A Different World

"A, Different World" a spin-off from the smash hit "Cosby Show" which had Huxtable daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet) off to college to find out a different world laid ahead. Denise dropped out of the mostly black college only to have the series improve and become a hit with other cast members. The best characters had to be the uppity Whitley (Jasmine Guy), and the well liked and super-cool math major Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) along with his best friend Ron (Darryl M. Bell). The pit was the place the gang hung out for everything from meals to talk. The theme song sung by Phoebe Snow really is the truth once you leave home from your parents it really is a different world.

The early episodes of this sitcom were bland, as they focused on Denise Huxtable's (Lisa Bonet) experiences at Hillman College. The show only took off after Denise dropped out of school. The show then focused on the more interesting cast members, most notably, brainy student Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) and snooty Southern belle Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy). I liked that they also had Jalessa, a divorced adult student trying to rebuild her life.

NBC made a mistake during the last season of the show by confusing the audience. They ran a highly touted "series finale" showing the now-married and expectant parents Dwayne and Whitley going off to Japan, where Dwayne had gotten a high-tech job. The network then turned around and aired several more new episodes that focused on newer cast members including Charmaine (Karen Malinka White). They brought in Billy Dee Williams and Leslie Uggams as a landlord, and a college professor, respectively. It appeared that NBC cancelled the show, then made a last-minute effort to revive it.

Jada Pinkett Smith ("Set It Off"), comedian Sinbad and Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei ("My Cousin Vinny"), were three cast members who went on to bigger success.

I wish the second season would hurry up and come out. I loved the Special Feature when all of the cast talked about how the show improved. Even when the show was a little goofier, who didn't think Lisa Bonet looked adorable in her pig snout. I started a petition to get the second season out there. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do it. I like to watch people that are my age get to experience the college life, going to an HBCU, pledging, loving, befriending, and just hanging out. I wanted to go to an HBCU as soon as I saw "A Different World" and I actually created my book, Change for a Twenty, around the college crowd. I just think it's so commendable when black people can be on a show without a bunch of stereotypes. It gave other young people someone to model their character on.

After a very rocky first season, this show not only went on to become an accurate portrayal of the Black college experience, it was also an accurate portrayal of college life in general. This show is one of the exceptions to the rule that drastic changes ruin great series. During the first season, it became obvious that Lisa Bonet couldn't carry the show and that the real star of the show was Jasmine Guy, whose character of Whitley Gilbert will always be remembered as one of the all time greats. Also, even though the show was set in a college, you never saw the kids actually attending class. All this changed during the second season when both Bonet's character of Denise Huxtable and Marissa Tomei's character of Maggie were written off the show and were replaced by Freddie, played by Cree Summer, and Kim, played by Charnele Brown. But perhaps the big change was that not only did you see the kids attending classes, but the show became more issue oriented. Issues like date rape, AIDS, domestic violence, apartheid and teen pregnancy were all covered in this show and helped to make it more than a "Cosby Show" spin-off. Also, besides the above mentioned characters, Kadeem Hardison's portrayal of Dwayne Wayne helped make this show great.

I never knew about A Different World until my friend showed it to me and he exclaimed: 'I LOVE THIS SHOW' then I started watching it and it was a great spin-off that broke the classic spin-off curse to become a success in its own right (i.e Frasier). The fact that it showed black students in college was a sight for sore eyes if you ask me because most of the college shows seem to have a token black student (no offense to anyone just an observation). I like how they handled some tough issues, like parolees, social issues through the person of Freddie Brooks played wonderfully by Cree Summer, and affirmative action also. This show had some incredible promise to it and presented a realistic view of college life and its pitfalls as well as high points.

This is an incredible show and I would say, if you haven't seen it, watch it. It is really good