A Different World - General Discussion

[Yogisbooboo64]

This is ridiculous!  TVOne is lucky they don't have a customer service number, I'd be calling and reaming them out about this.

[KWalkerInc]

On 5/6/2021 at 2:40 AM, KWalkerInc said:

When I watched season 6 on my VHS tapes the last time, I tried for a while to see if Col. Taylor was wearing a ring, but I think I forgot to check after a while.

Quoting myself to say that I am watching the episode "Lean on Me" and Col. Taylor is wearing his wedding ring.  So he and Jaleesa were still together, but I guess she was busy with her temp agency and the baby and couldn't come around her friends anymore!  Seriously though, I guess that if a cast member left, no one was ever allowed to mention the character again (exception being Denise when she was still on The Cosby Show).

I'm glad that for the time being, the episodes are free from annoying ads covering characters' faces, though I wouldn't put it past them to try it again.  I was able to send an E-mail to their feedback address when it was going on, although the contact page made it clear they don't respond and probably don't read most messages.  It made me feel better though.  When I flipped past an episode of Cosby Show and also one of their murder shows, they didn't seem to have the ad up all the time even when it was still on Different World episodes.  That had made me more angry.

[Yogisbooboo64]

Meant to mention....

Since finally getting HBO/HBO Max, I've been watching ADW reruns and I notice that the eppies are uncut; it has been refreshing to see scenes you don't see in syndication.

[KWalkerInc]

TV One is showing a 24-hour marathon beginning at 3 AM Pacific on Friday, November 26.  It starts with the beginning of season 2 and goes through the fourth season premiere.  That's an odd ending for a marathon, but that's how many episodes they could fit.  It's interesting that with both this marathon and the one with Living Single on Thanksgiving, they're actually showing episodes from 1 to 3 AM Pacific instead of their usual infomercials.

[Daisy]

On 10/13/2021 at 4:24 AM, susannah said:

My 0.2 in regard to Denise was that they wrote her so differently, IMO from the Cosby show. I got the sense that she did well in high school, and she would have had to have high grades to apply to Hillman, plus have written an essay etc. Yet with her first year English class, when she is the bedroom with Claire going over an essay, she acts like she never read a book or has no clue how to formulate a single idea, and I am surprised that Claire would actually go over the paper with her instead of telling her to do it herself.

Actually, you will have no idea how common that is transitioning from high school to university/college. a lot of people's grades plummet and a lot of it does have to do with how one would write in high school vs. what college demanded of you (I being one of them (i didn't go from A's to D's but I did go from A's to low Bs-C's, but i didn't let it escalate like Denise, i did talk to my instructors/TA's and they helped me learn how to write like a college student). I thought that was very accurate. Clair did have Denise do it herself, but she was also giving her daughter guidance on how to write like a college student. Denise needed help, Clair was giving it to her, why would she tell her to go do it herself when she's clearly struggling?

[Badger]

I don't think the problem was Denise's writing, it was more that she hadn't figured out how to balance out her school work with all the extracurricular things she was doing. 

[Virtual]

On 11/9/2021 at 10:09 AM, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Since finally getting HBO/HBO Max, I've been watching ADW reruns and I notice that the eppies are uncut; it has been refreshing to see scenes you don't see in syndication.

Indeed. Networks and streaming should really stop cutting scenes (to me, it waters down the product). I noticed this regard really bad with The Good Place. I first watched it on Netflix and when I got the DVD, I'd see about 2-3 scenes per episode that I didn't see on Netflix because they cut it out for some reason.

I used to watch this show as a teen when it would show on Nick at Nite. Although it was originally a Cosby Show spinoff, I liked this show way better (even the Season 1 episodes) because it highlighted college life, and how certain students can be. It also tackles a couple of issues that have been rare to see in other shows I've viewed.

