The new “A Different World” will premiere Sept. 24 on Netflix

 

The new “A Different World” will premiere Sept. 24 on Netflix, 39 years to the day after the original “Cosby Show” spinoff debuted.

Listen to this timeless theme song from the classic "Cosby Show" spinoff. This song is as relevant today as it was in 1987.

A sequel to the 1987 series, the show returns to the fictional HBCU Hillman College. Maleah Joi Moon leads the cast as Deborah Wayne, the daughter of original characters Dwayne Wayne, played by Kadeem Hardison, and Whitley Gilbert, played by Jasmine Guy.

According to the official description, the series follows “a new class stepping onto campus — and beloved faces coming home.” Moon’s character is described as “Whitley and Dwayne’s lovingly sheltered youngest daughter, a free spirit with a flair for the spotlight and a big heart who’s still figuring out her own path at Hillman.”

The new generation of Hillman students includes Rashida Duvall, played by Alijah Kai, a first-generation criminal justice major; Shaquille Johnson, played by Cornell Young IV, a five-star athlete navigating legacy and expectation; Amir Rodale, played by Jordan Aaron Hall, a sharp psychology major who is better at solving other people’s problems than facing his own; Hazel Henry, played by Kennedi Reece, a church-raised small-town student defining her own values; and Kojo Achebe, played by Chibuikem Uche, a Ghanaian-Nigerian fashion entrepreneur finding the courage to follow his vision.

Legacy cast members returning include Jasmine Guy as Whitley Gilbert, Kadeem Hardison as Dwayne Wayne, Cree Summer as Freddie Brooks, and Darryl M. Bell as Ron Johnson.

Additional cast members include Charnele Brown, Jenifer Lewis, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vincent Jamal Hooper, Elijah J. Roberts, Renee Harrison, Famecia Ward, and Dasan Frazier.

The series comes from showrunner, writer and executive producer Felicia Pride; executive producer and director Debbie Allen; and executive producers Tom Werner, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Mandy Summers.

The announcement was made at Netflix’s Celebration of Black Television at the American Black Film Festival, where Pride, Allen and Moon appeared to discuss the next chapter of “A Different World.”