Karyn Parsons Movies

The director of such off-beat independent films as In the Soup, director Alexandre Rockwell once again teams with that film's star to deliver this Los Angeles-based comedy concerning superstition and intersecting lives. Things aren't looking so good for television clown Banana's (Steve Buscemi) career, and the fact that his estranged wife, Suzi (Jennifer Beals), has just been arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, Lily (Karyn Parsons), just serves to compound Banana's despair. Teaming with sidekick Binky (Peter Dinklage) to enlist the aid of bail-bondsman Mo (David Proval), Banana and Binky discover that Mo is currently negotiating the release of hip-hop mogul Lenny's (Daryl Mitchell) wife, Sandra (Rose Rollins). The hapless group soon teams to help Mo by finding a suitable kidney donor for the bail-bondsman's ailing son, and though they quickly happen across a drunk (Peter Stormare) who fits the bill, the trouble comes in keeping the prospect in the hospital. Doing their best to help Mo's son under increasingly chaotic circumstances, personal tensions flare as each character desperately tries to simultaneously battle their own inner demons. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Yet another recurring character from Saturday Night Live makes the jump to the big screen in this comedy. Leon Phelps (Tim Meadows) is the host of a radio call-in show in which he dispenses advice on the fine art of seduction, for which he seems to have quite a talent -- rather surprising, seeing that he's usually broke, nearly everything he says sounds crass and obvious, and he possesses a fashion sense that would have been gauche in the mid-1970s but seems just plain freakish today. After finally going too far during a broadcast, Leon is fired, but he receives a note from one of his former flames who wants him to come back to her -- and is willing to support him in high style. This sounds just fine with Leon, except she hasn't signed her name, and now Leon has to backtrack through his numerous conquests of the past and figure out who wants him to work his love magic. Meanwhile, a group of husbands who've been cuckolded by Leon, led by Barney (Lee Evans) and Lance (Will Ferrell), are hot on his trail, eager to get revenge. The Ladies' Man also stars Tiffani Thiessen and Karyn Parsons as two of the ladies in Leon's life and Billy Dee Williams as the ultra-smooth proprietor of Lester's Straight-Up Lounge. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Hawk-like Marine Corps officer Benson Payne (Damon Wayans) attempts to whip into shape the usual assortment of misfit JROTC kids in this minor remake of The Private War of Major Benson. Of course, both the major and his pint-sized recruits have something to teach one another. Payne teaches them the value of self-discipline and instills self-confidence in them, and the recruits teach him to stop and smell the roses (not to mention the fact that kids sometimes need coddling rather than screaming). And, of course, there is the annual JROTC statewide competition, which the kids are obligated to win before the movie can end. While there are some funny moments (the major's exhibition in full-dress whites at a school dance, for example), the script seems too color-by-numbers to be interesting to anyone other than undiscriminating younger viewers. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Although the fourth season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was planned as the series' last year on the air, the producers managed to forge a new contract with ABC assuring that Will Smith (as teenager Will Smith) and his co-stars would be reporting to duty for season five. The basic "culture clash" premise with streetwise Philadelphia native Will Smith moving in with his wealthy relatives, the Banks family in Bel-Air, CA, was still in place, but a few changes were made for the series' fifth go-round. Gone are two holdovers from Will's Philadelphia days, his buddy Jazz (played by actor Smith's real-life musical partner Jeff Townes) and his off-and-on girlfriend Jackie (Tyra Banks); the latter character is more or less replaced by Will's new heartthrob Lisa (Nia Long), who almost -- but not quite -- marched down the matrimonial aisle with our hero at season's end. In another development, Will's cousin Ashley Banks (Tatyana M. Ali) launches a career as a singer with Will as her manager; and the baby of the Banks family, little Nicholas (Ross Bagley), turns five years old -- even though he had been "born" only a year and a half before! Highlights of season five include the ever-growing confidence of Will's prissy cousin Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) in the romance department; an effort by Carlton, Ashley, and their sister Hilary (Karyn Parsons) to sneak a peak at their father Philip's (James Avery) will; and a chilling episode in which Will is shot and wounded by a would-be robber. And, in keeping with the precedent established in season four, season five of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is top-heavy with guest stars. This year's celebrity roster includes the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Don Cornelius, Jay Leno, Pat Morita, Ken Griffey Jr., John Amos, Isaac Hayes, Robin Givens, and Sherman Hemsley...as George Jefferson! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The producers of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air weren't about to tinker with a successful format as the series entered its third season. Although West Philadelphia teenager Will Smith (played, of course, by Will Smith) has been living with his wealthy relatives in Bel-Air for three years now, he still hasn't lost his streetwise flippancy, though he does begin evincing signs of burgeoning maturity and responsibility. In the same fashion, Will's host, the Banks family, continues putting on airs and currying favor with the Bel-Air elite, though they generally get their heads out of the clouds and return to earth at the end of each episode. The most signifcant change from seasons past is the pregnancy of Will's Aunt Vivian, a plot development created to accommodate the real-life pregnancy of actress Janet Hubert-Whitten. By the end of season three, Vivian has given birth to a son named Nicholas -- whereupon she virtually disappears from view, reportedly because of creative differences between Janet Hubert-Whitten and Will Smith.
The actress left the show at the end of the year and would be replaced by Daphne Reed Maxwell for the 1994-1995 season. In this season's opener, Will returns from a summer visit to his mom in West Philly with a new haircut and flamboyant wardrobe that appalls his stuffy lawyer uncle Philip Banks (James Avery), leading to the first of several obligatory "Let's stop arguing and compromise" moments. Later highlights included Philip and Vivian's not-so-sentimental journey to their old neighborhood, which had been all but levelled during the L.A. riots; the matriculation of the Banks' youngest daughter Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) into the newly co-ed Bel-Air Prep School; older daughter Hilary's (Karyn Parsons) new job as a TV weather girl; former Jeffersons star Sherman Hemsley's appearance as Judge Carl Robertson, against whom Philip Banks would enter into a bitterly fought political battle; another guest-star turn, this one by no less than Oprah Winfrey; and the ongoing romantic tribulations of Will's prissy, preppy cousin Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro). In one of the season's final episodes, Will gets the opportunity to perform at a comedy club -- where among the other participants is future sitcom leading man D.L. Hughley. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air enjoyed its highest-ever ratings during season three, ending up the 16th most watched program on network television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

