A Different World

CTL-E-5443 · Work · other · 1987–1993

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

A Different World, created by Bill Cosby as a spin-off of The Cosby Show and reshaped creatively by Debbie Allen from its second season, aired on NBC from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993 — six seasons, 144 episodes set at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black university. A top-five ratings series for four of its six seasons, it used the campus as a license to treat subjects network sitcoms avoided: an HIV/AIDS episode in 1990, and storylines on date rape and colorism, carried by an ensemble that made the HBCU experience visible to a mass audience for the first time. Its cultural footprint is measurable with care: National Center for Education Statistics figures show total HBCU enrollment rising roughly 24 percent during the run (from about 228,000 in 1987 to about 283,000 in 1993), and alumni and cast credit the series with driving college interest — though the data do not establish that the show alone caused the rise, and this record does not claim otherwise. Hillman was fictional; the applications were real.

Notes

Statistics: NBC, 1987–1993; 144 episodes (Wikipedia). GOV-004 caution applied: the claim that the series 'tripled HBCU enrollment' circulates widely and is NOT supported by the NCES figures; this record carries the sourced ~24% rise with causation unasserted, per the research file's explicit warning. Filed as Work/other: schema v0.2.6 carries no television subtype, and none was invented inside this merge (schema changes are a separate, reviewed step). · Curator's Judgment: DRAFT — for founder review: A fictional college that filled real ones. The record prints the modest, true number instead of the legendary one — 24 percent is a wave, and a citation graph's job is to keep the wave's actual height on file. · Photo slot: HELD — poster/key art and production stills for this title are copyrighted studio material and were NOT pulled (per CTL-PHOTO-001 and the wave brief: never force non-free key art); no cleared Commons image was verified for this title in this run. Slot honestly HELD pending a cleared visual.

Sources

• Wikipedia, 'A Different World' — supports: creator, NBC run (September 24, 1987 – July 9, 1993), 6 seasons / 144 episodes, Hillman College setting, top-five ratings, and the issue episodes — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Different_World
• Afram News, 'A Different World Returns to Hillman…' — supports: the NCES HBCU enrollment figures (about 228,000 in 1987 to about 283,000 in 1993, roughly +24%) and the causation caution carried in this record — https://aframnews.com/entertainment/a-different-world-returns-to-hillman-could-the-revival-spark-a-new-hbcu-enrollment-wave/

Record CTL-E-5443 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 2 sources · CTL research: MEDIA-001.
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