Why Was A Different World Cancelled?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

Yeah, NBC moved it to 8:00, which was the old timeslot of its parent show, The Cosby Show and immediately struggled. Part of the reason is that Fox had just premiered Martin, which cut into ADW's audience. Before Martin, I believe that ADW was the top rated show among African-American viewers.

Also, NBC pretty much were ready to get rid of the show after they did an episode about the then recent Los Angeles riots. I don't remember all of the details, but I think that without the influence Bill Cosby, NBC just treated ADW like any other show. And the brass at NBC weren't comfortable with their shows tackling real life hot button/sensitive issues like the LA riots of 1992.

This may help hit the nail on the proverbial head:

Once The Cosby Show left the air, Debbie Allen decided she would take the show in a more urban direction. Hence why the last season has a lot of inner-city storylines.

NBC execs were NOT happy with this change in direction. The two part season opener in particular that covered the LA riots (with guest star Sister Souljah and Tom and Roseanne Arnold) was meant with a lot of controversy and pushback, and Debbie basically put her job on the line to get it on the air. But NBC would retaliate by axing the show in the spring, despite originally wanting a Dwayne, Whitley spinoff to follow the following season. A few of the final episodes didn't even air until syndication years after.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

Actually, it wasn't Martin that cut into the audience (at first) as that show didn't air until 8:30pm. The Simpsons was the competition. Then Out All Night Starring Patti LaBelle took the 8pm slot and A Different World moved to 8:30.

When A Different World took over NBC's Thursday 8 p.m. timeslot from The Cosby Show, ratings fell from the top 20 into the 70s and The Simpsons (which arguably, by this point, had the good public relations of being "The show that took down The Cosby Show!") on Fox actually started winning the time slot. And after a few months, NBC burned it off on Fridays, but when it couldn't pull even a marginal rating there, they yanked it altogether.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by favoriteshow

I remember NBC aired a 'Cheers' rerun at 8pm throughout the rest of the 1992-1993 schedule, the year after Cosby Show was off the air. 'Seinfeld' had just started as well and was airing at 9:30pm. I hate that it happened this way, but ADW seemed out of place on the schedule with mainly very white cast only shows around it, the rest of the night. Of course, now if you put a minority on an ensemble cast show like Cheers, it'd be called being politically correct and viewed negatively as well. But I think like a lot of 90s sitcoms, the show was wearing out. It's often like the writers (at that time) harmed shows when they advanced the story lines too fast (Whitley and Dwayne, now married).

One also has to wonder or speculate that NBC started losing interest in A Different World once The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air took off. If you look at the ratings for the 1991-92 season, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (which by this point, was in its second season) was just behind A Different World (which by this point, was in its fifth season). And keep in mind, that Fresh Prince unlike ADW, didn't have the benefit or luxury of following on the schedule, a ratings juggernaut like The Cosby Show.