Reality Bites is the third episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's fifth season which was first broadcast on September 26, 1994.
Summary[]
Will reluctantly agrees to take Nicky to see his childhood hero, Dougie The Whale, when he makes an appearance at the local mall. When problems occur on stage, the actor who plays Dougie gets angry and shouts obscenities at the crew behind the curtain. However, Will finds this unacceptable, and decides to have a word with Dougie. This results in the pair having a fight, and Nicky not talking to Will. Meanwhile, Hilary suffers the consequences when she parks in the spot of co-talk show host, Leeza Gibbons.
Plot[]
Will reluctantly agrees to take Nicky to see his childhood hero, Dougie, at the mall. However, problems occur when Dougie the Whale shouts at the crew over microphone feedback a few times and walks off-stage. Will confronts Dougie over his behavior, resulting in the two getting in a fight which angers Nicky, who proclaims that he hates Will for hurting Dougie. Will tries unsuccessfully to make up with Nicky but is reminded by Ashley and Uncle Phil that Nicky looks up to Dougie the same way people do with Santa and that the best thing he can do for a child is apologize and admit he was wrong. As Will prepares to tell Nicky the truth about Dougie, Santa and the Easter Bunny, he is paid an off-season visit by Santa who informs Will that Nicky won't stay mad at him forever and that by telling the truth, he will be robbing Nicky of his innocence which is the most precious gift children have growing up in a tough world. Nicky sees Santa leave and is amazed when Will admits he knows Santa and used to hang out with him as Nicky forgives Will.
Meanwhile, Hilary deals with drama with talk show host Leeza Gibbons over a car spot. Will gives her advice on how to get revenge by keying Leeza's car and putting a potato in the exhaust pipe, though this fails as Hilary mixes up the potato and car keys so she is caught and has an article in the paper. As she prepares to record Leeza's show in order to sue her for badmouthing her on her talk show, Leeza instead compliments Hilary's show and hopes they can bury the hatchet as female talk show hosts.
Trivia[]
- Dougie the Whale is based on the children's character Barney the Dinosaur. The character is known for having no emotion other than happy.