Anyone who grew up watching “Must See TV” on Thursday nights on NBC will be excited to hear that Netflix has greenlit a sequel series to A Different World, with the same title. The original show, which you can watch with a Netflix subscription, debuted as a spinoff of The Cosby Show in the fall of 1987 and eventually ran for six seasons.
At first, it followed Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) to school at Hillman College, but Bonet left after one season, and the show was anchored by the characters Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy), along with an ensemble cast. Now that we’re headed back to Hillman College, let’s get into everything we know about the upcoming series, including the latest news about some of the returning cast members!
When Will The Show Debut On Netflix?
Of course, this is the big question now that we know the show is on the way, and one we don’t have an answer to, yet. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, production is expected to run from February 2026 until the end of April. A pilot was shot in Atlanta over the summer. Season 1 is expected to have 10 episodes, so there is a good chance that we’ll see the show sometime during the 2026 TV schedule. Maybe about a year from now, but that’s just a guess.
What Will A Different World Be About?
Details are thin at the moment, of course, but according to Netflix, the show will focus on the daughter of Dwayne and Whitney, named Deborah Wayne. Deborah will be following in her parents' footsteps to Hillman College, the fictional HBCU from the original series, and, according to the streamer, “finds the shadow of her parents difficult to escape.”
The original show, one of the best Black sitcoms of any era, was never afraid to take on some heavy topics. It’s reasonable to expect that the new show, which is being executive-produced by one of the producers and directors of the OG, Debbie Allen, will lean into this legacy. Allen spoke to Netflix’s Tudum about the original show:
Our show changed lives, tripled the enrollment of historically black colleges and gave a strong voice and platform for Young Black America.
It sounds like they aren’t going to be shy about tackling big issues facing Black students and all of America, if that’s what they are focusing on about the original show. Showrunner Felicia Pride is no stranger to tough topics, either, cutting her teeth as a writer on Grey’s Anatomy and with her debut screenplay, Really Love, which is a greatly underappreciated romantic drama released in 2020.
Who’s In The Cast
Along with the show’s announcement, Netflix also revealed the main cast. Maleah Joi Moon will be the show’s lead, but, like the original, it looks like there will be a great ensemble cast. Here’s who has been announced, so far.
Dwayne and Whitney’s daughter will be played by Broadway star Maleah Joi Moon. If you’ve never heard of Moon, don’t worry, you will soon. She won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical in 2024 for her lead role in Alicia Keys’ semi-autobiographical jukebox musical, Hell’s Kitchen. Before that, she appeared in the Hallmark Christmas movie Mystic Christmas in 2023. Moon is definitely someone to keep an eye on.
Joining Moon is a slew of up-and-coming actors. Alijah Kai will play Rashida. At 21, Kai is already a showbiz veteran, having credits dating back to 2008. This will be her most prominent role yet. One fun fact here is that her mother, Tichina Arnold, once appeared in an episode of The Cosby Show early in her career. There’s some wonderful symmetry there!
Chibuikem Uche will play Kojo. Uche is best known for his role as Cooper Clay in One Of Us Is Lying, which you can watch with a Peacock Subscription. He most recently appeared in an episode of Paradise on Hulu.
A character named Shaquille will be played by Cornell Young IV, Jordan Aaron Hall will play Amir, and Kennedi Reece will star as Hazel. All three have pretty limited resumes, so it will be fun to see these young actors in their first major roles.
We Will See Some Of The Original Stars
When the show was first announced at Netflix, there was talk that some of the original cast members could be returning, but nothing was official. Now, according to a new report from Deadline, everyone's wish has been granted! Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison will be reprising their roles as Whitney and Dwayne, respectively, which is the best news I could've gotten about this new show.
In addition to those two stars, two other cast members from the original A Different World, Cree Summer and Darryl M. Bell, will be coming back to play Ron Johnson and Freddie Brookes, respectively. Summer and Bell became key members in the second season of the show and remained with it until the end.
The news left room for even more additions, as well.
How much these classic characters will appear is unknown, and it seems like it could be on a more limited basis, as the show will once again be about a young woman leaving home for college. In an announcement, producers Felicia Pride and Debbie Allen said:
Throughout the season, fans will have a chance to reunite with these O.G. characters and see how their lives have evolved into ‘A Different World.’ And as the story unfolds, there will be more cast surprises in store for longtime fans.
Who knows, maybe that could even mean two of the biggest stars to emerge from the show, Lisa Bonet and Marisa Tomei? Our fingers are crossed!
The Cosby Show was one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, but its legacy has been tarnished for reasons that we don’t need to go into here, so that makes it especially satisfying to see the legacy of the show’s lone spinoff continue more than 30 years after it was must-see TV for Gen-Xers everywhere.
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