The American Black Film Festival was again held in Miami for its 30th annual celebration, and it continues its mission of highlighting creatives of color across film, television, music, technology, art, and more. It was also host to Netflix’s Celebration of Black Television, paying homage to their new slate of shows. On the 4th floor of the 1 Hotel in South Beach, where the streamer brought together a swath of talent from their platform, included the cast and creators of the upcoming reboot of the iconic series A Different World.
If you were in the building, you would understand me when I describe the morning as being an organized game of music chairs with some of the most talented women in the music industry. In one area, you could see Michelle Buteau and Amy Aniobi discussing the impact of Survival of the Thickest; with Crystle Stewart and Taylor Polidore Williams only an earshot away, reflecting on Beauty in Black’s final season. I was in the main room, sitting down with Debbie Allen, Felicia Pride, and Maleah Joi Moon, eager to talk about the return to the world’s most beloved HBCU. “I was able to realize Hillman in a much bigger way,” Allen said about coming back to the show in a directorial capacity. “Also, getting Felicia Pride to write it, was such a great thing.”
Pride, an award-winning author and filmmaker, previously worked with Allen on the long-running hit drama Grey’s Anatomy. Despite her admiration for the original series, she admits she wasn’t immediately ready to take on the challenge of revisiting A Different World. Like many fans, she understood how much the show means to its audience and felt a responsibility to get it right. “I almost had to rope her in—it was like a rodeo,” Allen said with a laugh. “I was nervous because I grew up watching the show in real time, and you don’t want to mess it up,” Pride added. “But if Ms. Allen says we’re doing it, okay, we’re doing it.”
“I felt very confident that [Debbie Allen] knew this was the right time and that this was the moment to reimagine the show,” she continued. “Also, to be given license to reimagine it in a lot of different ways from visual look to tone to then bringing in a whole new cast of fresh faces. It just felt right and it felt good. I’m really, really proud of the work that we’ve done.”
The first iteration of A Different World premiered on September 24, 1987, following Denise Huxtable and her experiences at Hillman College, a fictional HBCU in Virginia. Over six seasons, the series tackled issues ranging from race and class to relationships, identity, and student activism, all while offering an in-depth look into Black college life. Audiences quickly embraced the show, which featured a standout cast including Lisa Bonet, Jada Pinkett Smith, Dawnn Lewis, Cree Summer, along with industry veterans like Glynn Turman, Sinbad, and Loretta Devine. As the series progressed, Whitley Gilbert and Dwayne Wayne—played by Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison—emerged as the show’s stars, giving the world countless memorable moments, including the wedding scene fans still talk about today. Now, almost 40 years later, we’re being introduced to the next generation of Hillmanites, headed by Maleah Joi Moon.
Coming into the role, the 23-year-old actress understood what the series means to so many people. But similar to Pride, Moon felt that there was also an increased sense of responsibility attached to being a part of Netflix’s A Different World. “There is a bit of pressure with any leading role, especially with one that comes with such a legacy and such a history to it,” she said. “I think I naturally feel that way because it’s not necessarily a lot on my shoulders, but there’s a lot that we want to show up with.” As the daughter of Gilbert and Wayne, Moon said that fans will naturally have high expectations for the character. “These are big shoes to fill,” she added. “I want to make sure that I do it justice, and that the people that watch the show feel that same sense of catharsis that they got from the original.”
One of the original series’ greatest contributions was the way it introduced HBCUs to a national audience. For many viewers, Hillman College was their first real glimpse into life at a Historically Black College or University. (Earlier in our conversation, I asked Mrs. Debbie the age old question of what school Hillman was modeled after. “It’s not just one HBCU,” she told me. As a Hampton Alumnus, I’ll admit, I was devastated.) During her tenure there, Allen pushed for Hillman to feel like a real campus rather than a television set. Returning for the Netflix revival, she carried that same philosophy with her.
“The authenticity of an HBCU was one of the biggest things I brought when I took over the show years ago—there was no hot sauce on the table,” Allen said. “There was no Greek life. There was no real energy about what was happening outside the community. So it was very important to keep those things.”
Moon’s connection to Hillman is a little different from many of the people who grew up watching the original series. Unlike the character she plays, she never attended an HBCU herself. She earned her BFA at a PWI in New York, making her experience with Black college life largely limited to what she had seen on television; but working on the series changed that. Spending months filming near Morehouse, Clark Atlanta, and Spelman gave her a firsthand look at the sense of community that has drawn generations of students to HBCUs. “There’s nothing like having a collegiate academic experience as a Black person and also being surrounded by Black community,” she told me. “And it’s not that I ever undervalued it, but I had no idea how magical that could be.”
“So, I really hope that people making their choice about where they’re going to apply—especially black high school students—are encouraged by the show,” Moon continued. If they do make the decision to attend an HBCU, then I know they’ll experience that magic.”
