Felicia Pride, the showrunner behind Netflix’s sequel to “A Different World,” is stopping in Memphis for a conversation spotlighting the city’s creative community. The gathering is set for 2 to 5 p.m. at the Metal Museum, located at 1930 Poplar Avenue, and brings the national buzz around the rebooted sitcom straight to the Bluff City’s working artists, writers and storytellers.
According to Action News 5, the afternoon will open with an industry mixer before moving into the Cooler Kids opening video, a round of testimonials, and finally a featured conversation between Pride and Memphian Princeton James. The event is open to a wide swath of the city’s creative class, including filmmakers, writers, actors, entrepreneurs, educators and community leaders, along with HBCU students and alumni and members of NPHC or Divine Nine organizations, per the same report.
A Sequel Decades in the Making
Pride is the showrunner, creator and executive producer of the Netflix sequel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The streamer released the rebooted “A Different World” on September 24, exactly 39 years after the original sitcom premiered on NBC on September 24, 1987, the outlet notes. That original series followed students at the fictional Hillman College, as CNN reports, and the new 10-episode reboot expands that world to include broader perspectives from across the African diaspora.
The revival introduces the groundbreaking series to a new generation while reconnecting longtime fans with its world and legacy, the station’s report states. CNN adds that the reboot marks the first time an African character has been part of the show’s main cast, widening a franchise that first broke ground nearly four decades ago.
Behind the Scenes of the Reboot
The show’s writers room was entirely Black, made up of seven writers plus Pride herself, she told the Hollywood Reporter. Pride also said 59 percent of the sequel’s background actors were HBCU students and alumni, and that the production assembled a council of current students from schools including FAMU, Lincoln, Howard, Spelman and Tennessee State to help shape the series. The sequel’s premiere took place at Morehouse College in Atlanta on September 21, three days before the show hit Netflix.
Beyond campus life, the new series tackles heavier territory. Pride told TheWrap that the show explores immigration and ICE, along with neurodivergence, sexual identity and sexual health — issues she said are facing HBCUs today. The Daily Memphian has reported that the series was Netflix’s most-watched show at the time of its publication, though that ranking reflects a single snapshot in a fast-moving streaming landscape.
A Familiar Name on the Panel Circuit
Memphis isn’t the first city to get face time with Pride. Back in 2022, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles hosted its own conversation with her, built around her career as a television writer and producer. At the time, she was known for writing on “Queen Sugar,” producing on “Grey’s Anatomy,” and writing and executive producing “Really Love,” according to that event listing.
Now, with “A Different World” reintroducing itself to audiences nationwide, Pride’s Memphis stop gives local filmmakers, actors and HBCU-connected creatives a rare direct line to the people building one of the year’s most talked-about revivals — all without leaving Poplar Avenue.
