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A Different World : Season 1
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Air date: 24 Sep '87 - 22 episodesA Different World is an American television sitcom which aired for six seasons on NBC. It is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional mixed but historically black college in the state of Virginia. After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne. The series frequently depicted members of the major historically black fraternities and sororities. While it was a spin-off from The Cosby Show, A Different World would typically address issues that were avoided by The Cosby Show writers. One episode that aired in 1990 was one of the first American network television episodes to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
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List of Episodes (22)
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A Different World (1987)
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1. Reconcilable Differences
24 Sep '87Denise Huxtable begins her sophomore year at Hillman and moves into Gilbert Hall. She meets her roommate, Jaleesa Vinson, a 26-year-old divorcée who is the subject of much rumor and innuendo. Denise feels uneasy around Jaleesa and asks Stevie Rallen, the resident director, to find her a new room. Denise decides to try harder to get along with Jaleesa, but Jaleesa is offended that Denise has gone behind her back. They get into an argument, and Denise moves in with wealthy Whitley Gilbert (for wh
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A Different World (1987)
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2. Pilot
01 Oct '87Jaleesa and Denise get a new roommate, talkative transfer student Maggie Lauten. Denise learns that the check for her dorm fees has bounced. To make matters worse, she had also covered Jaleesa's fees to repay her for an earlier favor. Denise and Jaleesa face eviction unless they can come up with 200 dollars by the next day. Denise cannot bring herself to ask her parents for help, as she is tired of being bailed out. When the dean of students realizes that Denise sincerely wants to take responsib
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A Different World (1987)
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3. Porky de Bergerac
15 Oct '87Denise and Maggie convince Jaleesa to run for dorm monitor to prevent Whitley from getting the position. As one of her campaign promises, Jaleesa vows to address the dorm's litter problem by forcing anyone who fails to pick up after herself to wear a pig nose for a day. Denise leaves pizza in the lounge overnight, and Jaleesa orders her to wear the nose. Denise is furious, as she has a date with a cute guy from her biology class that night. They have never talked in person (she asked him out ove
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A Different World (1987)
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4. Those Who Can't... Tutor
22 Oct '87Dwayne offers to tutor Denise in calculus after she receives a D on a test. Denise believes that it is a scam, but Dwayne turns out to be an excellent tutor. They study for so long that Dwayne gets locked inside the dorm after curfew. He sneaks into Whitley's room while she is sleeping and climbs out the window. Stevie catches Dwayne coming down the fire escape, and Whitley suffers tremendous damage to her reputation. Dwayne refuses to tell the truth because he fears that Denise could be suspend
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A Different World (1987)
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5. War of the Words
29 Oct '87Maggie prepares to debate Whitley on the topic of whether women can balance a career and family life. She is distracted by a surprise visit from her boyfriend, Mike, who stuns her by revealing that he has left school to take a job with the National Pork Council. He asks Maggie to transfer to a school in Washington, D.C. to be near him, and proposes marriage. Maggie is so overwhelmed by her relationship crisis that Denise must take her place in the middle of the debate. She wins easily by detaili
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A Different World (1987)
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6. Rudy and the Snow Queen
05 Nov '87Denise's little sister Rudy comes to visit for the weekend. She surprises Denise by immediately hitting it off with Whitley. When Denise and Rudy find it impossible to sleep in the same bed, Whitley allows Rudy to stay in her room. Whitley teaches Rudy all of her beauty secrets, and the two become good friends. Rudy hurts Denise's feelings by spending all of her time with Whitley. Meanwhile, Jaleesa fears the worst after hearing that her sister went to dinner with Jaleesa's ex-husband. Jaleesa c
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A Different World (1987)
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7. Sometimes You Get the Bear, Sometimes the Bear Gets You
