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50 free A Different World trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
A Different World started as a Cosby Show spin-off that critics hated and ended as the show credited with sending a generation to historically Black colleges. These A Different World trivia questions cover Hillman College, Whitley and Dwayne, the season-two overhaul under Debbie Allen, the guest stars from Tupac to Whoopi Goldberg, and the Netflix sequel. Every answer is sourced, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On which network did A Different World air from 1987 to 1993?
NBC
It sat in the Thursday slot between The Cosby Show and Cheers, which critics credited for its early ratings.
Q 02How many seasons did A Different World run?
Six
The first season was savaged by critics; the sixth and last holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Q 03Which actress played Denise Huxtable, the show's original lead?
Lisa Bonet
She left after one season, and the show was rebuilt around Whitley and Dwayne.
Q 04Hillman College is a fictional historically Black college in which state?
Virginia
Its exact location is never revealed, though references point to the Hampton Roads or Roanoke areas.
Q 05Who played Southern belle Whitley Gilbert?
Jasmine Guy
Whitley began as a snobbish supporting character and was mellowed into the lead after season one.
Q 06Who played math whiz Dwayne Wayne?
Kadeem Hardison
He had already appeared on The Cosby Show as one of Theo's friends in the first-season episode 'A Shirt Story'.
Q 07Dwayne is best recognized by which accessory?
Flip-up sunglasses
He spent his freshman year making unsuccessful advances on nearly every woman on campus.
Q 08What was Dwayne's major at Hillman?
Mathematics
He scored a perfect mark on the math section of the SAT and later returned to Hillman as a professor.
Q 09Whitley majored in French and which other subject?
Art history
She went to college intending to land a husband, discovered she loved the subject, and later became an assistant art buyer.
Q 10Whitley's wealthy family is from which city?
Richmond
Her divorced parents Mercer and Marion are both Hillman alumni, and her mother sits on the college's board of trustees.
Q 11Dwayne, like Denise, grew up in which New York borough?
Brooklyn
Season-six freshman Terrell Walker and Charmaine Brown came from the same borough.
Q 12Ron Johnson, Dwayne's roommate and best friend, hails from which city?
Detroit
He spent summers selling cars at his father's dealership and took nine semesters to graduate.
Q 13The actor who played Ron later became a real-life couple with which Cosby Show actress?
Tempestt Bledsoe
Bledsoe played Vanessa Huxtable; the pair co-starred on the 2009 reality series Househusbands of Hollywood.
Q 21Who was originally cast as Denise's white roommate before Marisa Tomei took the part?
Meg Ryan
She left to pursue films; Tomei's Maggie Lauten lasted one season before the network rejected plans to keep her.
Q 22Debbie Allen, hired to revamp the show, is an alumna of which historically Black university?
Howard
She instituted yearly writers' trips to Atlanta to visit Clark Atlanta, Morehouse and Spelman for story ideas.
Q 23Debbie Allen is the real-life sister of which Cosby Show star?
Phylicia Rashad
Allen also appeared on screen in later seasons as Whitley's psychiatrist.
Q 14Which cast member co-wrote the theme song with Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby?
Dawnn Lewis
She was asked to write the song and to audition for Jaleesa at almost the same time, and assumed her friends were pranking her.
Q 15Which singer performed the theme song from seasons two through five?
Aretha Franklin
She had once been married to Glynn Turman, who played Colonel Taylor, from 1978 to 1984.
Q 16Students nicknamed the demanding math professor Colonel Taylor what?
Dr. War
A Vietnam veteran and ROTC commander, he became Dwayne's primary mentor.
Q 17Who played Colonel Taylor?
Glynn Turman
He and Lou Myers were added to the supporting cast in the season-two overhaul.
Q 18Mr. Vernon Gaines owns and runs which campus hangout?
The Pit
Kim, Lena, Charmaine and even Whitley all worked there at one time or another.
Q 19Who played Mr. Gaines?
Lou Myers
In the series finale his character is reunited with Lena Horne, whom he had met during World War II.
Q 20Comedian Sinbad played which character?
Coach Walter Oakes
He coached nearly every Hillman team, got engaged to Jaleesa, and left to run a community center in Philadelphia.
Q 24Why was Denise written out after season one?
Bonet's real-life pregnancy, which Cosby would not write in
Cosby's line was that Lisa Bonet could be pregnant but Denise Huxtable could not, so Denise dropped out and went abroad.
Q 25After leaving Hillman, Denise traveled to which continent, where she married a Navy officer?
Africa
She became stepmother to Olivia, played by Raven-Symoné, and returned only once to give Dwayne closure on his crush.
Q 26Campus shots of Hillman were filmed at Spelman and which other Georgia college?
Clark Atlanta University
Writers visited Morehouse too on their annual spring trips, but it was not used for the exteriors.
Q 27What are Hillman's school colors?
Maroon and white
The fictional school was founded in 1881, and Cliff and Clair Huxtable met there as students.
Q 28Hillman's Latin motto, Deus Nondum Te Confecit, translates to what?
God has not yet finished you
The school first appeared on screen in the Cosby Show season-three finale, titled 'Hillman', which served as a pilot.
Q 29Whitley and Dwayne's honeymoon coincided with which real event?
The 1992 Los Angeles riots
The episodes aired shortly after the Rodney King verdict, one of several times the show wrote headlines into its plots.
Q 30Whose wedding does Dwayne interrupt to declare his love for Whitley?
Byron Douglas III
The jilted groom, played by Joe Morton, had just been elected to the state senate.