Teaser: A Different World Is Coming Back and Hillman College Is About to Be Everything

My lawd, the ancestors heard our prayers. Somewhere Aretha Franklin is warming up.

Netflix has finally dropped a teaser for the sequel to A Different World and yes friends, the whole crew is returning to Hillman College, which we previously reported. The announcement came Friday during Netflix's Celebration of Black Television at the American Black Film Festival and the internet has not recovered.

A Different World, is a household name as is the flagship show, The Cosby Show, to which the series is a spin-off of. If you were born in the late 2000s, here is a quick refersher for you. Denise played by Lisa Bonet, left The Cosby Show to attend Hillman College, thus we get A Different World with iconic characters.

We are back in school starting Thursday, September 24, which is 39 years after episode one of the original series.

Smart of the new showrunner Felicia Pride, the executive producer, director Debbie Allen and newcomer Maleah Joi Moon who were on hand to unveil the first teaser trailer. During the festival, attendees were introduced to Moon's character Deborah Wayne, Whitley and Dwayne's youngest daughter who is described as a free spirit still figuring out her path at Hillman. She is already our favorite.

What's a college freshman without her core group of unique friends? Deborah will be joined by a whole new generation of freshman, described as a first-generation criminal justice major, a five-star athlete carrying the weight of legacy, a psych major who fixes everyone's problems except his own, a church girl finding her own values, and a Ghanaian-Nigerian fashion entrepreneur chasing his vision. This friend group is already giving everything.

But Wait — Who's Coming Back?

The original squad is suiting up and we simply cannot handle it. Like we said, returning will be Jasmine Guy as Whitley, Kadeem Hardison as Dwayne, Cree Summer as Freddie, Darryl M. Bell as Ron, Charnele Brown as Kimberly, Jenifer Lewis as Dorothy, and Jada Pinkett Smith as Lena.

This version is not a carbon copy of the original. The sequel trades the multi-camera sitcom format for a single-camera dramedy, shot without a studio audience. It is described as hopeful, full of heart and unapologetically centered on the richness and complexity of the Black experience at an HBCU. Debbie Allen's fingerprints are all over this thing and that is nothing but good news.

A Different World returning on Netflix with the original cast, a fresh new class, and Debbie Allen in the building? Hillman is about to remind everybody exactly why this school has always been iconic.

Are you ready to go back to Hillman? Drop your reaction in the comments and tell us which original cast member you are most excited to see return.