19 Nov '87Denise is apprehensive about a visit from her grandfather, as she fears that she cannot live up to his expectations. Jaleesa and Maggie ask Denise to take part in a traditional homecoming prank by stealing the head of the rival mascot's bear costume. (They would be the first women in Hillman history to accomplish this.) Denise initially turns them down because she does not want to disappoint her grandfather. She does not realize that Russell tried to steal the bear head in 1935, but was bested b
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A Different World (1987)
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8. If Chosen, I May Not Run
03 Dec '87Denise shows potential as a sprinter during P.E. class, and the track coach asks her to come out for the team. Her father is thrilled to have another Huxtable competing for Hillman, as he and his father both ran for the school. Denise enjoys the attention she receives from her friends and other students, but cannot handle the grueling practices. She considers quitting until a star runner informs her that she is not the only one who hates practice; in fact, the entire team feels this way. Maggi
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A Different World (1987)
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9. Romancing Mr. Stone
10 Dec '87Many of the girls become smitten with Byron Walcott, their handsome new geology professor. Professor Walcott's knowledge and enthusiasm for geology inspire Denise to develop a fascination for the subject. Although Denise mocks the other girls for their crushes on the professor, she also mistakes his attention for romantic interest. Stevie confronts Professor Walcott and accuses him of leading his students on. Dwayne witnesses their argument and suspects that they like each other. Denise feels li
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A Different World (1987)
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10. The Gift of the Magi
17 Dec '87Millie tells the other dorm residents that Whitley's parents are divorcing. Whitley tries to maintain a positive attitude, and looks forward to spending the holidays with her father in Switzerland. Mr. Gilbert stuns Whitley by introducing his new, much younger girlfriend; and springs the news that she will be coming along on their trip. Denise helps the devastated Whitley cope with the situation and try to come to an understanding with Monica. Jaleesa and Maggie continually rag on the gifts from
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A Different World (1987)
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11. Does He or Doesn't He?
07 Jan '88Dwayne annoys a graduate student with his stupid pick-up lines. She predicts that Dwayne would freak out if a woman actually responded to his advances, and decides to invite him to her apartment. Jaleesa takes bets from the entire dorm on Dwayne's possible reaction. Denise feels that Dwayne does not deserve this treatment, and warns him that he is being set up. Ron persuades Dwayne to go to Peggy's apartment and win her over with his charm. Denise and Walter (Dwayne's resident director and P.E.
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A Different World (1987)
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12. Advise and Descent
14 Jan '88Denise volunteers for peer counseling duty during finals week. She proves to be a very good counselor, but uses the job as an excuse to put off a major history paper. Dwayne dislikes the head counselor, a laid-back surfer from California, because he suspects that he will put the moves on Denise. Whitley panics about an upcoming botany final; she had assumed that Millie's notes would be enough to carry her through the test. Dwayne and Ron express their discontent when the girls neglect their appe
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A Different World (1987)
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13. The Prime of Miss Lettie Bostic
21 Jan '88Jaleesa fills in as resident director after Stevie leaves the university to get married (to Professor Walcott?). The students attend a lecture by Lettie Bostic, a renowned world traveler. Lettie dropped out of Hillman and moved to Paris, where she kept company with Picasso and other artistic icons and even worked as a spy during World War II. She confesses that she still regrets quitting school, so the dean offers to give her credit for ""life experience"" if she takes over as Gilbert's resident
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A Different World (1987)
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14. Wild Child
04 Feb '88Denise befriends Cougar, an extremely intelligent and creative student from her philosophy class. Cougar asks Denise to sneak her into the dorm for the night, claiming that her roommate has been letting an annoying boyfriend sleep over. Although she is supposed to stay on the couch, Cougar tries to use Whitley's room while Whitley is in the infirmary receiving treatment for a sprained ankle. Cougar gets caught, and Denise lashes out at her. Cougar reveals that she is not really a student at Hill
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A Different World (1987)
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15. Dr. Cupid
