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A Different World

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Plot

Debuting September 24, 1987, on NBC, the weekly, half-hour sitcom A Different World originated as a spin-off of the enormously popular The Cosby Show, which, during its first season, it followed on Thursday nights. Lisa Bonet reprised her familiar Cosby Show role as Denise Huxtable, 19-year-old daughter of Cleveland obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby), who at the outset of A Different World was beginning her sophomore year at the largely black Hillman College, her dad's alma mater. Lisa lived in Gilbert Hall, a girl's dorm, with her two roommates and fellow students, naïve white girl Maggie Lawton (Marisa Tomei), and 26-year-old black divorcée Jaleesa Vinson (Dawnn Lewis). The girls' neighbor across the hall was spoiled, imperious Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy), while the dorm director was first Stevie Rollins (Loretta Devine) and then Lettie Bostic (Mary Alice). Representing the male population of Hillman were self-styled Lothario Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) and the likeable but irresponsible Ronald Johnson (Darryl M. Bell). Halfway through season one, Sinbad joined the cast as athletic coach Walter Oakes.

After Lisa Bonet became pregnant, she seriously curtailed her Different World appearances, dropping out of the show altogether in season two. At this point, Dawnn Lewis and Jasmine Guy became, for all intents and purposes, the stars of the series. Added to the cast during the second season were Charnele Brown as footloose but iron-willed pre-med student Kim Reese, Cree Summer as the fey, artistically inclined Freddie Brooks, and Glynn Turnan as super-tough calculus professor Col. Clayton "Dr. War" Taylor. Also this season, Lou Myers began making recurring appearances as Vernon Gaines, philosophical chef at local campus hangout The Pit. Starting with season three, Gilbert Hall became a coed dorm, allowing closer contact amongst the various male and female characters -- with the expected results. Walter Oakes became dorm director and resident advisor, while Dwayne Wayne gradually entered into a romance with Whitley Gilbert and Ron developed an attraction to Freddie. Upon graduating, Whitley found work at an art gallery, Kim was employed at a mortuary, and Jaleesa -- who had married Col. Taylor -- became a marketing executive and ran her own employment agency. Eventually, Whitley and Dwayne were married, Ron started his own band, and Freddie enrolled in law school. All the while, new regulars were added to the show: Jada Pinkett as streetwise freshman Lena James, Karen Malina White as the garrulous and overly aggressive Charmaine Brown, Patrick Malone as the punkish-looking but sensitive Terrell, Ajai Sanders as the hyper-judgmental Gina Devereaux, and Joe Morton as Hillman alumnus Senator Byron Douglas III, whom Whitley nearly married before finally deciding upon Wayne. Although A Different World did not shy away from the serious issues facing young African-Americans in the final decade of the 20th century, the series always maintained a positive, upbeat attitude, avoiding easy put-down and insult jokes in favor of sharp, well-defined characterizations with realistic goals and ideals. Lasting 144 episodes, the series ended on July 9, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Credit

Marcy Carsey - Executive Producer, Tom Werner - Executive Producer
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A Different World (TV series)

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A Different World
A Different World.jpg
A Different World title card (Season 6)
Format Sitcom
Created by Bill Cosby
Starring Lisa Bonet
Marisa Tomei
Dawnn Lewis
Jasmine Guy
Loretta Devine
Kadeem Hardison
Lou Myers
Darryl M. Bell
Sinbad
Charnele Brown
Mary Alice
Cree Summer
Glynn Turman
Ajai Sanders
Jada Pinkett
Karen Malina White
Theme music composer Stu Gardner
Bill Cosby
Dawnn Lewis
Opening theme Performed by:
Phoebe Snow (season 1)
Aretha Franklin
(seasons 2–5)
Boyz II Men (season 6)
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 144 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Marcy Carsey
Tom Werner (entire run)
Caryn Mandabach
(seasons 5–6)
Susan Fales
(season 6)
Camera setup Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Carsey-Werner Productions
Viacom Productions
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
Original run September 24, 1987 – July 9, 1993
Chronology
Related shows The Cosby Show (1984–1992)

A Different World is an American television sitcom which aired for six seasons on NBC (from September 24, 1987 – July 9, 1993). It is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show originally centered on Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional historically black college in the state of Virginia.[1] After Bonet's departure, the series primarily focused on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison). The series frequently depicted members of the major historically African American fraternities and sororities (along with the fictional Kappa Lambda Nu fraternity and Alpha Delta Rho sorority).

