Debbie Allen Wants To Reboot 'A Different World'

A Different World broadcast its first episode 25 years ago this month.  I have been griping for more than a few years on these TransGriot electronic pages about Carsey-Werner not releasing Seasons 2-6 of the show on DVD or even considering doing a reunion episode in light of the fact the anniversary of the September 24, 1987 airing of its first episode is rapidly approaching.

I not only compiled a trivia quiz for the show for last year's anniversary, I even wrote a May 7 post entitled 'Imagining A Different World 2K12' , imagined what that show would look like, and ended that post with this comment.

So will we see A Different World 2K12?    Probably only in our dreams.  

Well, somebody must have sent that post to my Houston homegirl Debbie Allen, because there was a series of tweets starting on August 23 on her Twitter page stating she was interested in bringing back a rebooted A Different World back to television

If that's true, pinch me and make sure I'm wide awake.   Big Amen coming from me. 

I love this show like many other people of my generation and would love to see Dwayne, Whitley, Freddie, Ron and the Hillman College gang blended in with some 21st century Hillman students as I demonstrated in the May 7 post I wrote. 

The successful reboot of Dallas shows it can be done.  Seeing how well it did ratings wise and how it mixed the old characters we were familiar with the new generation of Ewings and Barnes', I have no doubt that a remixed for the 2K10's A Different World would be just as successful.

Debbie Allen at the helm of it would ensure A Different World would be 'keeping it real' and it stayed as close to having that HBCU experience we all loved about the original show.

I say that because in the current TV landscape we are chock full of mindless fare and tawdry reality TV shows aimed at African American audiences.

We would love a smart, well written ensemble cast show with topical storylines like A Different World successfully pulled off from 1987-1993.   

So Debbie and 'errbody' else in Hollywood, please make the A Different World reboot happen.  If you do, I'll happily write the 'I was wrong' post as I eagerly await the return of Hillman College to my television screen.   If you're looking for script writers for the new show, where do I put in my application for it?

And oh yeah, here are the answers to last year's A Different World trivia quiz. 

Caprica Reboot

As you longtime TransGriot readers are aware of  I'm a serious sci-fi fan.   I own the Star Wars saga on DVD, loved all of the Star Trek shows except Enterprise, and was a huge fan of Battlestar Galactica old and new series.

I'm eagerly watching the prequel Caprica, which takes place 58 years before the events depicted in BSG.   As we BSG fans now know these events are 150,000 years from our current time on Planet Earth and light years on the other side of our Milky Way galaxy.

It's centered on two powerful families, the Greystones and the Adamas.

SyFy just started running the Season 1.5 shows October 5, and I spent a few hours one evening catching up on the three episodes I missed so I'll be ready for tonight's broadcast..

We BSG fans know how it will end, with the nuclear devastation of the Colonies in a Cylon sneak attack 58 years from now.   But the interesting part will be hopefully getting to see the events that lead to the First Cylon War, colonial political unification and that 40 year gap between the departure of the Cylons from colonial space and their deadly return.

It's already been interesting to see some of the various colonial worlds such as Caprica, Tauron and Gemenon, the polytheistic religious life, differences and different cultures on them and some of the tensions and cultural beefs between them

I also love watching my Tauron peeps.   There's a sizable Tauron cultural presence on Caprica due to the immigration resulting from the Tauron Civil War and prejudice directed at them by Capricans is widespread..   And as I discovered in a recent episode, some of the denizens of other world aren't too enamored with Capricans either.

The Adamas, one of the two families profiled on the show it are from that world.   

And yes it's those Adamas.   11 year old Willie Adama is the same one who will grow up to be the future commander of the battlestar Galactica 

His father Joseph is a civil rights attorney who does side work for the Tauron mob and his uncle Sam is a highly ranked same gender married member of the Halatha,

Nope, that was not a typo.  Sam is gay and nobody inside or outside his family is tripping..  


It's been a fascinating exploration into more of the events feeding into the BSG universe backstory while once again mixing issues into the shows ripped straight from our world's headlines.   Religious fanaticism, terror in the name of religion, development of AI and what it means for humans, and technology development and its impact on society. 

I hope SyFy is wise enough to pick it up for a few more seasons and allow it a chance to find the audience it deserves.

The Ah Kua Show Comes To America

Leona Lo is bringing her sold out Ah Kua Show from Singapore to the bright lights of Broadway.

Off Broadway that is.

The Ah Kua Show written by Leona will be one of the plays performed during the New York International Fringe Festival, the largest multi-arts festival in North America.

The shows will be performed from August 21 to August 26 at The Club at LaMaMa. Tickets are $15-18 dollars and go on sale beginning July 23.

For those of you in the New York metro area, please consider patronizing this show and helping our Singaporean sister out.

Hey, Where All My Taurons At?

As many of you long time readers know, I'm a huge Battlestar Galactica fan. I own all four seasons on DVD and eagerly awaited the start of Caprica when it kicked off back in January.

If I'm at home on Friday nights I'm parked in front of the television checking out the action in the BSG prequel series set 58 years before The Fall of the Twelve Colonies.

