Netflix will shoot a pilot for A Different World, a sequel to the 1987 sitcom, which will chronicle Dwayne and Whitley’s daughter’s time at a HBCU. As Deadline reported exclusively in August, the project had been in development at the streamer since last year, and the commissioning of the pilot is part of that process. A rep for Netflix declined comment.
This is the second known pilot pickup at Netflix, whose business is built on straight-to-series orders. In 2023, the streamer ordered another comedy, the single-camera Little Sky, to pilot, whose production was impacted by the WGA strike. It ultimately didn’t go to series.
Like was the case with Little Sky, the Different World pilot is a one-off and not part of a strategy shift, sources said. The pilot model in general is more often employed in comedy as a proof of concept for tone, chemistry among the ensemble cast, comedic timing and other key ingredients of a successful series.
Netflix’s comedy department includes broadcast veterans who are well aware of the benefits a pilot provides, including Head of Comedy Tracey Pakosta and VP Andy Weil.
The Different World sequel comes from writer/executive producer Felicia Pride and executive producers Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood. Allen, Werner, Prince-Bythewood and Bythewood all worked on the original multi-camera series, a spinoff of The Cosby Show, which ran on NBC for six seasons.
As Deadline reported, the sequel was originally envisioned as single-camera. It is unclear whether that has changed. Allen, who is slated to direct the pilot from a script by Pride, is well versed in both formats. The pilot is eying a June shoot in Atlanta, sources said.
A Different World followed Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and her new classmates at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college. Though Bonet exited after one season, the show continued with the leading cast of Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, Sinbad, Charnele Brown, Cree Summer and Glynn Turman.
The retooled second season continued to follow the students’ lives, with the love story between Guy’s Whitley Gilbert and Hardison’s Dwayne Wayne at the center. The sequel will center on the couple’s youngest daughter, Deborah Wayne, who is now also attending an HBCU (It is unclear whether it will be Hillman, which was the initial idea). Casting is currently underway for Deborah as well as other students at the college, all ages 18-20.
At Netflix, Werner recently executive produced That ’90s Show, a sequel to another classic Carsey-Werner sitcom, That ’70s Show.
Over the past six months, the streamer launched several new comedy series that did well, quickly earning Season 2 renewals, including Nobody Wants This, A Man on the Inside and Running Point, with Tina Fey’s The Four Seasons and Chuck Lorre’s Leanne coming up.
