Can ‘A Different World’ sequel change lives like the original series? Hillman is back in session

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Netflix’s new “A Different World” arrives with a burden few television comedies have to carry: The original entertained millions while helping some viewers decide where they went to college, what careers to pursue and even how they saw themselves.

Kadeem Hardison still hears about that impact nearly four decades later.

“I’m learning that every day still,” said Hardison, who played the mathematically gifted, flip-shade-wearing Dwayne Wayne. He said people would approach him, saying they went to college because of the show, became engineers because of him or even gained the confidence to pursue relationships after watching Dwayne and Whitley Gilbert’s famously winding romance.

Now a new generation is discovering Hillman College, including some of the original actors bringing it back to life. The 10-episode sequel series premieres Sept. 24 on Netflix.

Cornell Young IV, one of six young stars leading the series, played college football in Missouri and said his own college decision was largely driven by which schools recruited him. But after filming the series at historically Black colleges and universities — Clark Atlanta, Spelman College and Morehouse — in Atlanta, Young found himself reconsidering the path he took.

“I wish I would have been more like, ‘Yo, here go my tape. Like, I’m trying to come here,’” said Young, who plays Shaquille Johnson, the son of original character Ron Johnson.

The sequel follows Deborah Wayne (Maleah Joi Moon), the youngest daughter of Dwayne and Whitley, as she begins her freshman year at Hillman. The new class also includes Rashida Duvall (Alijah Kai), Amir Rodale (Jordan Aaron Hall), Hazel Henry (Kennedi Reece) and Kojo Achebe (Chibuikem Uche).

Young said being immersed in an HBCU environment offered something he hadn’t fully understood before: a place where students could feel “protected,” “covered” and “seen” while figuring out who they wanted to become.

The Hillman effect

The original “A Different World,” a spinoff of “The Cosby Show,” premiered in 1987 and ran for six seasons. Set at the fictional Hillman College, the series introduced many viewers to HBCU life while tackling subjects ranging from apartheid and HIV/AIDS to racism and sexual assault.

The sequel’s creator and showrunner, Felicia Pride, grew up among the viewers the original series reached. She remembers watching it with her family on Thursday nights and becoming captivated by a step-show episode. As a young dancer who had never seen stepping, she recorded it on a VCR and repeatedly played it back until she learned the routine.

“That changed something in me, being able to see myself on screen,” Pride said.

Nearly 40 years later, she wants to create the possibility of that kind of recognition for someone else. She wants the new Hillman to speak just as directly to the generation entering college now.

The sequel takes on social media and the pressures of living digitally, along with isolation, immigration, campus safety, sexual orientation and sexual health. Pride said conversations with young people repeatedly revealed how technology can leave them feeling connected and disconnected at the same time.

Some of Hillman’s concerns remain unchanged. The series also explores grief, heartbreak, friendship and the uncertainty of figuring out who you are away from home.

“The timing was so perfect now for the show to come back to be a connecting force for us,” Pride said.

Creating their own ‘Different World’

The new cast is less interested in recreating the old Hillman than making this one recognizable to their generation.

For Moon, that starts with Deborah. She studied what she called the “beautiful flaws” of Dwayne and Whitley but resisted simply blending their personalities together.

“These are big shoes to fill,” Moon said.

She wanted Deborah to stand on her own — an original character whose flaws, impulses and experiences reflect what it means to be a young Black woman coming of age now.

For Reece, that includes the constant comparison fostered by social media. She said young women are growing up with greater pressure around appearance because images of other people, and opportunities to measure themselves against them, are always within reach.

Kai sees another side of this generation’s experience: more freedom for Black women to define how they present themselves. She said there is greater room to experiment with hair, fashion, color and texture rather than conform to ideas of what others consider palatable.

She brought some of that sensibility to Rashida herself, contributing ideas for the character’s nails and changing hairstyles.

Together, their characters are not intended to offer a single definition of young Black womanhood.

The experience is “both universal, but not a monolith,” Moon said.

Can the new Hillman create its own legacy?

Hardison knows the new cast will be measured against the one that came before. He thinks that misses the point.

“Let the kids cook,” he said.

Hardison stressed that the new “A Different World” is a sequel, not a reboot. He likened comparing the two casts to comparing Michael Jordan and LeBron James — different generations playing under different circumstances.

For all the reverence surrounding the original today, Hardison remembers that it took time to become the show people now celebrate. The series underwent a major creative shift after its first season, when Debbie Allen became executive producer.

“Our first season was trash, yo,” Hardison said with a laugh. “Let the kids have some time and give them some grace.”

That may be harder to come by in today’s television business.

The original had more than 20 episodes in most seasons and years to develop its characters. The new series has 10 episodes to establish itself in an entertainment landscape where streaming services, social media, YouTube and other platforms are constantly competing for attention.

“We have to do well out the gate,” Pride said. “The times that we’re in are much more unforgiving.”

For Pride, that leaves little room for a slow start.

“We don’t have the benefit of, you know, growing with the show and the show figuring itself out,” she said. “So I hope people show up. I hope they watch it together.”