Bel-Air originated from a fan-made mock trailer written and directed by Morgan Cooper, uploaded to YouTube on March 10, 2019, reimagining The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a drama.

Will Smith, who starred in the original sitcom, was so impressed by Cooper's fan film that he personally met with Cooper to discuss turning the concept into an official reboot.

Before landing at Peacock, the series was the subject of a bidding war between Netflix, HBO Max, and Peacock for the rights.

Lead actor Jabari Banks learned he had won the role of Will Smith when Will Smith himself surprised him with the news in August 2021.

Several actors from the original 1990s sitcom returned in different guest roles in the reboot: Daphne Maxwell Reid (the second Aunt Viv) played Janice, Vernee Watson-Johnson (the original Vy) played Helen, Joseph Marcell (the original Geoffrey) played gangster Roman, Tyra Banks (Will's original girlfriend Jackie) played Regina Baxter, and Janet Hubert (the first Aunt Viv) played Iris.

In the original sitcom, Janice and Helen were the names of Vivian's sisters, so the reboot's guest characters played by Daphne Maxwell Reid and Vernee Watson-Johnson subtly nod to those original family names.

Will Smith himself appears in the final season as the character of 'older Will.'

Principal photography took place in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and in January 2022 several positive COVID-19 tests were reported on set, though production continued without major impact.

In May 2022, Peacock announced that Bel-Air had become the platform's most-streamed original series, reaching 8 million accounts.