West Philly teenager Will Smith (played by rap star Will Smith) enters his second year as permanent house guest in the magnificent California mansion of his wealthy Uncle Phillip (James Avery) and Aunt Vivian (Janet Hubert-Whitten) as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air enters its second season on NBC. The series' basic culture-clash premise is still up and running, though by now, Will has become accustomed to his social-climbing but basically likable relatives, just as they have adjusted to Will's street-smart insouciance. And of course, family butler Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell) can still be counted on for those hilarious lip-sneering putdowns. Virtually all that has changed this season is the Banks house, the interior of which has been completely redesigned. Highlights of season two include Will and his cousin Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) coming to the rescue when Carlton's sister, Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali), comes up against a bully -- and end up needing rescuing themselves; Aunt Vivian's traumatic and ultimately surprising reaction to her 40th birthday; Former Cosby Show co-star Malcolm-Jamal Warner's appearance as a stuffy lawyer who is dating Carlton's other sister, pampered-and-pouty Hilary (Karyn Parsons); the totally unexpected guest-star turn by Zsa Zsa Gabor, clearly capitalizing on her recent arrest after beating up a traffic cop; Hilary's frenzied efforts to prove her worth as a caterer's assistant (with Will's help); butler Geoffrey uncharacteristically falling in love but not with someone of his "class;" and the trouble encountered by Phillip and Vivian when they welcome a '60s radical into their home only to arouse the interest of the FBI. Also worth noting is actress Nia Long's supporting appearance in the episode "She Ain't Heavy," three years before Long would join the series' cast in a different role. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air proved to be a hit with black and white audiences alike during its sophomore season, ending up as the year's 22nd most popular network show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

African American entertainer Will Smith graduated from rap-music stardom to TV sitcom superstardom in the long-running NBC series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Co-produced by Quincy Jones, the series starred the twentysomething Smith as streetwise West Philadelphia teenager Will Smith (they must have stayed up nights thinking of that character name!), whose mother sends him to the West Coast to live with rich relatives in the cloistered California community of Bel-Air (mom felt that things were getting too dangerous for Will in his own neighborhood). The breezy, jive-talking Will proved to be quite a contrast to his upper-class relations, but despite obvious cultural and attitudinal difference, everyone got along quite well. Among Will's fellow occupants in the Bel-Air mansion were his uncle Philip Banks (James Avery), a prosperous attorney; Philip's wife Vivian (played first by Janet Hubert-Whitten, then by Daphne Maxwell Reid), a likeable lady who could simultaneously puncture Philip's pompousness and curb Will's ghetto-bred capriciousness; the couple's prissy, preppy son Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro), whose attempts to emulate Will's freewheeling behavior always landed him in hot water; Carlton's sisters, the spoiled and somewhat airheaded Hilary (Karyn Parsons) and the lovably sardonic Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali); and the Banks' haughty butler Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell), who generally got all the best "put-down" punchlines. During the series' third season, Aunt Vivian gave birth to another child named Nicky (who, through the miracle of TV sitcom scriptwriting, became five years old within two years [played by Ross Bagley]). And in season four, Will and Carlton matriculated from high school to the University of Los Angeles, moving out of the mansion and into the pool house (all of a few yards away!). Making recurring appearances were Will Smith's musical partner Jeff Townes (aka "Jazzy Jeff") as Will's onscreen pal Jazz; Tyra Banks as Will's girlfriend Jackie Ames, who also hailed from West Philly; and Will's later sweetheart Lisa (Nia Long). Debuting September 10, 1990, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air lasted six seasons, becoming the nation's 16th most popular series during season three. The series ended on September 9, 1996. In the final episode, the Banks moved out of the mansion, though Will fully intended to remain a permanent Bel-Air resident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This campy gorefest is basically a series of outrageous death scenes set in a chi-chi health club which is haunted by the murderous spectre of its owner's late wife (who was burned to death). First taking control of the club's computer-controlled circuitry, the bloodthirsty ghost then decides to possess her gay brother, who begins parading around in sis's clothes and continuing her devilish deeds. For those with a natural antipathy toward the toned-and-tanned set, this tremendously bloody film might offer a guilty chuckle or two for the strong-stomached viewer, who can watch a series of yuppie hardbodies hacked (by blender), torn (by weight machine), burnt (by tanning booth), boiled (by shower), and shredded (by flying glass)... even mauled to death by demonically-possessed carp! ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide