Hillman College returns to Netflix with the reboot of A Different World
Netflix revives A Different World, focusing on Deborah Wayne, daughter of Dwayne and Whitley, at the heart of the fictional Hillman campus.
When A Different World first aired on NBC on September 24 1987, it was called a "cultural earthquake" by NBC News in 2017. A spin-off of The Cosby Show, it explored historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) and the issues facing young black adults at the end of the 80s and 90s. Netflix is launching a reboot, one year before the 40th anniversary of the original series, in ten episodes.
The new installment follows Deborah Wayne (Maleah Joi Moon), daughter of Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert (Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy), forced to enroll at Hillman and determined to forge her own path. Her father becomes interim president of the university, while her ex Shaquille (Cornell Young IV) also studies there. Deborah must manage the campus's fragile finances, the loss of grants and other external threats, while making new friends. The original characters, including Whitley and Dwayne, appear in supporting roles but go through a marital separation.
