Line #7 Trivia/ADifferentWorld


1	* ActorSharedBackground: Both Creator/CreeSummer and her character Freddie are biracial, though their mixes are different--Cree's father was white, while Freddie's mother is.
2	* TheCastShowoff: Several cast members get to show off their singing talents in various episodes.
3	* ContractualPurity: Lisa Bonet got pregnant in-between seasons. Cosby was among those that felt viewers wouldn't accept Denise as an unwed mother, so Denise was transferred back to ''The Cosby Show'' before getting PutOnABus so Bonet could have the [[Creator/ZoeKravitz baby]].
4	* DawsonCasting: Several of the cast members, including Creator/JasmineGuy, Creator/KadeemHardison, and later Karen Malina White in the show's final season, were in their mid-20s when they were cast as Hillman students.
5	** Ironically, not so with Creator/DawnnLewis/Jaleesa, who was supposed to be older than the other students. Jaleesa was said to be twenty-six at the start of the series and Dawnn Lewis was in real-life.
6	** Also averted by Creator/CreeSummer, who was eighteen when she was cast as Freddie.
7	* DescendedCreator: Showrunner, director and producer Creator/DebbieAllen appeared in two episodes as overwrought therapist Dr. Langhorne.
8	* DirectedByCastMember: Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Harrison and Glynn Turman directed episodes from time to time.
9	* FakeAmerican: Subverted. Creator/CreeSummer was born in Los Angeles, but raised in Saskatchewan.
10	* FakeMixedRace: Inverted. Lisa Bonet and Jasmine Guy are biracial, but their characters, Denise (unless Cliff and Claire adopted her and didn't tell us) and Whitley, are not.
11	** Averted and subverted with Freddie: her mother is white, while in real life, Cree Summer's father is Caucasian.
12	** Played straight with Suzanne and Terrance.
13	* HilariousOuttakes: Creator/DenzelWashington showing up [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D1hI36Ueus on set to surprise]] Jasmine Guy (her character Whitley's crush on him was a RunningGag).
14	* JustAStupidAccent: In real life, Jasmine Guy sounds nothing like Whitley Gilbert. She has stated in interviews that she based the accent off of her third grade teacher to emphasize the character's [[DeepSouth southern]] roots and affluence.
15	* OutOfOrder: Some may wonder why Kinu is back with Dwayne in "Showtime at Hillman" even though he's been dating Whitley. That's because the episode was filmed at the beginning of season 4 but didn't air until the end of it.
16	* RomanceOnTheSet: Kadeem Hardison dated Creator/CreeSummer for a while during the show's run.
17	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: According to the cast interviewed on ''Unsung'', they believe that NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield canceled the show because of his opposition to their decision to do an episode about the Rodney King verdict.
18	* TroubledProduction: In a 2022 interview, Jasmine Guy said that she tried desperately to get out of her contract after the first season because of how badly Lisa Bonet was treated on the set. According to Guy and Kadeem Hardison, who was also present for the interview, a higher-up had openly disrespected Bonet in front of the cast and audience.
19	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Allen Payne was asked to join the cast in the sixth season along with Karen White. (Both had appeared as their characters from ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' in Season 5's "Conflict of Interest" to tour the campus.) However, Payne opted to pursue a movie career, so Lance and Charmaine have a long-distance relationship that ultimately ends.
20	** Debbie Allen actually wanted to keep Creator/MarisaTomei on the show and had worked on potential story ideas for Maggie following the retool.
21	** The show was originally conceived as the story of Maggie, a white girl's, experiences attending a historically Black college. Creator/MegRyan was considered for the lead role.
22	* WriteWhoYouKnow: Whitley and many of her stories were based on the life of one of the show's writers.

Context Trivia / ADifferentWorld