One of the interesting things about the Twelve Colonies as us BSG junkies know is that all of the planets are named after the signs of the zodiac.

Of course, being the proud Taurus I am, I immediately identified with my peeps on Tauron. The residents of that colony seem to have played major roles not only in BSG but the stories and backstories of the BSG/Caprica universe.

Admiral Helena Cain was from there, and as we're discovering, Admiral Adama has Tauron roots. His father Joseph and uncle Sam emigrated to Caprica as a result of the Tauron Civil War and the deaths of their parents.

Since Caprica is more terrestrial driven, you're actually getting more of a feel for Colonial life as seen through two families, the Graystones and the Adamas.

It's been fascinating to watch the Taurons as the story arc develops in the show. They are a proud, determined people who face racism and discrimination on Caprica.

It's interesting to watch the interplay between proud Tauron Sam and his brother, who is trying to be more Caprican than the natives, even going so far as to change his name so he'd fit in. It's also fun to see the future commander of the Battlestar Galactica as a teenage boy.

It also explains why the adult Adama liked to box so much.

I'll definitely be staying tuned in to see more of my Tauron peeps as the show progresses.

TVOne To Begin Broadcasting 'A Different World'

Since I have yet to see and I'm still waiting for Seasons 2-6 of A Different World to be sold on DVD, (and for that matter Seasons 2-6 of Living Single), I was glad to hear that TVOne will start broadcasting tonight my favorite show at 10-11 PM Eastern and 1-2 AM Eastern Time.

I own Season One and I've already expressed myself about how I felt about it. (it sucked). I deal with those episodes until the Debbie Allen produced ones start showing up in Season 2.

At any rate, glad to see it's back on the air.

Now if we A Different World fans could get the opportunity to buy the DVD's for our favorite show.

Ah Kua Show

I was surprised when I received an e-mail from Leona Lo, my sis in Singapore a few months ago with a request. She asked me to compose a comment for the program of her Ah Kua Show she was putting together.

In case you haven't been following the progress of it on her blog, the Ah Kua Show is a play she wrote based on her life which will run from August 6-8 at the Substation Theater.

I was deeply honored to be asked to write the commentary by one of the people in the worldwide trans community I admire. I felt it was my small way of being a part of the show even though as much as I would love to, I couldn't be there in person to support it.

For those of you in the Singapore area, better hurry if you want tickets to the show. Two nights are already sold out and not many tickets remain.

The comment I wrote is underneath the Ah Kua Show poster. Leona, thanks once again for giving me the opportunity and honor of composing it.


Hello Patrons of the Ah Kua Show and greetings from the Bluegrass State of Kentucky!

I am Monica Roberts, a 15 year transitioned African-American transperson originally from Houston, Texas. I am a longtime activist, the editor of the TransGriot blog, and a 2006 winner of the IFGE Trinity Award. I’m only the third African-American transperson to receive the second highest honor given by the United States transgender community for outstanding service.

I’m deeply honored to have been given the opportunity by Leona to share a few words with you as you peruse the Ah Kua Show program. I wish I could be in Singapore watching the play with you.

Contrary to the negative message being pushed by the Forces of Intolerance around the globe, being transgender is nothing to be ashamed of. We are part of the mosaic of humanity and it is something to be embraced with pride.

It is past time that our fellow transpersons and citizens around the world realize that we are beautiful, talented and intelligent people with much to offer the societies of the various countries we inhabit if just given a chance to do so.

I’ve often said that a transperson’s family expands, not contracts after we transition to become the beautiful people we were made by our Creator to be.

I’m proud to have Leona Lo as part of my worldwide extended family, and I wish her and the Ah Kua show much success.

A Different World Theme Songs-Video

Since I'm still impatiently waiting for Carsey-Werner, Ventura, Viacom or whoever owns the rights to A Different World to stop stalling and release Seasons 2-6 of the show on DVD, thought I'd get the video of the three versions of the theme songs played during the six season run of the series and post them.

Season 1, composed by Dawnn Lewis sung by Phoebe Snow.



The Queen of Soul Version of the song.



The Boys 2 Men version




The excuse for not releasing the DVDs is the false assumption that A Different World doesn't have a fanbase. They came to that conclusion based on the sales of the Season 1 DVD. Hello, Season 1 sucked, seasons 2-6 didn't after it began to reflect the reality of HBCU student life.

As a bonus for you ADW lovers, I'm posting the video from the 'Homie Don't You Know Me' episode with the late Tupac Shakur in it. (damn I miss Tupac)

Chicago's Baton Show Lounge 40th Anniversary

The Baton Show Lounge has hosted one of the finest female illusionist shows in Chicago.

In honor of its 40th anniversary, I found and I'm posting some YouTube video that interviews some of the peeps there and takes you behind the scenes at the club.

Kim Possible

One of my guilty television pleasures is watching Kim, Ron, Wade, and Monique negotiate the travails of high school life while jetting around the world to fight evildoers such as Dr. Drakken, Shego, Monkey Fist, Duff Killian, Senor Senior, Sr. and Senor Senior, Jr.

