School is almost back in session for a new crop of Hillman College students. Ahead of the Sept. 24 release date of the “A Different World” sequel series, Netflix Monday dropped our official first look of Hillman’s newest enrolling class.
The upcoming 10-episode series will follow Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne’s (Kadeem Hardison) “lovingly sheltered youngest daughter, Deborah Wayne [played by Maleah Joi Moon, third from left above], a free spirit with a flair for the spotlight and a big heart who’s still figuring out her own path at Hillman.” (See more new photos below.)
Continues its official description: “Along the way, she’s joined by a new generation that reflects the breadth of Black life on campus: Rashida Duvall (Alijah Kai), a first‑gen criminal justice major; Shaquille Johnson (Cornell Young IV), a five‑star athlete choosing legacy; Amir Rodale (Jordan Aaron Hall), a sharp psych major better at fixing everyone else’s problems than facing his own; Hazel Henry (Kennedi Reece), a church‑raised small‑town girl defining her own values; and Kojo Achebe (Chibuikem Uche), a Ghanaian‑Nigerian fashion entrepreneur finding the courage to follow his vision.”
The series is from creator, showrunner, writer, and executive producer Felicia Pride, alongisde EP and director Debbie Allen (who produced and directed for the original). Additional EPs include Tom Werner, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Mandy Summers.
Which Familiar Faces Are Returning to A Different World?
Seven Hillman alumni are set to reprise their roles in the “A Different World” sequel series: Jasmine Guy (as Whitley Gilbert), Kadeem Hardison (as Dwayne Wayne), Cree Summer (as Freddie Brooks), Darryl M. Bell (as Ron Johnson), Charnele Brown (as Kimberly Reese), Jenifer Lewis (as Dorothy Dandridge Davenport), and Jada Pinkett Smith (as Lena James).
The original series ran for six seasons on NBC, premiering Sept. 24th, 1987 and bowing out July 9, 1993. It was originally conceived as a spin-off of “The Cosby Show,” with Lisa Bonet’s Denise Huxtable in the lead role. The show was eventually revamped following Bonet’s real-life pregnancy and series exit.
While the original series was a multi-camera sitcom, the follow-up is single-camera, shot without a studio audience, and “set against the rituals, humor, and nuances of an HBCU.” This version is described as a “hopeful dramedy, full of heart and unapologetically centered on the richness and complexity of the Black experience.”
Will you be watching “A Different World” 2.0? Let us know in the comments.
