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Netflix‘s followup to “A Different World” has added six cast members to the pilot, Variety has learned from sources.
Chibuikem Uche has been cast as Kojo along with Maleah Joi Moon as Deborah, Cornell Young as Shaquille, Jordan Aaron Hall as Amir, Alijah Kai Higgins as Haggins, and Kennedi McClure as Hazel.
Netflix declined to comment.
The followup to “A Different World” was first reported to be in development in August 2024, with the pilot being announced in March. As reported at that time, the new series would return to Hillman College, a fictional historically Black university, and follow the daughter of original series characters Whitley and Dwayne.
Felicia Pride serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner on the project. Debbie Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood also serve as executive producers. Werner produced the original show via The Carsey-Werner Company, while Allen also produced and directed the bulk of the original’s 144 episodes. Sources say she would also direct the new pilot.
“A Different World” began as a spinoff of “The Cosby Show” and followed Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) as she attends Hillman. But after Bonet departed the series following its first season, the focus shifted to characters played by Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Dawnn Lewis, Glynn Turman, Cory Tyler, Lou Myers, Darryl M. Bell, Cree Summer, and Charnele Brown.
Netflix has eschewed a traditional pilot process for most of its history, only announcing their first ever pilot order in 2023. The streamer has instead focused on straight-to-series orders or script-to-series deals for their shows. But Netflix also previously said that it would never have ads on the service only to begin offering an ad-supported tier in November 2022.
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