Comedy NBC

Created by William Cosby Jr., Ed.D. as a spin-off to the #1 80's hit Cosby Show, A Different World is an American comedy originally centered around Denise Huxtable (played by Lisa Bonet) and her life at Hillman University, a historically black college (HBCU). When Lisa Bonet left the show after its first season due to her real-life pregnancy, it was reformatted as an ensemble show that focused on other Hillman students and faculty members. Unlike the family-oriented Cosby Show, the popular spin-off became known for addressing social issues such as rape, racism, sexism, politics, teen pregnancy, interracial dating, the Gulf War ('91), slavery, and was one of the first American TV shows to feature a character with AIDS. The show is also credited for causing a huge increase in enrollment in HBCUs during its 1987 - 1993 run. It remained on the Nielsen's List of top 10 shows for five of its six seasons on NBC.