Strike up the band, pack up that picnic lunch, pull out the Sousa score, it’s that time of year again. On Thursday, America will celebrate its independence from those tax-lovin’ limeys and light up the skies with fireworks and charcoal briquettes.

To commemorate the holiday, PBS will be presenting its annual “A Capitol Fourth” extravaganza with talent like the legendary singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson, award-winning actor Darren Criss (“Glee”), the Queen of Percussion Sheila E., platinum-selling singer and actress Fantasia, multiplatinum-selling band Fitz & Noelle from Fitz and the Tantrums, Sister Sledge ft. Sledgendary, Olympic medalist Shawn Johnson East, recording artist Loren Allred, choreographer Britt Stewart and, of course, maestro Jack Everly conducting the National Symphony Orchestra.

All these proceedings will take place live from the lawn of the United States Capitol, and back to host the event will be Alfonso Ribeiro, famous as the enthusiastic emcee of "Dancing with the Stars" and “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”

Ribeiro, first popular as the moppet from “Silver Spoons,” the preppy son from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and the clinical doctor on “In the House,” had no intention of becoming a TV host.

“It wasn’t something I ever thought, ‘I should pay attention to this.’ But in my career, I’ve always felt I wanted to do many different things — being an actor and singer and dancer; stage performer, television, movies, now directing and producing — I’ve always felt I wanted to put my hand in every aspect,” he says.

“I want to know, ‘Hey, can I do that? Let’s try it. Why not? What’s the worst that can happen? If I don’t succeed, OK, I don’t succeed.’ I'm not the kind of person who feels he has to be successful at everything. I work hard at it but if I don’t make it, I don’t, so I don’t go in with that pressure.”

Ribeiro is used to pressure. His parents introduced him to showbiz when he was in grade school, and he captured his very first role when he was 9.

For years his dad served as his manager, and Ribeiro worked most of the time. “One of the theories my dad shared with me as a kid, there’s two ways to think about life: you can work really, really hard in your youth to make sure that when you're older you don’t have to work hard. And you won't really enjoy your youth as much, but you'll have a much better life when you're older. Or you can enjoy your life young and roll the dice when you're older and know you had a great time. I went with the latter,” he says.

“I probably would be much more successful and have a lot more money if I went with the first one, but I feel like I'm the luckiest person on the planet because I get to do all the things I love to do. And I get paid for it.”

Even so, when Ribeiro was 16, he decided to end his career. “I quit the business for about two years between the ages of 16 and 18. I’d finished doing ‘Silver Spoons’ I was obviously a kid and I decided I wanted to go to high school and be like a normal kid for a little bit.

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