I've only just started watching repeats of Different World on the Paramount Comedy channel and I was just wondering a couple of things about the show;
Was Hillman meant to be an all-black college? And if so, what was Maggie doing there in series 1?
Were the halls in which Denise and co. stayed in named after Whitley's family? If so, why?
Why did Millie leave?
Thanks.

It was supposed to be a predominately black university.There are no schools in the U.S that can legally deny entrance because of race.I think most historically black schools here have some non-blacks..I am sure they also have a handful of eexchange students at any given time.
Millie just disappeared with no explanation.I think they should have kept her character.

The whole direction of the show changed after season 1. Denise, Maggie, and Millie left, Walter and the Colonel became major characters, and more focus went to Whitley, Dwayne and Ron. Of course, Debbie Allen took over the direction of the series after season 1. I think it was for the better. She brought a more realistic (and humorous) approach to college life at a historically Black college. Instead of generic college issues, the issues became more relevant to actual campus life of a Black school. Traditionally, the historically Black colleges do have quite a few non-Black students, so it was very conceivable that Maggie could have attended. Obviously the show's executives didn't want to risk losing white viewership that carried over from Cosby.

What's interesting is that most of the white people who are familiar with the show stopped watching after they wrote Maggie out.

Needless to say, I thought the portrayal of college life was very realistic on ADW. And I also think Darryl Bell is underrated as an actor.

While I think that series one is far superior to any other series I've seen, I'm not gonna stop watching the show just cos there are no longer any white characters. Maggie and Denise were my favorite characters so it's taken me a wee while to get used to Whitley and Dwayne being the main focus of the show. I really don't like Walter though - he just gets on my nerves. I also don't think that Jalesa has enough depth (for want of a better word) to be a main character.

There was also a second white character, Matthew, who came on in the third season (I think), as Freddie's cousin. (this helped play up Freddie's multi-racial heritage -- in real life, Cree Summer is half black/half canadian indian)

Originally posted by misterblowhole:
There was also a second white character, Matthew, who came on in the third season (I think), as Freddie's cousin. (this helped play up Freddie's multi-racial heritage -- in real life, Cree Summer is half black/half canadian indian)

Matthew came in season 4.

I was also forgetting Cougar - the homeless girl who made an appearance in Series 1, episode 14 - she was white.

Originally posted by ADW fan:


What's interesting is that most of the white people who are familiar with the show stopped watching after they wrote Maggie out.



I am white,I loved Maggie and I just couldn't sit through most of the later Different World shows.It wasn't just because Maggie was the token white(chuckle)but she was a charming, funny,sensitive person-and one of the better roles had by Oscar-Winner Marisa Tomei.But I also loved the show as done by Anne Beatts.(I am a Square Pegs fan too.)Debbie Allen's approach,although good in itself,made A Different World too different for me.(I didn't let the new show grow on me,so don;t be too angry with me.I hardly saw it after year one.)