A Scientific Ranking Of The Best Dance Moments From ‘The Fresh Prince’

It will be almost impossible for the rumored Fresh Prince reboot to match the original due to the sad absence of James Avery (the show’s moral center) and the virtual guarantee that the size of Will Smith’s career will keep him from a regular on-camera role, but for the sake of anyone who is psyched about today’s news and willing to make the jump, I sincerely hope they bring back two things: Carlton Banks and the funksplosion that came with him. Because if The Fresh Prince brought one thing to the table besides wholesome life lessons and broad comedy, it’s dancing. So with that in mind, we wanted to collect and rank the best (of many, many worthy) dance moments from the original Fresh Prince.

The Temptations

A nice clip with a happy family moving in unison to the inescapable rhythms of The Temptations. There’s also the silver medal version of Will’s day brightening lip synching. Again, very nice.

Drumline

Will’s wild moves are great even if I can almost guarantee that you’ll be tired of his split move by the end of this list, but this makes it on the strength of DJ Jazzy Jeff’s drumming.

New Car

Will’s uncontainable exuberance is on full display here as he celebrates buying his first car before Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv put an end to the dance party because Will doesn’t have car insurance. Which is, if you think about it, O.P.P.

Money, Money

This would be ranked higher if not for the fact that it is a moment of musical jubilation born from duplicity after Carlton and Will trick Geoffrey into thinking that he won the lottery and all the money, money, money, MONEH!

Soul Train

Once again, everybody gets in on the action, but after Will unsuccessfully mugs for Don Cornelius, Carlton steals the show and moves from a classic “Carlton Dance” to a pretty impressive take on Michael Jackson’s moves. Impressive, but not topless.

Striptease

The real inspiration for Magic Mike, Carlton embraces exotic dancing a little too easily as he goes topless for a group of enthusiastic rich ladies while doing a fuller King of Pop routine. That is, until his mother breaks up the fun before he takes it out. And he was going to take it out. No doubt about it.

Apache

Two students get stranded after losing all of their money and decide to use their bodies to get enough cash to get home. It’s a sad tale of the road, but it rarely ends with a synchronized routine to the sounds of The Sugarhill Gang’s “Apache (Jump on It).”

“And I Am Telling You”

Uncle Phil was always there for Will, but this time, the shoe was on the other foot as Jay Leno mocked Judge Banks with the “Dancing Phils,” pushing Will to allow the life force of Jennifer Holiday to briefly take the wheel as he GOES FOR IT with this emotive lip synch performance of “And I Am Telling You” from Dreamgirls.

Aunt Viv’s Dance Class

As they years have gone by, Aunt Viv’s strike against snooty younglings has gone from funny to inpirational. *Snaps* indeed.

The Last Carlton Dance

The Carlton Dance was always going to take the top spot, but this moment brings a little emotional hit as well since it’s Carlton and Will’s last dance together… for now.

Bonus: A little more Carlton

Don’t act like this isn’t what you do when you think you’re home alone.

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