Can ‘A Different World’ sequel change lives?

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 premières September 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 original A Different World, a spinoff of The Cosby Show, premièred 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 who 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.

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

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

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.

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.”