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  hello everyone and welcome to the concession stand here on the kb radio network i am your host kevin reed and this is the review of netflix new revival of the former nbc sitcom series that uh was very poignant 39 years ago it came out in 1987 and lasting till 1993 it is none other than the comedy sitcom a different world we get the revival on netflix uh 39 years later to the day to the day that it premiered on nbc uh this new kind of revamp of the show is not a reboot it's not even a sequel it's really just a continuation and of course we all know those main characters if you were a fan of that show back in the day duane wayne uh whitney gilbert uh uh who was it uh denise huxtable from the cosby show and so on and so forth uh ron uh uh freddy uh uh who else who else was there uh denise um just a plethora plethora of characters on this show. what i loved about sitcoms back then you had all those guest appearances guest stars on episodes um you know jada pickett at the time she's jada pickett smith now of course uh she was on the show for a little while you had appearances from i think will smith was even on there now that i think about it as kind of a crossover thing from the fresh prince i could be mistaken but if memory serves because everybody was on the show denzel washington was popped up on the show once you know it was such a popular thing back in the day and for a young black man uh what around that time i was early teens and to see black kids in college you know that was a big thing for me because around that time we didn't get that it wasn't there you know we saw uh other races in college but we never got to see that on television or on the big screen you know when you see black people on the big screen back then and they were they were hoodlums thugs slaves you know you never saw too many successful black people on television that's why the cosby show was such a monumental show and this was a spinoff of the cosby show and so it holds a special place in my heart it holds a special place and millions of other people hard that's why this re uh uh not reboot uh but this revival of the show was such must see tv no pun intended back in the nbc days but this was something that i wanted to see but i wanted to start off by saying getting close to when it dropped on netflix i was excited at first and then it kind of went away because i was worried I was worried that they would sully the legacy or, you know, just make it something that is not, you know, not honoring the original and things of that nature and get bad acting and all this other stuff. I was so scared and I kind of was hesitant on watching it. I was. I was a little hesitant to watch it. It took my wife. She watched it and... it'll show me a couple episodes and i'm like okay okay i can stomach this i can i can stomach this and so i picked the day and went right through it episodes ain't long it's only like 30 45 minute long episodes 10 of them and went right through it and i must say i enjoyed the show um on this revival you have uh uh duane wayne and whitney gilbert's free spirited and kind-hearted yet rebellious young child deborah entering her freshman year at hillman uh she finds her parents shadow difficult to escape as she aims to build her own legacy she does that wow also having the time of her life with the new generation of hillman's finest and brightest uh this first season it was really really good shockingly good You know, you go on social media. And I look on my feed and I see how people so happy and excited about the show, you know, after watching it. And I kind of took that with a grain of salt because those same people love Tyler Perry movies. And I just can't do it. You know, if that's your bar, if that's the litmus test, I can't take your opinion seriously. I really can't, you know, because those Tyler Perry movies are horrible. And so that's kind of pushed me back as well. and so watching this in the first couple of episodes my initial theories were right i felt like i was justified in feeling the way i felt the acting was a little skittish it was a little skittish there and i'm like oh man this is this is not good acting and you know but as the show went on by the time we got to episode five or six or whatever it picked up monumentally better and I was invested in all of these guys. They were all good. And I'm talking even the returning cast. You had Kadeem Hardison return to reprise his role. Jasmine Guy reprised her role. What's his name? Daniel Bell as Ron. He came back. Cree Summer came back as Freddy and had some guest appearances. This is Glenn. Terman, Don Lewis, Jada Pickett-Smith pop back up in here. You know, you had so many returning cast members, actually all of them with the exception of Lisa Bonet. But, you know, I don't fault her for that because she didn't want to be a part of the show from jump, from the original. This show, in case you don't know, the original show that came out in 1987, the reason this show exists you you can think a little movie called angel heart for this uh there was a movie that came out in what about 96 no not 96 86 87 somewhere around in there uh i remember it clearly because they shot that movie in new orleans down here at mickey rourke uh uh robert not robert uh yeah robert de niro yeah robert de niro was in it and lisa bonet Well, in the movie, they had a very provocative love scene in it involving Lisa Bonet. And at the time, she's on The Cosby Show. And so Bill Cosby didn't too much care for that. So he was a little upset. Now, this is the rumor. I don't have insider knowledge of this, but I remember this rumor that this was the reason why. So he didn't want her on the show. So they made a completely different show for... her uh to star in with same character denise huxtable and so boom shipped off to college to hillman and hence a different world was born all because she was in that movie now is that rumor true probably not is it probably not but if it is that is epic that is an epic epic reason why this show. exists it is still going on right now in 2026 um but going back to my initial point even with the returning stars their acting was a little skittish at beginning too and i think it was everybody was trying to find their footing i don't know if this was shot chronologically i'm i can only assume that it was because every episode got better and better and better in terms of the acting now the story the