[KWalkerInc]

R.I.P. Mary Alice.  I enjoyed her work as Lettie.  I think it was the right move to transition to the coed dorm with Walter and Jaleesa running it for season 3, but Lettie was good during her run.  A couple of my favorite episodes/scenes with her were her first appearance in "The Prime of Miss Lettie Bostic" when she spoke to the students and had them captivated with her story of how she got past the soldiers when working as a spy; and when Kim is celebrating not being pregnant in "It Happened One Night" and Lettie warns her not to press her luck again but also tells her to make sure to have the "Lettie Be Ready Date Pack" before she hooks up with Robert again.  A couple other things that pop into my head are her discussion with Whitley in "Dream Lover" (LOL at when she says Whitley isn't the only girl she spoken to who is a virgin and Whitley wants the tea on who else) where she says not to read into dreams because she had one about playing chess with Ted Koppel, and her part in the little song everyone sang at Dwayne and Ron's apartment in the season 2 finale.

[Hiyo]

For anyone interested, you can watch "The Prime of Miss Lettie Bostic" on Youtube. It's in 6 parts, but still easy enough to watch.

Also, "It Happened One Night"....also in 6 parts lol

[KWalkerInc]

Kadeem Hardison will be the subject of an episode of TV One's Uncensored on Sunday, September 25 at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT.  TV One is also having an all-day marathon of Different World that weekend, starting at 3 AM Pacific on September 24 and lasting until midnight the next day.  It includes episodes from all six seasons, but the episodes in the last three hours are repeats of the ones that start off the marathon.  I think they should have included another six episodes instead, but they probably figure the viewership will be dropping off at that point anyway (midnight Eastern).  Although it's not a Dwayne/Whitley marathon, I'm surprised they aren't including the episode where they got together, "Love Thy Neighbor."  The other odd thing is they are showing season 5's "To Tell the Truth" but not "Do You Take This Woman?" even though they're a two-parter (plus, the conclusion features the first meeting of Adele and Marion).  Otherwise, it looks like a good selection of shows!

ETA:  The marathon is on the 35th anniversary of the show's debut, so that's probably the reason!

Edited September 20, 2022 by KWalkerInc
Added note about marathon.

[Yogisbooboo64]

Chile, you know I'm excited about this! 

While you wait for Saturday, check this out....

This was a great listen, Jasmine has quite the potty mouth and Kadeem is so 80's laid back!  It felt like you were hanging with two old friends over some beer and chicken wings.

Edited September 22, 2022 by Yogisbooboo64

[luckyroll3]

19 hours ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Chile, you know I'm excited about this! 

While you wait for Saturday, check this out....

This was a great listen, Jasmine has quite the potty mouth and Kadeem is so 80's laid back!  It felt like you were hanging with two old friends over some beer and chicken wings.

I came on to post the same thing! Such a great interview. Loved all the tea Jasmin and Kareem were dropping.

[Trini]

There are a few clips of Hardison and Guy on TVOne's twitter (if you don't have the channel, like me):

[Yogisbooboo64]

Kadeem's Uncensored was good.  I wish he'd get rid of the old man glasses though, he still have it going on and should dress the part.

[KWalkerInc]

Besides the usual airings, TV One is showing a marathon on this Sunday from 4 AM to 4 PM Pacific.  Also, on Sunday, November 27, they are showing holiday episodes of various shows, and most of the ADW Christmas episodes will air from 2 to 4 PM Pacific.  (The only one they're not showing is the more dyfunctional "Twelve Steps of Christmas" from season 5.)

A few weeks ago, Kelly Clarkson sang "If You Don't Know Me by Now" on her talk show and said that she knew it by Simply Red and had just learned of the original by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.  That reminded me of "Getaway (Part 1)," when Freddie is talking about songwriters she respected and mentions Simply Red.  Kim dismisses this with "Simply Red simply borrowed that song."  I know it was just an excuse for Ron to show off what he knew about the original, but it kind of bugs me because Freddie didn't mention a specific song.  That was their most recent hit, but "Holding Back the Years," which they did write, had only come out a few years earlier.  Maybe she liked that song.

[Yogisbooboo64]

On Monday, there will be a special Facebook Red Table Talk episode celebrating the 35th anniversary of the show.