11 Feb '88Dwayne tries to use his radio show to get a Valentine's Day date. He invents a dream man named Darrell Walker in the hopes of eliciting attention from the ladies. Although everyone else realizes that Darrell is obviously Dwayne, Whitley decides to investigate. Ron and Millie hook up while serving as go-betweens. A long-lost flame surprises Lettie with a visit. The couple worked together to publish incendiary material about the South African government, but she rejected his marriage proposal beca
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A Different World (1987)
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16. The Show Must Go On
18 Feb '88Denise and Whitley earn lead roles in Maggie's play, a bizarre (and painfully long) adaptation of the story of Adam and Eve. Denise and Whitley vie for the affections of their leading man, who seems to thrive from the attention. When the girls learn that Rick already has a girlfriend, they allow their anger to affect their performances. Although the play ends abruptly after Whitley tries to strangle Rick, Maggie still receives rave reviews. Meanwhile, Dwayne and Ron struggle to design the sets w
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A Different World (1987)
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17. Mr. Hillman
25 Feb '88Whitley enters the Miss Hillman pageant in order to win the approval of her mother, a former pageant winner whom Whitley can never seem to please. Denise decides to fight the elitism of the pageant by convincing Dwayne to enter. The Gilbert Hall residents infuriate Whitley by backing Dwayne as their representantive in Miss Hillman. A fraternity sponsors Whitley; its members, along with other students, constantly mock Dwayne and play cruel pranks on him. Ron and Walter encourage him to save face
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A Different World (1987)
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18. Speech Therapy
10 Mar '88Jaleesa panics at the prospect of making a speech in front of her poetry class. The professor takes pity on her and allows her to substitute a paper for the speech, but suggests that she learn to take risks. Jaleesa stammers her way through the speech; Professor Foster congratulates her on her courage and gives her a B because her content offset the horrible presentation. Denise forgets to pay back some money she had borrowed from Maggie a month earlier. Instead of reminding Denise about the deb
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A Different World (1987)
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19. Clair's Last Stand
24 Mar '88Maggie and Denise plan a summer vacation in Greece. Denise realizes that her parents may not allow her to go, let alone agree to finance the trip, because of her terrible grades. She plans to soften up her mother during a weekend visit. Clair arrives at Hillman on her own after Denise fails to pick her up on time, and Lettie unwittingly fills her in on the trip. Clair refuses to let Denise go to Greece. She and Cliff have decided to make Denise get a summer job, in the hopes that she might take
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A Different World (1987)
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20. If Only for One Night
28 Apr '88During the last week of school, Denise accepts a date with Dwayne. She insists that they are only going out as friends, although her roommates note that Dwayne believes otherwise. Dwayne gets reservations at an expensive Japanese restaurant, but has to scramble for a way to pay for dinner after spending all his money on a suit. Whitley becomes despondent when she fails to get an internship in New York, as she must now spend her summer in Richmond with her judgmental mother. Whitley gives Dwayne
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A Different World (1987)
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21. Come Back, Little Eggby
05 May '88As a class assignment, Maggie and Dwayne must care for eggs as if they were children. Maggie becomes extremely wrapped up in the project, and nearly skips her volleyball game because she is worried about the egg. She finally allows Jaleesa to watch the egg, as she is already babysitting Stevie's son J.T. Jaleesa leaves Whitley in charge while she helps Denise find a calculator, and the egg disappears. Maggie completely freaks out and puts up fliers around the campus. Stevie reminds Maggie that t
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A Different World (1987)
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22. My Dinner With Theo
07 Jul '88Denise becomes depressed about her grades. To take her mind of her troubles, she calls her brother Theo and asks him to visit for the weekend. Theo, a high school senior, is considering applying to Hillman. He quickly makes friends on campus and has little time for Denise because of his busy social calendar. During an interview, the dean stresses that Hillman is a very difficult academic school. He warns Theo that his fun-filled weekend might be giving him the wrong impression. Denise later reit
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