Secrets Behind The Making Of "A Different World"

Close Casting Calls

Meg Ryan was set to play Maggie Lauten on the show but decided to focus on her movie career. Marisa Tomei had played Lauten for the first season before her movie career took off as well.

Maggie Lauten

Originally, the series was to be centered around white student Maggie Lauten’s (Marisa Tomei) experiences at the HBCU Hillman College. Instead, the show became a direct spin-off of The Cosby Show with Denise Huxtable as the lead and Maggie as a supporting character. When Debbie Allen took over as producer, she thought about making the show about both characters, but both actresses left the show after season 1.

Whitley Gilbert

The character Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) was originally only supposed to appear in the pilot episode. She was so popular she became a series regular. Guy’s third-grade teacher, Ms. Pinkford, inspired her popular accent.

Jasmine Guy as Jaleesa?

Jasmine Guy originally auditioned for the part of Jaleesa, but producers decided she was more suited for Whitley Gilbert. By the time she was offered the role and had signed the contract, the opening sequence had been filmed, which is why she doesn’t appear in it for season 1.

Roommates

Marisa Tomei and Lisa Bonet’s characters weren’t only roommates on the show, but the actresses lived together in real life.

Lisa Bonet Leaves

Lisa Bonet, who played Denise Huxtable, was the star of the show in the first season, but she became pregnant with actress Zoe Kravitz, her daughter with Lenny Kravitz, during the first season. Instead of writing her pregnancy into the show, as Debbie Allen suggested, she left the show.

Criticism and Revamp

The show was revamped not only due to Lisa Bonet’s departure, but because there was criticism that the show inaccurately portrayed HBCU life. Debbie Allen not only expanded the Black cast, but she drew from her experiences as a graduate of Howard University. Her staff started to do research and visit HBCUs to include issues, events, history and experiences of real-life historically Black colleges and universities to the storyline.

Millie

The character Millie, Whitley Gilbert’s sidekick, was written out of the show, due to the actress Marie-Alice Recaster’s pregnancy. Plus, the producers wanted Gilbert to have a stronger roommate and best friend. It’s the reason the character Kim was created.

The show’s leads

Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison, who played Whitley Gilbert and Dwayne Wayne respectively, were the only cast members to remain on the show all six seasons. They shared the co-lead spots with Lisa Bonet during season 1 before becoming the lead characters during season 2.

Dawnn Lewis

Dawnn Lewis, who was a series regular in season one through five, co-wrote the show’s theme song. Phoebe Snow sang it in season one, followed by Aretha Franklin in season 2 through 5, and by Boyz II Men for the final season.

Best Friends

Lisa Bonet and Cree Summer didn’t get a chance to work together on the show. However, the actresses are close in real life. Summer is even Zoe Kravitz’s godmother.

Location

The exterior of Hillman campus was actually Spelman College in Atlanta. Hillman’s fictional campus is located in Virginia, but the city is never mentioned. Some believed it was right outside of Richmond.

Alfonso Ribeiro

Alfonso Ribeiro was supposed to be a series regular on the show as the character Zach Duncan, but he chose to co-star on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, instead.

Lost Characters

Several characters left the show, and their absences were never explained:

– Millie disappeared after season 1

– Maggie disappeared after season 1

– Lettie disappeared after season 2

– Ernest disappeared after season 3

– Jaleesa disappeared after season 5

– Terrence disappeared after season 5

Inspiration

The show inspired young African-Americans to attend HBCUs – helping boost the enrollment at several of these colleges and universities.