A Different World (1987–1993)

TV Series  -   -  Comedy
6.1
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A group of students at a historically Black university struggle to make it through college.

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Title: A Different World (1987–1993)

A Different World (1987–1993) on IMDb 6.1/10

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Season:

6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Year:

1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 | 1989 | 1988 | 1987 | unknown
Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 16 wins & 4 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast

Complete series cast summary:
...
 Whitley Gilbert (136 episodes, 1987-1993)
...
 Dwayne Cleophus Wayne (132 episodes, 1987-1993)
...
 Ronald 'Ron' Johnson (103 episodes, 1987-1993)
Charnele Brown ...
 Kimberly 'Kim' Reese (90 episodes, 1988-1993)
...
 Jaleesa Vinson Taylor (89 episodes, 1987-1992)
...
 Winifred 'Freddie' Brooks (87 episodes, 1988-1993)
...
 Vernon Gaines (65 episodes, 1988-1993)
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Storyline

A group of students at a historically Black university struggle to make it through college.

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Taglines:

Big laughs on campus.

Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

24 September 1987 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Campus show  »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (142 episodes) | (1 episode)

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Spin-off of The Cosby Show, the original premise of the series was abandoned after the first season due to Lisa Bonet's exiting the show. See more »

Quotes

Whitley Marion Gilbert Wayne: [after being sexually harassed by her employee] It's so nice to know women have a place in business. Too bad it's horizontal.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in TV in Black: The First Fifty Years (2004) See more »

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User Reviews

Became most interesting after people stopped paying attention
8 October 2002 | by (Irving, TX) – See all my reviews

Most people remember this show as the spinoff of The Cosby Show built around Lisa Bonet's Denise character. After she (and Marisa Tomei) left the show, it was generally dismissed as a failure that was left on the air because of Cosby's influence. Oddly enough, it was at that point that this series got interesting. The "traditionally black college" setting provided a unique forum for exploring the topics that have arisen at the cultural crossroads that is Modern America. Metaracial politics informed both explicitly sociological stories and more traditional sitcom plots. It finally became the show they had probably intended to produce in the first place. That's not to say that "A Different World" became the greatest show in the history of Television. It never managed to settle on who the main characters were. The romance of Whitley and Dwayne was probably most prominent, but Ron, Freddie, Jaleesa, Kimberly, and, eventually, another generation of students took center stage from time to time too. I think medical student Kimberly best embodied the "entry point" or audience viewpoint. She was the character most likely to balance the materialism of Whitley, activist politics of Freddie, and more personal concerns of the other characters and achieve some kind of moral synthesis which the producers seemed to be aiming for.


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What about Kimberley Reese? Teectac
What about Charmaine Tyisha Brown? EricaBrodie1977
Represent Your HBCU!!!!!! Only actual attendees plz anirby
What do you think happened to the characters after the show ended? nitanappy
When do u think the show jumped the shark? MiiszKim
Did you guys know??? TruCoil
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