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, the Equal Rights Amendment). One episode that aired in 1990 was one of the first American network television episodes to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.[2]

Contents

Cast

Main article: A Different World characters

Guest stars and appearances

Ratings

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.[4]

U.S. television ratings

Season Episodes Season Premiere Season Finale Ranking Households
(in millions)		 Black household
ranking
1 1987–88 22 September 24, 1987 July 7, 1988 #2[4] 22.15 #2
2 1988–89 22 October 6, 1988 May 4, 1989 #3[4][5] 20.79[5] #1
3 1989–90 25 September 21, 1989 May 5, 1990 #4[4][6] 19.43[6] #1[7]
4 1990–91 25 September 20, 1990 May 2, 1991 #4[8] 16.92[8] #1[9]
5 1991–92 25 September 19, 1991 May 14, 1992 #17[10] 13.99[10] #1[9]
6 1992–93 25 September 24, 1992 July 9, 1993 #71[11] 9.0 rating #6[12]

Hillman College Reunion

In August 2006, Nick At Nite aired a week-long marathon of A Different World episodes. Lisa Bonet, Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Darryl M. Bell, Cree Summer, and Sinbad reunited for short vignettes that provide a glimpse of the current state of their characters. Nick at Nite's Hillman College Reunion[13] website added details beyond those shown on television.

Season 2 changes

During the summer of 1988, Lisa Bonet announced that she and husband Lenny Kravitz were having a baby. It was felt that viewers would not accept Denise Huxtable as an unwed mother, having grown to know her as a "good girl" after four seasons of The Cosby Show and A Different World. 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. This led to Debbie Allen becoming the chief creative force behind A Different World, and to the revamp that placed Whitley and Dwayne at the center of a wider ensemble, dealing with more relevant issues of the day. Allen, an alumna of Howard University, made a conscious effort to make Hillman resemble an actual historically black college as much as possible. The first season of Hillman's student body consisted of both black and white students, but this was changed at the beginning of the second season and was maintained until the series ended.

Marisa Tomei and Marie-Alise Recasner were replaced by Cree Summer and Charnele Brown, respectively. Darryl M. Bell and Sinbad were promoted to the principal cast, and Glynn Turman and Lou Myers were added as supporting cast members.

