Maleah Joi Moon, Tony Winner, Cast As Lead In ‘A Different World' Spinoff Pilot
Tony-winning actress Maleah Joi Moon stars as Deborah Wayne, daughter of Dwayne and Whitley (Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy). The show is described as a 'sequel to the 1987 sitcom' that follows the couple's youngest daughter as she attends an HBCU. It's not confirmed if she'll be attending her parents' fictional alma mater, Hillman College.
The rest of the cast includes series regulars Chibuikem Uche as Kojo, Cornell Young as Shaquille, Jordan Aaron Hall as Amir, Alijah Kai Higgins as Haggins, and Kennedi McClure as Hazel, Deadline reported.
The spinoff pilot has been in development at Netflix since 2024. It's a one-off and and not part of a strategy shift at the streamer. Deadline explained, '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.'
The pilot is set to film in Atlanta this June with Debbie Allen directing and showrunner Felicia Pride penning the script.
The new series is being helmed by Pride. Allen, Mandy Summers, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood will also serve as executive producers. Allen, Werner, Prince-Bythewood and Bythewood all worked on the original series, which was a spinoff of The Cosby Show.
It ran for six seasons and initially centered around Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and her new classmates at Hillman. However, Bonet exited after the first season and the show continued with series regulars Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, Charnele Brown, Lou Myers, Cree Summer and Glynn Turman.
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