A Different World
A spin-off of the popular Cosby Show sitcom, the series follows Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) as she begins her life as a college sophomore at the fictional Hillman College.
Her Gilbert Hall roommates are naive chatterbox Maggie Lauten (Marisa Tomei) and Jaleesa Vinson (Dawnn Lewis), a 26-year-old freshman who’s already been married and divorced. Other characters include dorm director Stevie Rallen (Loretta Devine), Coach Walter Oakes (Sinbad), wealthy Southern belle Whitney Gilbert (Jasmine Guy), dorky math major Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison), and ladies man Ron Johnson, Jr. (Darryl M. Bell).
Denise left the school after a year (Bonet was pregnant) so the show began focusing on topical issues and following Dwayne and Whitney.
Later characters include new dorm director Leticia “Lettie” Bostic (Mary Alice); law student Winifred “Freddie” Brooks (Cree Summer); Whitney’s roommate, Kimberly Reese (Charnele Brown); mathematics Professor Bradford Taylor (Glynn Turman); Martinique immigrant Gina Deveaux (Ajai Sanders); owner of The Pit restaurant, Vernon Gaines (Lou Myers); students and part-time Pit employees Lena James (Jada Pinkett) and Charmaine Brown (Karen Malina White).