Notable episodes

Main article: List of A Different World episodes
  • In Season 1, the episode "Rudy and the Ice Queen" marks the beginning of the softening of Whitley's image as a spoiled troublemaker at Hillman. Denise's kid sister Rudy (Keshia Knight-Pulliam) visits Hillman and becomes smitten with Whitley. Flattered at the attention, Whitley befriends the little girl, but when it becomes clear that she's trumping Denise as a role model, Whitley has a change of heart, steps back and gently persuades Rudy to return to her sister.
  • In Season 2, the episodes "No Means No" deals with date rape. Freddie has a crush on Hillman's new top-notch baseball star Garth Parks (played by Taimak). Dwayne hears Garth discuss a disturbing incident involving another woman. Dwayne goes to Walter (Sinbad) for advice, and Walter tells him about date rape. Dwayne tries to warn Freddie, but she does not believe Garth would do such a thing. Later at a dance Garth goes off alone with Freddie and attempts to rape her, but Dwayne finds them and fights Garth. At the end of the episode Walter takes Garth to the police station for his assault on Freddie and rape of the other woman.
  • In January 1991 (seven days before the beginning of Operation Desert Storm), Blair Underwood guest-starred in "War and Peace," an episode written by Jasmine Guy and Dominic Hoffman about the impending Persian Gulf War. A Different World became the first situation comedy to address this topic, and "War and Peace" was one of the highest rated episodes of Season 4.[14]
  • In the fourth-season episode "Ms. Understanding", Hillman student Shazza Zulu (Gary Dourdan) peddles a book he has written and self-published that is highly critical of African-American men and their allegedly sexist behavior. The episode is based on the controversy surrounding the book The Blackman's Guide to Understanding the Blackwoman [sic]. This book, written by controversial African American author Shahrazad Ali, blamed many of the problems within the black family and the black community on African American women. Although many black women found the book highly offensive and intellectually deficient, African American men purchased hundreds of thousands of copies in 1989 and 1990, leading to a temporary rift between many African American men and women. Ali's book is mentioned specifically in the 1990 episode "Time Keeps On Slippin'," where Ron suggests putting it in the time capsule to represent a female point of view, but is shouted down by the women in the group. It should be noted that Ms. Ali’s beliefs stem from her fervent belief in Faradian Islam and her membership in the Nation of Islam.
  • The fifth-season episode "Mammy Dearest" addresses two subjects almost never discussed on prime time television: the "mammy" image and its negative effect upon African Americans' sense of beauty and self-worth, and the little-known fact that some well-to-do African-Americans actually owned slaves themselves. Kim is disheartened with the display of several "mammy" dolls in a cultural exhibit, while Whitley learns that some of her African-American ancestors were slave owners.
  • The fifth-season episode "Cat's in the Cradle" deals with racism, from both sides of the proverbial fence. While attending a Hillman football game on a predominantly White campus, Ron and Dwayne are involved in a bias incident with three White students which culminates with Ron and Dwayne fighting the White students as they attempt to spray-paint the word "Nigger" on Ron's car, stopping them before they could complete the slur. They are all detained by a local Sheriff; in the local jail, the perspectives of the incident is shown from each side, with predictably drastically different takes. The racist act by the White students is not alone, however, as Dwayne is guilty of the same prejudice by assuming the White sheriff that arrests everyone is racist, when actually he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1960s (the episode airs just prior to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day). Poignantly, the ending scene find both parties returning to the parking lot where the altercation started, only to find that some unknown other person or persons finished spray-painting the "Nigger" slur on the car. This episode features one of actor Dean Cain's earliest television appearances.
  • The fifth-season episode "Love Taps" dealt with domestic violence. Gina has been dating an up-and-coming rapper named Dion, aka "I'm Down" (played by Edafe Blackmon), who many of the students admire, including Terrance. When Lena suspects that Dion has been beating up on Gina (who is sporting a black eye), she confronts her about it, but Gina makes excuses for Dion's rages and tells Lena to back off. Lena confides in Kim about Gina's situation; Kim informs Lena that some things should not be kept secret. Eventually, Dion's reputation is spread all over campus. After having a heart-to-heart talk with Whitley and engaging in a confrontation with Dion (in front of Terrance who has called the police), Gina finally decides to press assault charges against him.
  • Various episodes in the last two seasons of the series referenced contemporary high-profile cases of sexual harassment, such as the Mitsubishi scandal and the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. In the episode "Bedroom at the Top," Whitley is sexually harassed at her new job by an executive. The Anita Hill hearings also are mentioned in the episode "The Little Mister," in which Dwayne dreams about the 1992 elections imagining himself as Hillary Clinton, while Whitley is Bill.
  • The sixth season premiere includes Whitley and Dwayne's recounting of their honeymoon in Los Angeles, during which four white police officers who were on trial for the videotaped beating of African American motorist Rodney King were acquitted of state criminal charges, sparking the 1992 Los Angeles riots. (Actors Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold, comedian Gilbert Gottfried and rapper Sister Soulja made cameo appearances in this two-part episode.)[15]
  • In "Homie, Don't You Know Me?" (one of the "lost episodes" from Season 6), rapper Tupac Shakur portrays Lena's (Jada Pinkett) old boyfriend from back home. The two bump heads over Lena's new college "attitude", not to mention her new boyfriend Dorian (Bumper Robinson). This is one of the few television sitcom appearances made by Tupac.
  • The episode that dealt with the AIDS epidemic featured actress Tisha Campbell-Martin as Hillman student Josie, who reveals during a class project that she has contracted the disease from a former boyfriend and would probably die shortly after graduating college. Because of the reveal, some of the students (including Gina and Terrance) start to treat Josie as an outcast by either covering their face around her, or refusing to have her serve food at the Pit. Their attitudes towards Josie change after being chastised by Kim and Mr. Gaines. The dialogue also causes Whitley (who was still a virgin) to put off a sexual relationship with Dwayne. Whoopi Goldberg stars as the professor who conducts the class.

