50 Fun Facts About A Different World

On which network did A Different World air from 1987 to 1993?

It sat in the Thursday slot between The Cosby Show and Cheers, which critics credited for its early ratings.

How many seasons did A Different World run?

The first season was savaged by critics; the sixth and last holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Which actress played Denise Huxtable, the show's original lead?

She left after one season, and the show was rebuilt around Whitley and Dwayne.

Hillman College is a fictional historically Black college in which state?

Its exact location is never revealed, though references point to the Hampton Roads or Roanoke areas.

Who played Southern belle Whitley Gilbert?

Whitley began as a snobbish supporting character and was mellowed into the lead after season one.

Who played math whiz Dwayne Wayne?

He had already appeared on The Cosby Show as one of Theo's friends in the first-season episode 'A Shirt Story'.

Dwayne is best recognized by which accessory?

He spent his freshman year making unsuccessful advances on nearly every woman on campus.

What was Dwayne's major at Hillman?

He scored a perfect mark on the math section of the SAT and later returned to Hillman as a professor.

Whitley majored in French and which other subject?

She went to college intending to land a husband, discovered she loved the subject, and later became an assistant art buyer.

Whitley's wealthy family is from which city?

Her divorced parents Mercer and Marion are both Hillman alumni, and her mother sits on the college's board of trustees.

Dwayne, like Denise, grew up in which New York borough?

Season-six freshman Terrell Walker and Charmaine Brown came from the same borough.

Ron Johnson, Dwayne's roommate and best friend, hails from which city?

He spent summers selling cars at his father's dealership and took nine semesters to graduate.

The actor who played Ron later became a real-life couple with which Cosby Show actress?

Bledsoe played Vanessa Huxtable; the pair co-starred on the 2009 reality series Househusbands of Hollywood.

Which cast member co-wrote the theme song with Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby?

She was asked to write the song and to audition for Jaleesa at almost the same time, and assumed her friends were pranking her.

Which singer performed the theme song from seasons two through five?

She had once been married to Glynn Turman, who played Colonel Taylor, from 1978 to 1984.

Students nicknamed the demanding math professor Colonel Taylor what?

A Vietnam veteran and ROTC commander, he became Dwayne's primary mentor.

Who played Colonel Taylor?

He and Lou Myers were added to the supporting cast in the season-two overhaul.

Mr. Vernon Gaines owns and runs which campus hangout?

Kim, Lena, Charmaine and even Whitley all worked there at one time or another.

Who played Mr. Gaines?

In the series finale his character is reunited with Lena Horne, whom he had met during World War II.

Comedian Sinbad played which character?

He coached nearly every Hillman team, got engaged to Jaleesa, and left to run a community center in Philadelphia.

Who was originally cast as Denise's white roommate before Marisa Tomei took the part?

She left to pursue films; Tomei's Maggie Lauten lasted one season before the network rejected plans to keep her.

Debbie Allen, hired to revamp the show, is an alumna of which historically Black university?

She instituted yearly writers' trips to Atlanta to visit Clark Atlanta, Morehouse and Spelman for story ideas.

Debbie Allen is the real-life sister of which Cosby Show star?

Allen also appeared on screen in later seasons as Whitley's psychiatrist.

Why was Denise written out after season one?

Cosby's line was that Lisa Bonet could be pregnant but Denise Huxtable could not, so Denise dropped out and went abroad.

After leaving Hillman, Denise traveled to which continent, where she married a Navy officer?

She became stepmother to Olivia, played by Raven-Symoné, and returned only once to give Dwayne closure on his crush.

Campus shots of Hillman were filmed at Spelman and which other Georgia college?

Writers visited Morehouse too on their annual spring trips, but it was not used for the exteriors.

What are Hillman's school colors?

The fictional school was founded in 1881, and Cliff and Clair Huxtable met there as students.

Hillman's Latin motto, Deus Nondum Te Confecit, translates to what?

The school first appeared on screen in the Cosby Show season-three finale, titled 'Hillman', which served as a pilot.

Whitley and Dwayne's honeymoon coincided with which real event?

The episodes aired shortly after the Rodney King verdict, one of several times the show wrote headlines into its plots.

Whose wedding does Dwayne interrupt to declare his love for Whitley?

The jilted groom, played by Joe Morton, had just been elected to the state senate.

At the end of the series, Whitley and Dwayne move to which country for his job?

Dwayne had interned for Kinishewa Electronics there and designed a new video game for the company with Ron.

Dwayne graduated from Hillman in 1991 with which distinction?

He was engaged to Whitley at graduation and soon joined the Hillman faculty.

Which rapper guest-starred as Piccolo in season six?

Piccolo was Lena James's high-school ex, and Heavy D had appeared as himself back in season three.

Jada Pinkett played which Hillman student?

The Baltimore native switched from engineering to journalism and worked part-time at The Pit.

Jada Pinkett's character was named after which singer?

The singer herself appeared in the final season, and had been part of the show's very first premise as an acting teacher.

Which Oscar winner guest-starred as Professor Jordan in season four?

Halle Berry also guested that season, as Ron's girlfriend Jaclyn, a decade before her own Oscar.

Which future TV Superman played a rival A&M student in season five?

The episode dealt with a bias incident against Ron and Dwayne at the mostly white Virginia A&M.

Ron falsely implied Jesse Jackson had endorsed Dwayne's campaign for what?

Jackson appeared as himself in the season-two episode.

At Denise's urging, Dwayne ran for which title to expose the sexism of a campus pageant?

Whitley's mother Marion had won the same crown as an undergraduate.

Which actress played Whitley's socialite mother, Marion Gilbert?

Marion feuded with Dwayne's mother Adele, and the two eventually became in-laws.

Which singer played Dwayne's mother, Adele Wayne?

Gladys Knight did appear on the show, but as herself in a season-two episode.

Which network aired the 2006 'Hillman College Reunion' marathon with new cast vignettes?

Seven original cast members, including Bonet, Guy, Hardison and Sinbad, filmed updates on where their characters had ended up.

The Netflix sequel series centers on which character?

Maleah Joi Moon plays the daughter, who attends Hillman, with Debbie Allen among the executive producers.

On Thursday nights, A Different World aired between The Cosby Show and which sitcom?

The show ranked first or second among African American viewers for most of its run.

A 1990 episode was among the first on US network TV to address which subject?

The show regularly took on topics its parent series avoided, from class to sexual assault to the Equal Rights Amendment.

Which Huxtable child was the only one never to appear on A Different World?

Cliff, Clair, Vanessa, Rudy, Theo and grandfather Russell all turned up, mostly in the first season.

Who played student activist Freddie Brooks?

Freddie, from New Mexico, went on to Hillman Law School and made law review.

Jaleesa surprised everyone by eloping with whom?

She had earlier called off a wedding to Walter at the altar; with the Colonel she had a daughter, Imani.

Ron pledged which fictional fraternity?

Alpha Delta Rho was the show's sorority, pledged by Kim and Gina.

Which future CSI star played campus activist Shazza Zulu?

The character, born Sylvester Simon, had been at Hillman for at least six years and dated Freddie.