‘Bel-Air’ Is Getting a Spinoff About Hilary — Here’s What We Know So Far
Peacock built its early reputation in scripted television on the back of one surprise hit, a dramatic reimagining of a beloved ’90s sitcom that few expected to land the way it did. Four seasons later, that show has wrapped its story, but the world it built is apparently far from finished.
‘Bel-Air’ concluded its run with its lead cast finding closure, including Hilary Banks, who spent much of the final season working through grief after the sudden death of her husband. Actress Coco Jones spoke about that arc while promoting the show’s ending, telling TVLine that grief “is never fully gone,” and that Hilary was learning to stay close to the people she loves while figuring out how to move forward.
Now Peacock is reportedly building an entirely new chapter around that same character. A spinoff series titled ‘Hilary’ is in development at the streamer, with Coco Jones set to reprise her role as the fan-favorite Banks family member. If the project moves forward, it would mark Peacock’s first scripted original series to spin off into its own show.
The series comes from writer Tracy Oliver, known for her work on ‘Girls Trip’ and ‘Harlem,’ who is stepping into the ‘Bel-Air’ universe for the first time. It’s being produced by Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios alongside Universal Television, the same team behind the original series, giving the spinoff a direct creative through-line to the show that launched it.
According to the project’s logline, Hilary accepts an unexpected job offer from celebrity chef Yvonne Durand and impulsively relocates to New York City, determined to prove herself outside the shadow of her Bel-Air connections. What follows is described as a story about success, friendship, and love in the city, all of which reportedly come with costs Hilary never anticipated.
That New York pivot actually pulls a thread from deep in franchise history. The original ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ saw Hilary relocate to New York City for her own TV career during its final seasons, and this new version appears to be drawing directly from that same trajectory rather than following how ‘Bel-Air’ itself wrapped things up, with Hilary opening a café and staying rooted in Bel Air.
Jones played Hilary across all four seasons of ‘Bel-Air,’ the dramatic reboot that reimagined the Banks family dynamic with noticeably higher stakes than its sitcom predecessor. The show followed Will Smith’s journey from West Philadelphia to his aunt and uncle’s Bel-Air mansion, and it quickly became a signature title for Peacock after debuting in February 2022.
Reaction to the news spread quickly across social media, with fans expressing excitement over Jones headlining her own series after years of praise for her performance as one of the show’s standout characters. Given how much of Hilary’s arc in the final season centered on rebuilding her sense of self, a spinoff built around her striking out on her own in a new city feels like a natural next step for the character.
There’s no word yet on a release timeline or whether Peacock has officially greenlit the series beyond the development stage, but the involvement of Westbrook Studios and Universal Television suggests real institutional weight behind the project. For a streamer that built its scripted identity on ‘Bel-Air,’ handing Hilary the spotlight could be the next big swing in growing that world out.
Are you excited for the Bel-Air spinoff Hilary?
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