A Different World

A Different World is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of The Cosby Show. It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional historically black college in Virginia. It was inspired by student life at historically black colleges and universities.

After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert-Wayne, played by Jasmine Guy, and math whiz Dwayne Cleofis Wayne, played by Kadeem Hardison.

Concept

While it was a spin-off from The Cosby Show, A Different World typically addressed issues that were avoided by The Cosby Show writers (race and class relations, sexual assault, or the Equal Rights Amendment). One episode that aired in 1990 was one of the first American network television episodes to address the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS.

The original premise was to focus on a white student at a historically black university and feature Lena Horne as an acting teacher, but in production, the premise changed from being a story about a white student in a black college to a black student (Denise Huxtable) in a black college with a white friend. It was ultimately decided that Denise, who was of college age, would be spun off and have a white roommate in order to show the dynamic of a white girl in predominantly black surroundings. Meg Ryan was originally cast for this role, but she decided to pursue a film career, so Marisa Tomei was cast.

Season two changes

After the first season, it came to Cosby's and the producers' attention that the series was not accurately portraying a historically black college and life on campus, so Debbie Allen, an alumna of Howard University, was hired as the chief creative officer to revamp the show. During the summer of 1988, Lisa Bonet announced that she and her husband Lenny Kravitz were having a baby. Allen was in favor of having a young pregnant student in the show, but Cosby said that Lisa Bonet could be pregnant but not Denise Huxtable.

It was felt that viewers would not accept Denise as an unwed mother, having grown to know her as a "good girl" after four seasons of The Cosby Show. Thus it was decided that Denise would drop out of Hillman, return home to her family, and eventually travel to Africa throughout the fifth season of The Cosby Show, ensuring that viewers would not see a pregnant Denise. Allen was also in favor of keeping Tomei, as she herself recalled a white student at Howard and wanted to relate that in the show and even had possible premises for her character, such as meeting Dwayne's parents and seeing the other side of racism. July 2006, and September 2006), but the DVD was never released. Urban Works was acquired by First Look Studios in early 2006. The distribution rights for the series have since reverted to the production company, Carsey-Werner Productions. FilmRise has currently made the series available on streaming services, especially Amazon Prime and Netflix.

{| class="wikitable"

! DVD title

! Release date

! of<br />Episodes

! Additional information

| Season 1

| November 8, 2005

| style="text-align:center;"| 22

cast interviews
out-takes
a retrospective overview of the series with cast members
an un-aired, "lost" episode featuring Tupac Shakur and Jada Pinkett-Smith

Reception

Critical response

Despite strong viewership due to its timeslot, A Different World initially received negative reviews from television critics, who found it juvenile, unrealistic, humorless, boring, and overly reliant on its parent show. Journalist Mark Harris reported that the show "drew one of the most concentrated doses of critical vituperation ever to greet an instant ratings hit". Several reviewers blamed Denise's characterization and Bonet's performance for making the series' early episodes uninteresting. The Chicago Tribune wrote "it doesn't seem that Bonet is a compelling enough actress to carry a show by herself, but A Different World probably will do well because of its fortuitous time slot, and whoever said that life on television was fair?". Other reviews compared it unfavorably to The Facts of Life, including the South Florida Sun Sentinel<nowiki/>'s Bill Kelley who dismissed the show as "a greed-motivated sitcom that doesn't serve any function beyond milking a few million extra dollars from TV's most popular comedy franchise". On the contrary, television critic Marvin Kitman admitted to having been secretly enjoying the season, praising its simplicity and the performances of Bonet and Tomei in particular. Additionally, radio personalities Howard Stern and Robin Quivers lambasted the show on their talk radio program. and reviews improved from season two onward. Dino-Ray Ramos of Entertainment Tonight said the sitcom evolved into "a fresh balance of comedy and drama that spoke true to the experiences of young black adults in the early-'90s".

Ratings

Critics say that A Different World benefited from airing between The Cosby Show and Cheers on Thursday night. The show consistently ranked first or second among African American viewers during most of its run.

| July 7, 1988

| 17.0

| 1987–88

| 2

| 34.3

| 30.8

| 36.6

| 27.6

| 28.6

| 24.1

| 29.0

| 23.6

| 15.3

| 4.3

The Museum of Broadcast Communications states that Debbie Allen:

<blockquote>a graduate of historically black Howard University – drew from her college experiences in an effort to accurately reflect in the show the social and political life on black campuses. Moreover, Allen instituted a yearly spring trip to Atlanta where series writers visited three of the nation's leading black colleges, Clark Atlanta, Morehouse and Spelman. During these visits, ideas for several of the episodes emerged from meetings with students and faculty. During the show's original run between the years 1987 to 1993, there was a 24% increase in HBCU enrollment.

Hillman College Reunion

In August 2006, Nick at Nite aired a week-long marathon showing episodes of A Different World. Lisa Bonet, Dawnn Lewis, Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Darryl M. Bell, Cree Summer, and Sinbad reunited for short vignettes that provided a glimpse of the current state of their characters. Nick at Nite's "Hillman College Reunion" website added details beyond those shown on television.

Sequel

On August 23 and 24, 2012, Debbie Allen, the former chief creative force of A Different World from 1988 to 1993, wrote on Twitter that she wanted to reboot the series. Over a million people on Facebook, Twitter and blogs reacted to the tweet and approved of the potential reboot.

The original cast reunited early 2024 on Today and The View to celebrate A Different Worlds ongoing impact and legacy. In February, they kicked off a 10-city tour stopping at many HBCUs to encourage student enrollment.

On August 7, 2024, it was announced that a sequel to the series was in the works at Netflix. It would focus on characters Whitley & Dwayne's daughter that attends Hillman College. It will be a single-cam, half-hour comedy series from writer/executive producer Felicia Pride, who has worked on Bel-Air and Grey's Anatomy, and executive producers Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood. On March 28, 2025, Netflix ordered a pilot of the sequel series.

On December 17, it was announced that original "A Different World" stars Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Cree Summer, and Darryl M. Bell will reprise their original roles in the sequel series.

Netflix has briefly described what the new sequel will look like. American Singer and Actress Maleah Joi Moon will be cast as Dwayne and Whitley's daughter, as she takes on her college experience at the infamous Hillman College. The show will be a mix between new and old characters, some of the new characters being confirmed: Jordan Aaron Hall, Alijah Kai, Kennedi Reece, and more.

On May 29, 2026, it was announced that the sequel will premiere on September 24, 39 years to the day of the original series' premiere.

Notes

References

External links

Carsey Werner - A Different World
A Different World at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
Official Bill Cosby website