Most of us would love to have a signature move named after us, especially one tied to a delightful, fun-filled dance that practically anyone can do. But after 20 years, let’s say, that signature move is bound to get extremely tiresome. Such is the fate of Alfonso Ribeiro, who is most famous for portraying Carlton on the early ’90s hit The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, a character who is most famous for performing the “Carlton dance.” The dance itself is a somewhat take-off on a popular move on ’80s dance floors, ideally performed to Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual”:
Ribeiro now respectfully asks the world to quit asking him to do that infernal dance. He told ABC News, “I get asked to do the dance every day I leave the house. So the only day in my life where I’m not going to get asked to do that dance is if I stay home.” He points out, “Every once in a while, I will say to people—when I’m just like in a bad mood, I’m like, ‘You do realize you just asked a black man to dance for you right?’ And they’re like, ‘No, no! I didn’t mean it that way!’ And I’m like, ‘Nah! I’m just messing with you. I’m just messing with you. But I just wanted you to think about it for a second. Just for one second!’”
Ribeiro is painfully aware of his most famous dance, even pulling out his signature move during week four of his 2o14 stint on Dancing With The Stars (and, as you can hear in the video above, the crowd goes absolutely wild). But that dance wasn’t the only one at which Ribeiro excelled, leading him to take home the mirrorball trophy that season. (That trophy helped propel Ribeiro into his current hosting gigs on America’s Funniest Home Videos and Good Morning America). After all, one of Ribeiro’s very first dents in pop culture was in a 1984 Pepsi commercial, where he pulled off perfect Michael Jackson dance moves even as a child:
So after all these years of dance, Alfonso Ribeiro deserves the chance to hang up the Carlton forever. Quit asking him to do the Carlton, everyone! There are about 9 million YouTube videos available if you’re really dying to see it.