Connections to Bill Cosby and The Cosby Show

As a show developed by Bill Cosby for a character from The Cosby Show, A Different World had many connections to its parent program, even before the latter program was created. The third season finale of The Cosby Show, entitled "Hillman", was essentially a pilot episode for the new show.

The theme song was co-written by Stu Gardner, Bill Cosby, and Dawnn Lewis — who was also cast member. In the online interviews related to the 2006 "Hillman College Reunion," Lewis revealed that her being approached to write the song and to audition were two separate events that occurred within a short time of each other, such that she thought it was a practical joke by her friends. The song was performed by Phoebe Snow in season one, then by Aretha Franklin in seasons two through five, and Boyz II Men in season six.

The spin-off program featured many appearances by characters from the parent program, especially in the initial season, in which Denise's father Cliff (Bill Cosby), mother Clair (Phylicia Rashād), younger sisters Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) and Rudy, brother Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), and grandfather Russell (Earle Hyman) all appeared on the show, either at Hillman or at the other end of a phone call. Denise's departure from Hillman after Season 1 did not stop her mother from reappearing on the show. Three of Phylicia Rashād's four appearances as Hillman alumna Clair Huxtable took place after season one, and in one of these, she brought her younger daughter Vanessa to tour the college.

Producer/director Debbie Allen is the real-life sister of Phylicia Rashād. Allen made one guest appearance on The Cosby Show, playing an aggressive aerobics instructor who helps Clair slim down for a special occasion. Allen appeared in later seasons in a recurring role as Whitley's psychiatrist. Dwayne and Whitley also visited the Huxtable home in an episode featuring the revelation that Denise had married and would not return to Hillman.

A young Kadeem Hardison also appears in The Cosby Show as one of Theo Huxtable's friends in the Gordon Gartrell shirt episode, though not playing Dwayne, of course.

A Hillman alum by the name of "Louise Sujay" has been mentioned on both "Cosby" and "Different World" by Clair Huxtable, Whitley Gilbert and her mother Marion.

Like Lisa Bonet, Karen Malina White brought her Cosby Show character to Hillman. Charmaine was the best friend of Clair Huxtable's cousin Pam Tucker. White's Cosby Show costar Allen Payne turned down an offer to bring his role as Charmaine's boyfriend Lance Rodman to A Different World as a regular during Season 6, preferring instead to pursue a movie career; he and Jada Pinkett starred in the 1994 film Jason's Lyric, which is considered to be a milestone in both their careers. Payne did appear in one episode during season five in which Charmaine visits Hillman as a prospective student, bringing Lance along to see if he can gain admission as well. When Charmaine arrives at Hillman, she and Lance are maintaining a long-distance relationship and he is mentioned in multiple episodes. Lance and Charmaine later break up over the phone.

Years later, Tempestt Bledsoe (who played Vanessa on Cosby) and Darryl M. Bell (who played Ron on A Different World) became a real-life couple and co-starred on the 2009 Fox Reality Channel series Househusbands of Hollywood.

Hillman College

Hillman College is a fictional, historically Black college that is located in the state of Virginia. The exact locality of the school is never revealed, but it is alluded to be halfway between Richmond and the Hampton Roads area. Visual shots of the Hillman campus that were used in the series were actually filmed at two real-life Black colleges, Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College, both in Atlanta, Georgia.