Oh yeah, and it does has a catchy theme song, too.

While I have a major beef with how it was heavily promoted by Disney vis a vis The Proud Family, I still like the cartoon.



Like 'errbody' else who watched it I was happy to see lifelong friends Kim and Ron kissing each other at the prom and becoming a couple. It's been interesting to see not only how their relationship develops, but how Kim deals with her twin brothers Jim and Tim, AKA 'the tweebs' being skipped to the 9th grade and now attending Middleton High during her and Ron's senior year.

It's also nice to see supergenius Wade get out of his room (voiced by Tahj Mowry). Wade is the youngest member of Team Possible and graduated from high school and college at age 10. He also creates much of the high-tech wizardry Kim and Ron use on their missions and keeps her up to date with a constant stream of intel filtered through the computer in his room.

Monique (voiced by Raven) is Kim's best female friend. She works at Club Banana, has become its assistant manager and even convinced Kim to work there.

Monique not only keeps the jet setting Kim cognizant of the Middleton High School happenings, she gives Kim sage advice when she's sorting out various problems in her non crime fighting life. She like Wade even helps Kim and Ron on an occasional crime fighting mission sometimes as well.

Kim Possible has garnered an international following and thanks to YouTube, yours truly gets the chance to catch up on whatever episodes she's missed.

The Proud Family

You and me will always be tight
Family every single day and night
Even when you starts acting like a fool
You know I'm loving every single thing you do

I know I can always be myself
Around you more then anybody else
And every day as I'm heading off to school
You know there no one
I love as much as you

Family, a family
Proud Family
They'll make you scream
They'll make you wanna sing
Its a family thing a family
A proud proud family
Proud Family
They'll push your buttons
They'll make you wanna hug 'em
A family
A family
A proud proud family

When this cartoon premiered on Disney with the catchy theme song sung by Destiny's Child and little sis Solange Knowles, it got my attention.

Not long after I moved to Louisville Dawn and I were parked in front of the TV watching the antics of Oscar, Trudy, Penny, Suga Mama, the infant twins Bebe and Cece and Penny's friends Zoe, Dijonay, Sticky and 'frenemy' Lacienega.



Toss in Wizard Kelly owning everythang, Oscar's humorous attempts to sell the town his barf inducing Proud Snacks, The Gross Sisters jacking 'errbody' in the school for their money, Dr. Payne, rapper Sir Paid A Lot, the Boulevardez clan, Suga Mama's romantic pursuit of Papi Boulevardez, little Peabo's crush on Penny, and Penny navigating the waters of a teenager growing up, and life in Wizville, CA and at Willy T. Ribbs Jr/Sr.High was never boring

It was also cool because this was not only written as a slice of teen life from an African-American middle class perspective, it's rare that you had a cartoon that focused on African American life and our perspectives, period.

Okay, so now we have The Boondocks, but this preceded it, people.

I also loved the fact that during its four year run from September 15, 2001 to August 19, 2005 it had a long list of African-American and other entertainers doing guest appearances that ranged from Vanessa L. Williams to Samuel L. Jackson and Kobe Bryant.

But the one thing that irritated me during the show's run and since was how Kim Possible, a show that started at roughly the same time and even though I love that cartoon as well, was relentlessly pushed marketing wise with merchandise in their Disney stores and on the Disney website and The Proud Family wasn't.

I';m also mildy irritated that Kim Possible is still on the air and the Proud Family isn't as well.

Thanks to Bruce W. Smith and his Jambalaya Studios, we'll have the Proud Family around (as soon as they put all four seasons on DVD) to treasure forever.

The Hippest Trip In America

Don Cornelius getting busted last Friday in LA triggered memories about my favorite way in my teens to enjoy a Saturday besides watching my favorite cartoons.

The show was Soul Train and to me and every other African-American kid growing up in the 70's, 80's, 90's and part of the 2K's, it was Must See TV.

It was our version of American Bandstand and Don Cornelius was our Dick Clark. I tuned in to KHTV 39 at noon to see the latest dances, the latest fashions and hear the latest music.

And because I was on the wrong side of the gender fence at the time, I was also jealously envious of the sistahs on that show.




You also got to see the Soul Train Dancers forming that world famous Soul Train Line and either coolly or in some cases acrobatically moving and grooving their way down the end of it.







Some of the peeps who danced on Soul Train over the years included Rosie Perez, Carmen Electra, Nick Cannon, MC Hammer, Jermaine Stewart, Fred "Rerun" Berry, Pebbles, and NFL legend Walter Payton. Jody Watley and Jeffery Daniel danced on the show before becoming (along with Howard Hewitt) two-thirds of the group Shalamar.

It was also the place where we tuned in to see our artists (even if some of them were lip-synching to the songs).


The Commodores 1974



Chic 1978



Teena Marie 1980



Morris Day and The Time 1982



Vanity 6 1984



After a 35 year run, 1117 episodes and several guest hosts after Don Cornelius stepped down in 1993, Soul Train ended its historic run in 2006.



Wishing you love. peace and SOUL!