With the exception of Sinbad, guests include the usual suspects (Jasmine, Kadeem, Cree and Darryl) along with Debbie Allen, Dawnn Lewis, Glynn Turman, Charnele Brown aaaaand….Ajai Sanders (Gina) and Karen Malina White (Charmaine – I HATED CHARMAINE!!)

Will definitely be checking this out!

[Raja]

On 11/11/2022 at 7:58 PM, KWalkerInc said:

Besides the usual airings, TV One is showing a marathon on this Sunday from 4 AM to 4 PM Pacific.  Also, on Sunday, November 27, they are showing holiday episodes of various shows, and most of the ADW Christmas episodes will air from 2 to 4 PM Pacific.  (The only one they're not showing is the more dyfunctional "Twelve Steps of Christmas" from season 5.)

A few weeks ago, Kelly Clarkson sang "If You Don't Know Me by Now" on her talk show and said that she knew it by Simply Red and had just learned of the original by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.  That reminded me of "Getaway (Part 1)," when Freddie is talking about songwriters she respected and mentions Simply Red.  Kim dismisses this with "Simply Red simply borrowed that song."  I know it was just an excuse for Ron to show off what he knew about the original, but it kind of bugs me because Freddie didn't mention a specific song.  That was their most recent hit, but "Holding Back the Years," which they did write, had only come out a few years earlier.  Maybe she liked that song.

Sounds like they were trying to make a point. They could have gone the other way with She's Gone and Tavares versus Darryl Hall and John Oates 

[ljenkins782]

On 12/16/2022 at 1:35 PM, Raja said:

Sounds like they were trying to make a point. They could have gone the other way with She's Gone and Tavares versus Darryl Hall and John Oates 

Yeah, they were definitely making a point. I always found it kinda silly that she'd jump from Smokey to Simply Red. Perhaps back then Simply Red was more top of mind, but even so, Smokey Robinson is iconic and Simply Red was a bit of a flash in the pan.

Quote

 

On Monday, there will be a special Facebook Red Table Talk episode celebrating the 35th anniversary of the show.

With the exception of Sinbad, guests include the usual suspects (Jasmine, Kadeem, Cree and Darryl) along with Debbie Allen, Dawnn Lewis, Glynn Turman, Charnele Brown aaaaand….Ajai Sanders (Gina) and Karen Malina White (Charmaine – I HATED CHARMAINE!!)

Will definitely be checking this out!

 

I'll check this out too. This group of people is always a fun watch, it's never stilted. They seem to have genuine affection for each other and the conversation flows like normal people talking, it's never overly navel-gaze-y or scripted sounding.

I wonder how Sinbad is doing? 

 

[Yogisbooboo64]

I wish the RTT episode had been longer instead of 45 minutes.

Everyone looked good, though Charnele Brown's hands were skeeving me out....I don't know if is her age or what but they just looked weird.

 

 

[ljenkins782]

19 hours ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

I wish the RTT episode had been longer instead of 45 minutes.

Everyone looked good, though Charnele Brown's hands were skeeving me out....I don't know if is her age or what but they just looked weird.

That was great, I could watch multiple episodes of this group. I'm not the biggest Jada fan, but putting her back with the ADW folks made her likable. Interesting that she picked the Tupac episode as her favorite.

Most of them really look the same, albeit with a few more lbs on them. Charmaine actually looks better with some weight on.

Debbie Allen seems like a treasure, the affection they all have for her was very sweet. And the way she guided them and looked out for them when they were young and coming up, that's rare.

It was surprising to see Marisa Tomei pop up. And the flashbacks to the first season intro reminded me that while I like the Aretha version of the theme song better and the show obviously improved a million percent in season 2, I love the visuals in the opening credit sequence in season 1. It was so 1980s college, the pay phones, clothes, the whole vibe of it. I was in elementary school then and that's exactly how I pictured college life to be.

[luckyroll3]

I watched the Red Table Talk episode this morning and it was so lovely! I was happy to see Marisa at the end, but kinda disappointed because when Jada said they had one last surprise guest, I just knew it was Lisa Bonet! I'd love to hear her reflections about her time on the show and them asking her to leave and all that.