story was really really good it didn't deviate you know we had a consistent a plot you know you had b and c and d but they were all flowing perfectly throughout this first season absolutely loved it the young actors who were the main reason i was a little scared well you know with their acting because i hadn't seen them in anything you know not i wasn't i'm not bashing them or nothing because i can only assume this is their first big role in anything which for a lot of them it is but they were great like i said i connected with these actors i connected with their characters which is a clear indication that they did an excellent job my only complaint about the show is that we relied on the past a little too much you it was good to see familiar faces like duane wayne and whitney gilbert and ron johnson and uh uh uh freddie brooks you know uh getting a little shout out with the uh what's that character name lord byron the the byron character that whitney was about to marry and uh duane came in at the wedding everybody knows that scene that episode it was it was that's where the show peaked After that, it went downhill. But when Dwayne Wayne stopped that wedding, it was epic. But we got him returning to have a little role in here as well, which was poignant. And it was callbacks to that. And I did enjoy those callbacks. I love all of the callbacks that we did get throughout the show. The two female students in the original, they were always gossiping. They come back, and they're still gossiping. in their age and it's the same flavor gave it that same feel uh uh debbie allen returned in that first episode uh for a nice little shout back with the relax really released you know that that uh character you know it was a lot to be happy about if you grew up in that era and was a big fan of the original show um the thing is it the new cast kind of took a back seat to the old cast and i don't know how to really jive with that you know because i like the new cast too yes it's good to revisit the past a little bit because they are linked you know our main young actor is the daughter of whitney and dewane so that makes sense but we didn't have to have so much you know that's the way i feel it's just it they it was pretty much a 50 50 split between the old cast and the new cast whereas i went in thinking that we were just going to get like a passing of the torch which you do get but just in a different way it wasn't horrible to see him you know the old cast i was just hoping to get more focus on the new cast because if we're moving forward if we're truly moving forward i need more of the new cast and uh it felt like we got stuck in the old regime. you know uh still revisiting episodes and callbacks and uh all that good stuff from the original series and uh that's where it kind of falls apart it's good to have the shout outs in the beginning but it lasts the whole season but besides that it didn't take away from our main characters our young cast this new generation of hillman hillmanites as they call them uh It was still good. I love. I love the message of the show and I don't want that to be lost. The importance of an HBCU and what HBCUs go through. I did a little research and this is a real thing what they're experiencing and they really brought that to light on the show with the funding and the housing and all this other good stuff. It's like they go through a lot at an HBCU. you know just to stay relevant and the show does an excellent job of showing that and bringing that to light also the show is still funny more importantly than anything it is still a funny show and at the end of the day that's all that matters you know you it will really suck to watch a comedy that's not funny you know and And... It's the same tone as the original. That's the impressive part of it all. Because the original show was very serious. You know, they touched in on a lot of topical topics. You know, current events where kids or young adults around that time were experiencing. You know, dealing with grieves and dealing with drug use. You know, dealing with sexual assault. and things of that nature that college kids go through on a daily basis. And that's what made the show so special and still found a way to bring levity to all of these situations in every single episode, but not disrespect what was going on. And they kept it going here. And for that reason alone, it gets an excellent grade mark for me. A Different World on Netflix has some really good acting that improved throughout the series. Really topical. discussions that take place throughout the series and nice callbacks to the past for old fans like myself of the original series. A different world gets a letter grade of a B-. Yeah, it really caught me off guard, caught me by surprise. I am proud of everyone who was involved with this show because they honored the original but kept it modern for everyone. to enjoy i would love to know were you a big fan of the original and did you like the new and improved version of a different world would you have liked to seen a little pop-up cameo by lisa bonet i didn't part of me wanted to see that but you know what would have been more of a deep cut what would have been the deepest cut that would have had me jump from my soul for it and literally give it a standing ovation. Melissa Tomei would have popped up. Academy Award winner. Aunt May from the Spider-Man films. If she was on the first season of A Different World back in 1987, I think she was the only white girl on the show. Only white person on the show. If she would have popped up in this new revival, I would have blown the gasket. I would have been like, y'all acting bad on them now. But you I would have loved to have seen that. I want to know your thoughts on the show. Subscribe to the KBRadioNetwork.com website where you can be notified of new episodes dropping here, as well as previous episodes that's available for your listening pleasure. Don't forget about YouTube. Subscribe to the KBRadioNetwork channel where you can like this video while you dare. Don't forget about the five stars, the reviews, and sharing this show. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iheart radio wherever you are currently listening to the concession stand here on the kb radio network everybody thank you for joining me for this review of netflix revival of a different world want you all to know that i love you continue to love everyone and until we speak again you all be blessed