Netflix renews ‘A Different World’ sequel for Season 2

The new generation of Hillman College students will return for another season of the Netflix continuation of the beloved NBC sitcom.

Hillman College is staying open for business.

Netflix has renewed its “A Different World” sequel series for a second season, giving the next generation of Hillman students another year at the fictional HBCU.

Variety reported the renewal Friday, just days after the series debuted on Netflix. The new show continues the world established by the original “A Different World,” which ran on NBC from 1987 to 1993 and became one of television’s most influential portrayals of Black college life.

The Netflix series centers on Deborah Wayne, the daughter of original characters Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert. Played by Maleah Joi Moon, Deborah arrives at Hillman as a freshman while navigating the expectations that come with being the daughter of two of the school’s most recognizable alumni.

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The series follows Deborah as she attempts to “build her own legacy” while finding her place among a new generation of Hillman students.

The sequel was developed by Felicia Pride, who serves as showrunner and executive producer. Original series veteran Debbie Allen is also an executive producer and directed multiple episodes, including the premiere.

The new series represents a return to Hillman nearly 40 years after viewers first met Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and the students who would eventually become the heart of the original series. After Bonet left following Season 1, the show increasingly focused on characters including Whitley, Dwayne, Freddie Brooks, Ron Johnson and others, tackling college life alongside issues including race, politics, relationships and social justice.

The revival also carries a significant creative connection to the original. Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood, who met while working as writers on “A Different World,” are executive producers on the sequel.

“It is a full-circle moment to have been the writers who… It was also both of our first professional gigs,” Gina Prince-Bythewood told theGrio. “We knew the impact that the show had when we were on there,” the couple said previously about joining the new show as executive producers, describing Hillman as the place where they got their start as writers and found each other.

Now, the next generation gets to experience Hillman for themselves.