EXCLUSIVE: An A Different World sequel series chronicling Dwayne and Whitley’s daughter’s time at Hillman College, is in early development at Netflix, sources tell Deadline. The single-cam, half-hour comedy comes from writer/executive producer Felicia Pride (Bel-Air, Grey’s Anatomy) and executive producers Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood.
Netflix declined to comment for this story.
Allen, Werner, Prince-Bythewood and Bythewood all worked on the original hit NBC series, a spinoff of The Cosby Show, which ran for six seasons. Allen was director-producer, Prince-Bythewood and Bythewood were writers, and Werner executive produced for The Carsey-Werner Company.
A Different World followed Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and her new classmates at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college. Though Bonet exited after one season, the show continued with the leading cast of Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, Sinbad, Charnele Brown, Cree Summer and Glynn Turman.
The retooled second season continued to follow the students’ lives, with the love story between Guy’s Whitley Gilbert and Hardison’s Dwayne Wayne at the center. Dwayne, famous for his glasses that flipped up, finally put a ring on it in the Season 5 episode “Save the Best For Last.” Though Whitley was adamant she didn’t want children, she discovers she’s pregnant in “When One Door Closes,” the penultimate episode of the series, and everyone is elated. However, things get somber when Dwayne reveals he’s accepted a job in Japan where he and his wife will raise their family — a different world.
The sequel will center on the couple’s youngest daughter, who is now also attending Hillman, sources share. While casting is yet to begin officially, we hear conversations with original cast members have taken place regarding interest and availability and the response has been positive.
A continuation of the series has been in various stages of development throughout the years but was paused for multiple reasons including the legal issues surrounding Bill Cosby, the creator of A Different World.
The cast reunited earlier this year on Today and The View to celebrate A Different World‘s ongoing impact and legacy. In February, they kicked off a 10-city tour stopping at many HBCUs to encourage student enrollment.
Other notable A Different World alums include Marisa Tomei, who made her TV debut in Season 1, and Jada Pinkett Smith, who starred in the last two seasons early in her career.
The Different World sequel follows the template Werner used for another classic sitcom from the Carsey-Werner library, That ’70s Show, at Netflix. Its sequel series, That ’90s Show, which also focuses on the daughter of the main characters from the original, is in the middle of its Season 2 release on the streamer.
Before selling the pilot to Netflix, Pride served as supervising producer on the third season of Peacock’s hit series Bel-Air, a dramatic take on Will Smith’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Additionally, she was a writer and producer on Grey’s Anatomy, ABC’s hit medical drama from Shonda Rhimes.
Currently, she’s developing the series Livelihood, based on her spec, for Netflix, and Seven Days in June for Amazon. Her production company Honey Chile Entertainment is executive producing and writing the Lifetime original movie Black Magick. Previously, she was a writer on Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar for multiple seasons.
