Product Details

• Actors: Lisa Bonet, Kadeem Hardison
• Directors: *
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Unknown)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Urban Works
• DVD Release Date: November 8, 2005
• Run Time: 575 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009HBPEO
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,797 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Television > TV Series By Letter > D > A Different World

• For more information about "A Different World - Season 1" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 1 in The A Different World Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Set at the fictional Hillman College, A Different World was originally conceived as a vehicle for Lisa Bonet's Denise Huxtable. (The exteriors were filmed at Spelman.) Positioned between The Cosby Show and Cheers, the top-rated sitcom quickly became a group effort as the "ordinary" Denise was frequently upstaged by self-obsessed Southern belle Whitley (six-time Image Award winner Jasmine Guy), lovelorn smarty-pants Dwayne Wayne (two-time winner Kadeem Hardison), and his sharp-dressed pal, Ron (Darryl M. Bell).

During the first episode ("Reconcilable Differences"), sophomore student Denise meets resident director Stevie (Loretta Devine), a single mother, and roommate Jaleesa, a 26-year-old divorcée (Dawnn Lewis, who co-wrote the show’s Phoebe Snow-sung theme). She and Jaleesa don't hit it off initially, but eventually find common ground--like their aversion to the "Mouth of the South," i.e. Whitley. In the pilot, which aired next, they meet their third roommate, Midwestern motor mouth Maggie (future Oscar winner Marisa Tomei), and the Gilbert Hall triumvirate was complete. Stevie, meanwhile, would leave midway through the season to be replaced by the more imposing Lettie (Tony winner Mary Alice), who is introduced in "The Prime of Miss Lettie Bostic."

Several Cosby Show actors dropped in during the first season to show their support, including Keisha Knight Pulliam ("Rudy and the Snow Queen"), Malcolm Jamal-Warner ("My Dinner With Theo"), Phylicia Rashad ("Clair's Last Stand"), and Cosby himself ("If Chosen, I May Not Run"). (Knight Pulliam and Cosby also appear in the pilot). Other guest stars include Keenen Ivory Wayans ("War of the Words") and various In Living Color cast mates, like David Allen Grier ("Romancing Mr. Stone"). Although Bonet and Tomei would leave at the end of the season, A Different World recovered from the loss and aired on NBC for another five seasons. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description
From the creators of the top-rated THE COSBY SHOW comes A DIFFERENT WORLD, a fresh funny situation comedy that follows the triumphs, trials, and tribulations of students of Hillman College. This half-hour spin off of the top rated THE COSBY SHOW, was the first ensemble situation comedy to immerse America in student life at a historically black college. Enjoying a successful 6-run season run on NBC, from 1987 to 1993, A DIFFERENT WORLD bas been widely honored for its sensitive, intelligent treatment of contemporary issues.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of A Different World Season One Box Set, November 8, 2005

By	Dorrie Wheeler - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A Different World Season One is now available on DVD for the very first time. The 4 DVD box set includes 22 episodes from the shows first season and one bonus episode from a later season.

A Different World was created as a spin off series for second to oldest Cosby Show daughter Denise Huxtable portrayed by actress Lisa Bonet. The shwo chronicled her life at a ficticious Historically Black College named Hillman.

A lot of A Different World fans and critics judge the shows first season pretty harshly. Season one, like many television series, was a time of trial and error. As the show would progress it would deal with more serious topics and the writing improved, even still season one was enjoyable.

The DVD box set includes a composition like booklet titled A Different World-Season One Big Laughs On Campus. This booklet is an episode guide and also includes trivia and random facts about the season.

Season One primarily dealt with Lisa Bonet (Denise), and her two roommates Maggie (Marisa Tomei) and Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis). Denise was away from home for the first time. Her roommate Jaleesa was twenty six and divorced and Maggie was a white girl at an all black college (although no one really made too much of a mention about this.) Acclaimed actress Loretta Devine was the first dorm mother Stevie. She had a small son and was replaced midseason by Mary Alice who took over the dorm mother role as Lettie.

It's a really great season as we are introduced to Whitley. Whitley's voice seems especially high pitched during this season. As the show continued through the years Whitley and Dwayne would become the stars of the show.

Season one was enjoyable but the show would really heat up and become Must See TV in later seasons. Producers of the DVD have provided fans with a taste of what's to come by including the episode "Homie Don't Ya Know Me," from the shows 6th season. The show includes a guest appearance from slain rapper Tupac Shakur. In this episode Leena (Jada Pinkett Smith) is visited on campus by her hometown friend (Monica Calhoun). Her friend happens to bring along Leena's ex-boyfriend Piccollo (Tupac Shakur). Piccollo is set on trying to get Leena back and tries his best to punk her current beau (Bumper Robinson). The two men eventually get into a physical confrontation regarding Leena who not only has to deal with this drama but who finds herself torn between her friends from Baltimore and her friends from Hillman. This episode has run in syndication but never aired during the shows NBC run. This episode can be found on disc 4 with the bonus materials.

Also included on Disc 4 is a E! Entertainment special titled "A Different World: I Was A Network TV Star." Show regulars Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Darryl Bell, Dawnn Lewis and several cast members who joined the show later in it's run appear in this featurette. The cast members and producer Debbie Allen sit around and reminisce about the show--and dish about all of the big stars who appeared on A Different World. It's a great short feature. Disc 4 also includes bloopers.

