If you liked “A Different World” the first time, you’ll probably like this updated sequel.
Not every reboot lives up to the hype but Netflix’s follow-up to the beloved series may do just that. It has a sexy new cast (check), the return of fan favorites (check), enthralling torn-from-the-headlines storylines (check), a more realistic look at the life of a Black student navigating a Historically Black College (HBC) (needed), a more transparent look at Black culture on a Black campus (appreciated) and not a laugh track within earshot.
The original series, a spinoff of “The Cosby Show,” ran from 1987 to 1993 and has since aged like fine wine, becoming legendary among fans on social media who want to know what happened to Whitley and Dwayne after they married. Was the chemistry between Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison real? Who dated who off the set?
Netflix’s “A Different World” answers this. Whitley and Dwayne pursued careers and had three children. The youngest Deborah, phonetically pronounced “De bor rah” (Maleah Joi Moon), is a freshman at Hillman. So is her handsome on-again-off-again, football star boyfriend Shaquille (Cornelle Young IV). On her first day, Deborah meets feisty roommate and new bestie, Rashida Duvall (Alijah Kai), flirty Ghanian-Nigerian Brit student Kojo (Chibuikem Uche), naive good girl Hazel (Kennedi Reece), and many eager-yet-nervous students with whom she will bond.
Having retired from the private sector, Dwayne has returned to Hillman as its new provost and the always-vain Whitley has found success in the beauty industry, developing a very lucrative cosmetic brand.
TV newcomer and Broadway actor Maleah Joi Moon plays their youngest scion with willfulness on steroids, setting a dynamic with her parents and others that plays throughout the season. And things don’t always look good for the girl with the wealthy parents. Apparently, she is at Hillman for previous academic mistakes. She is intelligent but not too mature, smart but has learning difficulties, talented but not focused and so on (not unusual challenges for college students). Moon nails Deborah’s assertive but insecure nature with no look-at-me acting within the 30-minute show space.
In fact, there’s not a slacker performance within the cast. Co-star Kai as Rashida steps out of the box of the comedic sidekick, bringing sexy spiciness to the mix and making any time she is on screen so much fun to watch. Chibuikem Uche as Kojo and Jordan Aaron Hall as Amir bring depth to characters that, in an earlier comedy TV show era, would have been just color, occasionally given their own special episode if time and ratings allowed.
Like Deborah, Shaquille has the added benefit of being the offspring of a Hillman alum. Ron Johnson (Darryl Bell) is a successful businessman and widower. Viewers of the original “ADW” will remember he dated Halle Berry onscreen and apparently they married offscreen and sired Shaquille (ok, slight Spoiler Alert!).
Young IV’s Shaquille is a young man excited and motivated to be a “5-star recruit,” yet he feels pressured to be a perfect player and student by his dad’s ambitions. Young IV is physically pretty and sexy but what’s great is how the actor gets beyond the physicality to reveal Shaquille’s blunders and vulnerabilities. In scenes with his father and with his coach the stress in the room is palpable.
While both “A Different World” shows address social issues, times have changed and those same issues have either evolved or there’s simply more. The PSA dialogue is pretty obvious every time it flies out of the actors’ mouths but it’s clearly aimed at young viewers.
Thanks to writer/showrunner Felicia Pride’s stealth story skills, and Debbie Allen’s acting, directing and life experience (both in Hollywood and at Howard University), this time there’s no sugar-coating the experience of Black kids attending an HBCU. Some are there because it’s what was left after rejections from other universities. Some have had every kind of American experience but a Black one and need to know more about their culture. Some parents have invested money in an institution they feel will give their child a fair chance.
The new show also doesn’t shy away from showing that the generational trauma of slavery, segregation and discrimination is still, even now, a thing that each generation carries organically.
There’s a cadre of familiar producer names behind this, including Allen, Tom Werner (“Cosby Show,” “3rd Rock From the Sun”) Gina Prince-Bythewood (shoutout “Love and Basketball!”) and writers including Des Moran (“Bel Air”), Lisa McQuillan (“Grown-ish”) and Rashida Olayiwola (“A Black Lady Sketch Show”) making sure this new world stays on point.
“A Different World” is now streaming on Netflix.
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