A Different World 

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

Creator:

Bill Cosby

Stars:

Lisa Bonet, Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 16 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Jasmine Guy	...	Whitley Gilbert 141 episodes, 1987-1993
Kadeem Hardison	...	Dwayne Wayne 139 episodes, 1987-1993
Darryl M. Bell	...	Ron Johnson 120 episodes, 1987-1993
Charnele Brown	...	Kim Reese 112 episodes, 1988-1993
Dawnn Lewis	...	Jaleesa Vinson 109 episodes, 1987-1992
Cree Summer	...	Freddie Brooks 105 episodes, 1988-1993
Lou Myers	...	Vernon Gaines 88 episodes, 1988-1993
Glynn Turman	...	Colonel Brad Taylor 68 episodes, 1988-1993
Sinbad	...	Coach Walter Oakes 60 episodes, 1987-1991

Storyline

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

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Plot Keywords:

sitcom | historically black college | african american | university | college | 

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Taglines:

Big laughs on campus.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Different World

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bill Cosby, Carsey-Werner Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (142 episodes) 60 min (1 episode)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dawnn Lewis left the show prior to the final season to co-star on Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992). The absence of Jaleesa (as well as her and Col Taylor's newborn baby) was never explained.

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Goofs

Throughout the course of the series, Whitley's talents go back and forth between being an accomplished singer/dancer and having little to no singing/dancing skills at all.

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Quotes

Kim Reese: [crying after Claire Huxstable asks about her career goals] Everybody expects me to be good I'm not good. What if I mess up on a patient? I can't even chop zuchini.

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Connections

Referenced in Roundhouse: TV on Trial (1992)

User Reviews

Became most interesting after people stopped paying attention

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.