Remembering where ‘A Different World’ left off before the 2026 Netflix reboot

As Netflix's "A Different World" welcomes a new freshman class to the treasured Hillman College, it's worth taking a trip down memory lane to the 1987 Black sitcom that started it all.

NBC's "A Different World" was a spinoff of "The Cosby Show," initially following Lisa Bonet's Denise Huxtable as she navigated her studies at Hillman College and bumped heads with the snobbish Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) and the fast-talking Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison). In the first season, Denise's dad Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) made some cameos, helping Denise through money troubles and extracurriculars. The show also benefited from its Thursday night timeslot between "The Cosby Show" and "Cheers."

But the show experienced some major changes after Season 1, with Bonet departing due to her real-life pregnancy with then-husband Lenny Kravitz, and Debbie Allen taking over as chief creative officer to direct and produce.

As a result, Guy and Hardison stepped into the spotlight and the show began to tackle more social and political issues during its six-season run, like the AIDS epidemic and the beating of Rodney King. Beyond this, "A Different World" also utilized the cultural vibrancy that enlivened Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) from music and…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/