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With all the buzz surrounding the ‘A Different World’ reboot, in a recent interview the show’s long-time producer and director, Debbie Allen, shares details about the spin-off that almost happened.
In a recent interview with Lena Waithe on her podcast Legacy Talk with Lena Waithe, Debbie Allen revealed that NBC had a ‘A Different World’ spin-off ‘on the table.’ The spin-off would have centered around Whitley Gilbert, Dwayne Wayne, Ronald Johnson, and Freddie Brooks, who are played by Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Darryl Bell, and Cree Summers. She, in a way, described the almost spin-off as Friends before Friends became a thing. Friends was a popular show on NBC that followed the lives of six friends living in New York City.
“There was actually an offer to do a spin-off with Whitley, Dwayne, Cree, and Darryl Bell. And would have been what Friends became.” “This was on the table,” she told Waithe.
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Netflix announced back in August that a reboot of the popular HBCU series was in the works. The series will follow Whitley and Dwayne’s youngest daughter as she follows in her parent’s footsteps and navigates life at Hillman College. Allen is set to return as executive producer alongside Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Reggie Bythewood. ‘Bel-Air’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ writer Felicia Pride has also joined the show as a writer and executive producer.
Dawnn Lewis, who played Jaleesa Vinson on the show, told Us Weekly in an exclusive that she and the rest of the cast are set to reprise their roles in the upcoming reboot. This year the original cast celebrated the 35th anniversary of ‘A Different World.’ They came together to kick off their ten-city HBCU tour earlier this year. The first leg of the tour stopped in Atlanta, visiting Morehouse, Spelman, Clark Atlanta, and Morris Brown. Then followed by stops at Howard University, Alabama State University, and Tuskegee University. It was announced back in October that the tour had been extended through 2025.