The show would change in Season 2 with characters Denise and Maggie gone from the show and several new characters introduced including Freddy (Cree Summer). Hopefully, season two will arrive on DVD soon.

115 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT show but a LOUSY first season... admit it!, July 11, 2005

By	John J. Martinez (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm glad to hear that the DVD of Season one is coming out, but ... it was so DULL to watch, and only at best mildly funny. Before you gloss over this review, please read on...

I have made it a point of watching it EVERY DAY on the Oxygen channel and my local station here in Chicago, and the episodes have been aired season to season from one to six chronologically as well! I am addicted to it, and I even sneak watch it at work. However, whenever I watch it, when I see Lisa Bonet on the screen struggling to be the 'star' of a sitcom in which the entire future of the show sat on her shoulders, it hurts to see knowing what a dismal future she laid the groundwork for herself.

We all know that this show was supposed to be a star vehicle of sorts for her, but look what she did - she RUINED the first season. Here's why.

If I'm going to keep this review real on ANY level, one thing has to be said, once and for all - Lisa Bonet was (and still is, in my opinion) a bland actress with mediocre talent. Cosby made her a star because he saw something in her at age 9 or 10 on his show, but as she grew she unraveled herself by thinking she was somehow better than the limiting prospects of television (she has said this in subsequent interviews), then she decided to choose more 'daring' but crappy outside projects - does the film ANGEL HEART sound familiar???

Although her lines were well written by the original writers of The Cosby Show, definitely featuring situations in a culturally diverse Hillman College (with roommates to boot), she herself as a character failed miserably and I did not shed a tear when she left the show.

And let's be honest about one other thing - very few of the episodes are worth remembering - can you really remember one all the way through? The only one I can remember is the season finale, when Lisa finally goes out on a date with Dwayne before she 'goes home' to drop out later. It's funny, but it sets up a potential thing between him and Whitley, even though the show ends with Lisa kissing him and dancing with him under the stars.

You also have to remember, she was still a part of the Cosby universe, so during Season One EVERYBODY from the Cosby show visited her, and one at a time just to milk the fame effect just enough to carry us 22 minutes plus commercials. Theo with his crazy weekend, Rudy and pop, her grandfather with the whole bear-stealing thing, and yes, ol Dad Bill wanders about for a few at the beginning.

Ratings? Yes. Was it really worth watching for the QUALITY of the writing and the development? NO. I say again, NO.

By the end of the season there was a change needed, and desperately, even though the show was coming in at the top 5 ONLY BECAUSE OF IT FOLLOWING COSBY. When Bonet learned she and Lenny Kravitz were going to have a child, she walked away - she WALKED AWAY from a top 5 show to be a wife and mother, which is fine down at the local office, but from a MAJOR TV SHOW that was built around you???

This resulted in a severe shake-up, and now who would be the 'star' of the show? (Lisa would return to Cosby in a more background role.) Well, in my opinion, this was the main ingredient of change needed to make season two grow incredibly by the wonderful additions of Charnele Brown as Kim, Cree Summer as Winnie, Glynn Turman as Col. Taylor, Darryl M. Bell as Ron Johnson and comedian Sinbad. This rounded out the ensemble of already future stars Jasmine Guy, Dawnn Lewis and Kadeem Hardison.

Marisa Tomei and other minor characters were simply dropped, and Hillman suddenly went from being a culturally integrated college to an almost predominately black populated one, as it was probably intended to be. No loss there, but you can see the subtle shift from diversity to one of almost inclusion, which is fine, because I think Cosby's original goal was to bring the black experience to America on a higher level (no pimps or gangbangers here!) and to feature a (almost) totally black cast - and to his credit, it worked wonderfully!

You have to know Season One was awful - it really wasn't all that funny!!! The biggest key to the show's survival was the loss of Lisa - who was probably relieved to be walking away anyway - and when the producers hired director/choreographer DEBBIE ALLEN to SAVE THE SHOW from its lack of real "star" power, she then used scripts by writers who could realistically flesh out and bring to life the real trials of college for black people during the 90's with a great deal of intelligence and humor.

Sorry, I digress... this is Season One we're supposed to be talking about.

I don't know if the any of the DVDs of any of the seasons will include the recent June 21, 2005 E! Channel retrospective of A Different World which brought back a few of the main characters, but it would be nice for them to get everyone back to do a commentary of sorts on the disc and let them talk about their experiences on the show, etc. THAT would be worth the price of the disc for the first Season for me.

I love this show, and although I watch it almost every day, I can't get myself to like the first Season, because it looks like "Cosby's A Different World featuring my daughter Lisa Bonet" instead of just a stand alone show. I'll be waiting for the second season DVD a lot more than this one. Sorry if you're offended in any way, but look at for what it is.

Thanks for reading!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A show has to start some where, November 9, 2005

By	Yvette(Swan) (Ilinois) - See all my reviews

I loved a different world, it was one of my favorite shows; but like many others have already stated, the first season wasn't the best. Lisa Bonet, who is great on the Crosby Show, just couldn't hold tight to a show of her own. The best change that happened was her leaving and letting Jasmine Guy & Kaheem Harrison take the spotlight; because it was these two, along with many others, that made the second season and beyond, a run home and watch, show. The first season wasn't really humorus but it's a good start to learn the 3 characters that would make "A diiferent world" the great sitcom it becomes. So I would buy it, just to start my collection