tweet supposedly from Will Smith
came out suggesting that the whole cast get together for a reunion episode in
tribute to Uncle Phil. Sounds lovely, as fans agreed. They were fully in
support of the idea, and showed this support by instantly retweeting as soon as
our alleged Will Smith tweeted again, this time stating that he’d talked to NBC
who’d told him he needed 300,000 retweets to make it happen.
He even went to the trouble of setting up a fake screenshot of that conversation. To be honest, I’m just impressed he bothered to get the right network, although I still think the story would run exactly the same even if he’d got it wrong.
He even went to the trouble of setting up a fake screenshot of that conversation. To be honest, I’m just impressed he bothered to get the right network, although I still think the story would run exactly the same even if he’d got it wrong.
And those retweets came flooding in, because fans believed
that that’s exactly how TV channels work. They also believed that someone
tweeting as @Freshprincewill could be the real deal, as Will Smith has clearly
done nothing of note since Fresh Prince. Twitter really does bring the smart
people into the limelight.
Even as recent as this morning, searching on Twitter will
reveal that not everyone has grasped the fact that it’s a fake; you can still
see them retweeting with hope for a new episode. Although most of the tweets
are now coming in as announcements of the fact that it was a fake, as if it was
somehow shocking.
Ari Carrington
Follow @ari_carri