[ljenkins782]

1 hour ago, luckyroll3 said:

I watched the Red Table Talk episode this morning and it was so lovely! I was happy to see Marisa at the end, but kinda disappointed because when Jada said they had one last surprise guest, I just knew it was Lisa Bonet! I'd love to hear her reflections about her time on the show and them asking her to leave and all that.

Weirdly enough, it never even crossed my mind that Lisa Bonet might show up. Hell, even the original Aunt Viv showed up to the Fresh Prince reunion after a 20-something year estrangement. But Lisa showing up to this didn't even register as a possibility to me. 

Has she ever publicly discussed how it all went down? 

Also, forgot to say, in this RTT episode, Kadeem mentioned writing "Love Taps" because domestic violence was happening/had happened to someone in their circle and he wanted to talk about it. And Darryl Bell piped up with "without naming names." 

Made me wonder, was the circle he was referring to the cast? Or people he and Darryl knew separately. If it was cast, I'm dying to know!!! 

[luckyroll3]

15 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Has she ever publicly discussed how it all went down?

She never has. Would be great to hear anything from her about the show.

 

15 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Also, forgot to say, in this RTT episode, Kadeem mentioned writing "Love Taps" because domestic violence was happening/had happened to someone in their circle and he wanted to talk about it. And Darryl Bell piped up with "without naming names." 

Made me wonder, was the circle he was referring to the cast? Or people he and Darryl knew separately. If it was cast, I'm dying to know!!! 

They way they were ALL like "mmmmhmmmmm......" definitely gave me the impression that it was someone on the show. I also hadn't realized that Kadeem had written it (or that his mom was a big time supermodel!!!)/.

[Yogisbooboo64]

This was nice, had me laughing and Dawnn Lewis made me cry dammit!!

Love the respect and genuine love that they still have for each other and I liked them talking about Lou Myers, Mary Alice and all the legends who participated in the show.

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Yogisbooboo64

[KWalkerInc]

I caught the end of something on TV One tonight, and they wrote on the screen that there will be a marathon of "Dwayne and Whitley's courtship" starting at noon Eastern time on Saturday.  I looked it up, and it apparently runs for 12 hours and has a good selection of episodes--no real glaring omissions, though I wonder why they would show "In the Eye of the Storm," which is more focused on Ron and Freddie trapped in the radio station, but not the actual breakup episode "Do You Take This Woman?" (part one, "To Tell the Truth," is listed).

[luckyroll3]

On 5/10/2023 at 5:41 AM, KWalkerInc said:

I caught the end of something on TV One tonight, and they wrote on the screen that there will be a marathon of "Dwayne and Whitley's courtship" starting at noon Eastern time on Saturday.  I looked it up, and it apparently runs for 12 hours and has a good selection of episodes--no real glaring omissions, though I wonder why they would show "In the Eye of the Storm," which is more focused on Ron and Freddie trapped in the radio station, but not the actual breakup episode "Do You Take This Woman?" (part one, "To Tell the Truth," is listed).

Currently in the field doing data collection and the intern and I happened to catch the part of the marathon between 5:00pm and 7:30pm last night. I learned that my Intern (24) has never seen a single episode! But she was very caught up in the Dwayne/Whitley drama despite the major jumps in episodes/storylines. We happened to catch the proposal through part 1 of the wedding, but we had to leave the house at 7:20 and couldn't catch part 2. I told her that she was missing THE best episode and that she had to promise to watch the entire show this summer. 

[Yogisbooboo64]

On 5/10/2023 at 5:41 AM, KWalkerInc said:

I caught the end of something on TV One tonight, and they wrote on the screen that there will be a marathon of "Dwayne and Whitley's courtship" starting at noon Eastern time on Saturday.  I looked it up, and it apparently runs for 12 hours and has a good selection of episodes--no real glaring omissions, though I wonder why they would show "In the Eye of the Storm," which is more focused on Ron and Freddie trapped in the radio station, but not the actual breakup episode "Do You Take This Woman?" (part one, "To Tell the Truth," is listed).

They also should have shown 'Everything Must Change', where Whitley finally acknowledges her feelings for Dwayne only to be smacked into reality by the introduction of Kinu.

