MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: You've heard it. You know it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A DIFFERENT WORLD THEME")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) It's a different world from where you come from.
MARTIN: That's the theme from "A Different World," the 1980s sitcom set at the fictional HBCU Hillman College. But that show wasn't just a show. It was a phenomenon, a ratings juggernaut that was also ahead of its time and using comedy to tackle issues that were then little talked about in sitcoms, like police violence, date rape and HIV, with, of course, a good dose of messy dating hijinks. Bringing it all to life were memorable characters like Whitley Gilbert, the Southern belle who is more than a little extra.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "A DIFFERENT WORLD")
JASMINE GUY: (As Whitley Gilbert) I see that practice doesn't always make perfect.
DAWNN LEWIS: (Jaleesa Vinson-Taylor) She's coming along just fine.
GUY: (As Whitley Gilbert) The question is, where is she going?
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: "A Different World" ran until 1993. But now Hillman is getting a new freshman class. The Netflix reboot of "A Different World" starts streaming today.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A DIFFERENT WORLD THEME")
BRANDY NORWOOD: (Singing) It's a different world than where you come from.
MARTIN: Many of the original cast members are back, including Jasmine Guy as Whitley. In the new series, her daughter, Deborah, is coming to Hillman. She's played by Maleah Joi Moon. In this scene, the still image-conscious Whitley has hand-picked a roommate for her daughter without asking.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "A DIFFERENT WORLD")
MALEAH JOI MOON: (As Deborah Wayne) First, my classes. Now this. Well, I'm choosing my roommate, and it's Rashida.
GUY: (As Whitley Gilbert) Huh? Rashida. That's a colorful name. Major?
ALIJAH KAI: (As Rashida Duvall) Criminal justice.
MOON: (As Deborah Wayne) A defender of rights, Mother.
KAI: (As Rashida Duvall) To get my cousins out of prison.
GUY: (As Whitley Gilbert) GPA?
KAI: (As Rashida Duvall) Four-point-six. Weighted.
MOON: (As Deborah Wayne) Impressive. Although grades aren't the only indicator of intelligence.
GUY: (As Whitley Gilbert) And where are you from?
KAI: (As Rashida Duvall) Compton.
GUY: (As Whitley Gilbert) Watch her.
MARTIN: Jasmine Guy, Maleah Joi Moon, welcome. Thank you both so much for joining us.
MOON: Thank you so much.
GUY: My pleasure.
MARTIN: So, Jasmine Guy, it is hard to overstate what a phenomenon this show was. Did you have a sense that this was going to be something really special?
GUY: The first season, no, not really. I didn't feel the wave that it created, especially for HBCUs. A lot of kids went to school because of It really changed for me in our second season when Debbie Allen came on as our producer and director, and I think, made it more specific.
MARTIN: Well, she famously put the hot sauce on the tables, right?
GUY: She did.
MARTIN: (Laughter) Maleah, so you weren't even born when the show was first on, but the reruns have never not been on somewhere. Did you ever watch it?
MOON: I did. So growing up, it wasn't until I started working on the show, even in the audition process, that I realized just how much "A Different World" was already in my young adult life. And, of course, like, I grew up in the age of social media. So I've seen my TV parents, Kadeem and Jasmine, all over, like, Black '90s mood boards and Whitley's style and her fur coats and her pearls, like, that whole thing. It's almost like a cultural renaissance that's happening all over again. Filming all the way back in 1987 when it first premiered to now, and me still having exposure to it, I think, is a testament to just how impactful it was.
MARTIN: Jasmine, let's fast forward. Your character, Whitley - the iconic Whitley - married Dwayne Wayne. They have three kids together. The youngest has now enrolled at Hillman. For anybody who knows your character, they would not be surprised that Whitley turned out to be a business mogul and a tough mom. So could you just tell us a little bit about who Whitley Gilbert is now?
GUY: I'm pretty much like a helicopter mom with her, and it's very annoying. It's hard for her to, you know, get her independence and be on her own. Sometimes I feel like, oh, my God, why would this child even like me?
MARTIN: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "A DIFFERENT WORLD")
GUY: (As Whitley Gilbert) This is your final warning. I need you to put your head down and focus on why you are actually at Hillman, or else you will be back in Connecticut on house arrest.
I was wondering how it was going to fly with the young people because - and my voice is a lot lower now, too, and I really didn't know (as Whitley Gilbert) if I was going to be able to talk like this every day.
MARTIN: I was wondering how hard was it to get back into Whitley speak.
GUY: I was worried that I was - the chords were too damaged at this point in my life. Then I was an alto when I did it 30 years ago, and now I'm more like a baritone.
MARTIN: And, Maleah, you play, as we said, the youngest daughter of Whitley and Dwayne. As Jasmine Guy just told us, clashes with her character - her mom - all the time. Talk a little bit about how we meet Deborah.
MOON: Yeah. We...
MARTIN: And De-bor-ah (ph). Get it straight.
MOON: Yeah. De-bor-ah, not Debra (ph), honey. OK? This is Whitley Gilbert-Wayne's child. She was not naming her no Debra. De-bor-ah, three syllables. So she is stumbling with maybe a lot less grace than her mother would want her to through the process of finding herself, and she has to really forge her own path. And I think that's where that contentious quality comes from 'cause, you know, even as a young person, you clash with your mom 'cause you're finding yourself. But beneath that is even, like, who am I outside the context of my parents?
MARTIN: Well, you know, a lot has been written in the annals of TV lore that it famously took a little bit of time for the original show to find its true voice. I mean, it dealt with some tough issues. This one comes right out of the gate with some tough issues. And I just wondered how you thought about that.
MOON: Covering stigmatized topics is the thing that made the show so amazing because they did it in a way where it was funny, and you gave people medicine in a way that was palatable. That was one of my main goals - to make sure that we pay homage to the way that the original did that for people.
MARTIN: OK. Before we let each of you go and thank you both so much, Jasmine, what's your favorite thing about the show and working on it again?
GUY: Oh, my goodness. I love the energy. These kids in between takes never stop singing, twerking...
MOON: I'm so sorry.
GUY: ...Rapping, harmonizing.
MOON: (Laughter).
GUY: And I just sit back and Darryl Bell came in my ear, and he said, we used to be like that. I said, I know, but right now I need to rest. Let the puppies bounce around.
MARTIN: OK, Maleah, what about you? What's your favorite thing?
MOON: The hope. I think that's my favorite part of the show. Like, the hope seeing young Black, successful, stylish, funny, well cared for, well loved Black youth. I'm so excited to just have that and be a part of it.
MARTIN: Maleah Joi Moon, Jasmine Guy - they play daughter and mother on the reboot of the show "A Different World." It's on Netflix. Thank you both so much.
GUY: Thank you.
MOON: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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