The first references to Hillman on The Cosby Show were made during season one, when it is mentioned as the place where Cliff Huxtable and Clair Hanks went to school while they were engaged. Cliff's father Russell is also a Hillman alum. The school made its first on-screen appearance in the third-season finale of The Cosby Show, titled "Hillman", when Cliff and Clair and their family attend a Hillman commencement ceremony which also honored a retiring professor.

Media reaction

The Hollywood Reporter is quoted as stating that when Debbie Allen became the producer (and usually director) of A Different World after the first season, she transformed it "from a bland Cosby spin-off into a lively, socially responsible, ensemble situation comedy."[4]

The Museum of Broadcast Communications states that Debbie Allen:

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."[4]

DVD releases

Urban Works released Season 1 of A Different World on DVD in Region 1 on November 8, 2005. Several release dates for Season 2 were announced (May 2006, July 2006 & September 2006) but it was never released. Urban Works was acquired by First Look Studios in early 2006. The distribution rights for the series have since reverted back to the production company, Carsey-Werner Productions.

DVD Name Release Date Ep # Additional Information
Season 1 November 8, 2005[16] 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

See also

References

  1. ^ Haithman, Diane (October 6, 1988). "Different Touch to 'Different World'". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-06/entertainment/ca-4490_1_cosby-show. Retrieved October 2, 2010. 
  2. ^ La Deane, Alice (January 13, 1992). "'Different World' Goes Beyond Realm of 'Sitcom'". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1992-01-13/entertainment/ca-145_1_difficult-world. Retrieved October 2, 2010. 
  3. ^ "Bonet's in `A Different World'". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1987_482541/bonet-s-in-a-different-world.html. Retrieved 2010-10-02. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f A Different World, Museum of Broadcast Communications
  5. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1988–1989". ClassicTVHits.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1988.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  6. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1989–1990". ClassicTVHits.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1989.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  7. ^ "Nielsen To Scope Blacks". Black Enterprise 21 (3): 18. October 1990. http://books.google.com/books?id=hF4EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA18&dq=%22a%20different%20world%22%20among%20african%20american%20households&pg=PA18#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
  8. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1990–1991". ClassicTVHits.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1990.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  9. ^ a b "Debbie Allen Tells Why 'A Different World' Is Rated Tops Among Black TV Viewers". Jet 82 (1): 58–60. April 27, 1992. http://books.google.com/books?id=wbkDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA58&dq=a%20different%20world%20among%20african%20american%20households&pg=PA59#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
  10. ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1991–1992". ClassicTVHits.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1991.htm. Retrieved 02-12-2010. 
  11. ^ Grahnke, Lon (May 8, 1993). 9.00 q=Top+5+hit+fell+to+71st+place+in+Nielsen%27s+weekly&scoring=t&hl=en&ned=us&sa=N&sugg=d&as_ldate=1993/05&as_hdate=1993/05&lnav=hist4 "A Different World'Canceled After 6 Yrs.". Chicago Sun-Times: p. 21. http://news.google.com/archivesearch? 9.00 q=Top+5+hit+fell+to+71st+place+in+Nielsen%27s+weekly&scoring=t&hl=en&ned=us&sa=N&sugg=d&as_ldate=1993/05&as_hdate=1993/05&lnav=hist4. Retrieved 2010-05-25. 
  12. ^ "How Blacks' TV Viewing Habits Differ From Whites'". Jet 83 (26): 38. April 26, 1993. http://books.google.com/books?id=iroDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA34&dq=%22a%20different%20world%22%20among%20african%20american%20households&pg=PA38#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
  13. ^ http://www.tvland.com/nickatnite/shows/differentworld/hillmancollege/
  14. ^ As 'A Different World' Turns (Part 2) Entertainment Weekly
  15. ^ Braxton, Greg (August 13, 1992). "A 'Different' Take on the L.A. Riots : Television: Industry and Civic Leaders are Both Impressed and Nervous as 'A Different World' Opens a New Season by Dealing with the Unrest". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1992-08-13/entertainment/ca-5854_1_riot-episode. Retrieved October 2, 2010. 
  16. ^ http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=670473

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A Different World (episodes) (characters)
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