[Yogisbooboo64]

Jasmine Guy has an Uncensored coming on TV One this Sunday....unfortunately, I no longer have cable and can't get TV One, so if any of you can show it on Youtube I'd love you forever!

[ljenkins782]

On 9/22/2022 at 5:26 PM, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Chile, you know I'm excited about this! 

While you wait for Saturday, check this out....

This was a great listen, Jasmine has quite the potty mouth and Kadeem is so 80's laid back!  It felt like you were hanging with two old friends over some beer and chicken wings.

I don't know how I missed this one before, this was a great interview. Kadeem is so gentle and Jasmine is so feisty, but they mesh so well. 

Interesting that they felt Lisa Bonet was treated so badly by the show runners and that Jasmine tried to quit after the first season. 

[KWalkerInc]

Whenever I look at the schedule for TV One, it seems like they skip over "Mind Your Own Business," the season 6 episode with En Vogue as Mr. Gaines' grandnieces.  I was trying to figure out if there was something inappropriate that kept them from showing this episode, but I don't think so.  I mean, the comedian trying out for opening night at Ron and Mr. Gaines' club does an impression of Bill Cosby, but it's not like TV One (the network that acquired the rights to his show during his first trial) would care.  And it's also not the only episode where someone imitates him, as Dwayne and a couple of friends do it during a poker game in an earlier episode--plus there's the fact that Cosby himself appears briefly a few times in season 1.  So my other guess is that they didn't feel like paying for the rights to "Free Your Mind," so they just skip that one?

[Trini]

12 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

  So my other guess is that they didn't feel like paying for the rights to "Free Your Mind," so they just skip that one?

Even before you mentioned Cosby, I was going to guess that it's most likely a music rights issue.

[BetterButter]

‘A Different World’ Sequel Series About Whitley & Dwayne’s Daughter From Felicia Pride In Works At Netflix

[Trini]

Also a little additional info here: https://tvline.com/news/a-different-world-sequel-series-netflix-dwayne-whitley-daughter-1235312686/

It seems like whatever issues they had that would involve Cosby have been resolved?

In any case, I like the idea of a sequel series in principle, but I don't know if Netflix is the best place for it, though.

[KWalkerInc]

"Mind Your Own Business" is airing right now--including the "Free Your Mind" performance.  I don't know why TV One never has it in the listings.  I guess they just want people to be confused.  (They also don't list "A Rock, a River, a Lena" but I'm guessing they show that one too?)

[KWalkerInc]

People Interview with Darryl M. Bell about the cast's HBCU tour.

[KWalkerInc]

Today on Music Choice, one of their facts said that a singer was nicknamed Miz Thang.  This reminded me of course of the similar nickname given to Whitley by Mrs. Wayne.  I can't remember though if Whitley knew that she called her that.  I think I remember Mrs. Wayne saying it to Dwayne and he was like, "Please don't call her that," but I don't think she actually said it to Whitley.  I liked when Mrs. Wayne was getting ready to meet Marion (talking about it to her husband) and called her "Ms. Thing Senior," though I incorrectly remembered it as "Ms. Old Thing."

[KWalkerInc]

On 11/12/2024 at 2:23 AM, KWalkerInc said:

I liked when Mrs. Wayne was getting ready to meet Marion (talking about it to her husband) and called her "Ms. Thing Senior," though I incorrectly remembered it as "Ms. Old Thing."

So it turned out that Adele did say "Miss Old Thing," but she was referring to her mother-in-law in the Christmas episode.  (Dwayne to Whitley:  "She could never hate you as much as she hates Nana.")

ETA:  TV One is showing a marathon of the show in HD for Thanksgiving, and the conclusion of the season 6 Thanksgiving episode answered my question about Adele calling Whitley "Miss Thing" to her face.  She immediately greets her and Marion as "Miss Thing" and "Mrs. Thing" and Whitley was not fazed.  Also several more references to "Miss Thing Senior" about Marion.

Edited November 29 by KWalkerInc
Added note about Thanksgiving episode.