If I were to create a list of my top 10 favorite sitcoms of all time, Mr. Bill Cosby’s A Different World (ADW) would probably rank somewhere between 2 or 3. This show has always been, in a weird way, amazing to me. I mean, aside from the fact that the show hit the airwaves when I was a chicken bone sucking 1 year old (which means that my only real memories of ADW are from reruns), it has truly changed my life.
Cases in point:
** I am a college graduate. I am not going to pretend like ADW is the only reason that I have achieved my higher education goal but I am sure that in some subliminally sneaky way, ADW helped to put me on my path of college degree-dom.
** I went to a HBCU for my freshman year of college. Even though I graduated from a HWCU, I cannot forget the great times and lessons learned at Morgan State University (GO BEARS!). And even though I choose to go to Morgan without even so much as a second thought about ADW, I think that some how, some way ADW influenced my decision.
Now let me tell you, ADW was great entertainment that was also a major, major milestone in Black History (I always seem to get on this topic, don’t I? It’s not my fault, it’s the BA in Black American Studies, it’ll getcha every time…). It showed black people in the one place other networks would not show us--COLLEGE. This show affirmed that black people go to college too!!! I mean, it showed us in a semi-real college environment, hanging out in dorms, eating in cafeterias, and studying in libraries.
Also, it represented all kinds of black people- the rich and black-Whitley, the nerdy and black- D’wayne Wayne, the amazingly stylish and black-Denise, and (my all time favorite)-the mid-20 year old and black who decides to go back to school for a college degree- Julissa. Oh, and let us not forget the token white student, who I loved--MAGGIE!! I really liked her and, considering the racial dynamic of the school, I think she said a lot about Mr. Cosby’s genius. This show had everything and I loved it.
In this sick world of fake reality tv, I hope that we can one day revert back to the days of sitcoms with meaning. I find it pretty interesting that our television stations are bombarding us with ‘reality’ tv that has no meaning. How ironic is that? Real life has meaning but reality television, which is supposed to display real life in a televised format, does not. Think about that...
Everyone out there who is a genuine ADW fan, make sure you get your daily fix of ADW on TV One, M-F @10 & 1030pm!
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