'A Different World' Is Great. But Don't Just Take My Word For It.

Originally, A Different World wasn't associated with The Cosby Show. It was going to be the story of a white girl enrolled at an HBCU, and Meg Ryan was cast as the lead, Maggie Lauten. But Ryan left the project to pursue a film career, and Marissa Tomei was cast instead. Maggie was shifted to a supporting role to make Lisa Bonet's The Cosby Show character, Denise, the lead.

When A Different World premiered in September of 1987, I wasn't even twelve. But I was a New York kid, and so was Denise Huxtable. We were practically neighbors in my mind. And A Different World was one of my first looks at what college could be like. It was a half-hour multi-camera sitcom shot in front of a studio audience. But it wasn't just a comedy. It was emotionally and culturally intelligent. The show didn't shy away from difficult topics that affected teens and college students. Sex, drugs, economics, and the AIDS crisis were all on the table, sometimes despite advertisers' objections.

A large part of what we loved about the original A Different World series is thanks to Debbi Allen's involvement. When Bonet left after the show's first season, Allen was brought in to produce and direct - taking the show in a different direction that focused more on Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison).

Allen brought them back, along with most of the original cast, for Netflix' sequel series, also called A Different World. The new series is a single-camera dramedy that follows in the original's footsteps with a high social and emotional IQ. It's sleeker-looking and is less driven by one-liners than the original, but it's just as fun. Tony Award winner Maleah Joi Moon stars as Whitley and Dwayne's youngest child, Deborah (don't call her Debra!), who is forced to enroll at Hillman after her offer from NYU is rescinded for some "questionable behavior."

Deborah is the charismatic, Denise Huxtable-type; she's got big plans that often go awry, and she's got a big heart and makes friends easily. She's equal parts troublemaker and ringleader in Gilbert Hall, where she rooms with studious Rashida (Alijah Kai) and befriends devout Hazel (Kennedi Reece). Deborah has romantic ties to incoming football star Shaquille Johnson (Cornell Young IV), whose father is Dwayne's best friend Ron. Which, of course, makes his mom (RIP) Halle Berry.

Rashida has a flirtatious relationship with Kojo Achebe (Chibuikem Uche), who is in the States on a Student Visa. And Hazel is seeing basketball star Jalen (Night Swim's Elijah J. Roberts).

In this cast of mostly newcomers who all do a phenomenal job, Jordan Aaron Hall stands out as Amir. An on-campus housing shortage has made him "unhoused." But he's a resourceful guy who quickly bonds with Shaquille and Kojo. Amir is both the jester and one of the emotional cores of the show in the same way Dwayne Wayne was in the original.

There are a few love triangles introduced this season, because it's college and those things happen. Deborah has "a thing" with Professor Freddie Brooks' (Cree Summer) student assistant, Ellington, who also has ties to an original cast member. Amir gets mixed up in Hazel and Jalen's relationship, and Rashida struggles with who to lose her virginity to.

Keeping track of the familial ties gets a little confusing. Someone made a family tree to help keep track:

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Beyond the personal storylines, Allen went into this new season knowing A Different World still needed to be culturally relevant. So it doesn't shy away from spotlighting the queer community, talking about STIs and safe sex, economic struggles, anti-Black violence on campus and in the world in general.

In an interview with The Grio, Allen talked about how important it was for these topics to be at the forefront of the show:

So, what are the challenges for the HBCU today? We're dealing with that in our very first episode. HBCUs right now are threatened... their financial support slashed more than half, you know... curriculum...What are you teaching? What are you allowing to happen on your campus? A campus should be an oasis of free speech and ideas. This is where they're born...This is what is happening on our HBCU campuses right now: young people whose history is being erased. You know, we have to fight for it. So there's always the joy on a college campus of first time away from home, first love, a lot of firsts in the middle of all of that, what is happening in the world that is affecting the students at the school?

Allen also gave an interview to Starr Rocque to discuss her AIDS activism and how it's reflected in her art, like A Different World.

I think the series is great. There are strong performances from all of the young actors. And Allen did fans of the original show a huge service by finding organic ways to bring back so many of the original characters.

I'm not this show's primary audience by a long shot, though. So I went to social media to find more relevant voices to amplify. Of course there's no unanimous consent, but overall it sounds like A Different World has a solid spot in the hearts and minds of fans. It rocketed to the number one spot on Netflix over the weekend, and now everyone is hanging on to see if a second season is announced and what stories it will bring.

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Blex_Media asked folks to chime in with their favorite nods to the original series:

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Tamara Bass talked about how meaningful the show was to her by highlighting call backs to the original

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In light of criticism that the show missed the mark by not directly addressing ICE or Palestine, writer, podcast host, and activist Brittany Packnett Cunningham acknowledged how great this first season is while cautioning viewers to give it time to address other social issues.

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And if anyone wants to know how many seasons A Different World can go on for?

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All episodes of A Different World are available to stream on Netflix.