A Different World gets a reboot, and Scientology's influence on Beck's career

As a kid in the early 2000s, I joined a scrappy new video site called YouTube. We were girls creating content for other girls, but with our growing success came new rules from the man in charge. There was no reason to believe that anything dangerous was going on. No reason until he was taken away in handcuffs. I'm Lauren White, and from CBC's Split Screen, this is There Goes My Childhood, available now on CBC Listen, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, listen, a different world is back. From the start, it was a groundbreaking sitcom on Black American College Life. Now Netflix has revived it for a 2026 audience, but can a different world still connect? I'm Elimina Blmajmoud, and this is commotion. Kathleen Newman-Bermang is here, Seratized Black, is here, hello to both of you. Hi! I think I'm legally obligated to start the show with a little bit of this. That is the 1987 opening theme for a different world. Listen, that version is a Phoebe Stowe version, there are a bunch of different versions. I mean, the Franklin did it, season two to five, voice-demanded it in the final season. Seratized Black, I'm going to start with you and go, "Which one is your favorite version of the theme song?" Or is it the new one that we just got for this reboot? The season two onward, that's my favorite one. The Orita? Yeah, it's difficult to go anyone else but Orita, because it's Orita. Kathleen, let's talk about different world, because for people who are maybe not familiar with the original show, what was the premise and why was the show a big deal in 1987? Oh, there's so much I'm so excited for talking about this. So the original premise was it was a spin-off of the Cosby show, following Denise Huxville, played by Lisa Bonet, one of the most formative TV characters of my life, I just got to say. So she left home to go to the historically black Hillman College, which is a fictional HBCU, but Lisa Bonet left the series after getting pregnant with Zoe Kravitz. The law is crazy. So they actually wanted to write her pregnancy into the show, but Bill Cosby, who was the next executive producer, at the time he was not having it, he didn't want the show to follow a pregnant college student. He also thought it would ruin Denise's good girl image, which is just a weird take. And also there were rumors that just Lisa Bonet and Bill Cosby just didn't get along. So after she left, Debbie Allen came in as the showrunner and she focused on Whitley and Duane, played by Jasmine Guy and Kadim Hartison, and then the show really found its footing. And it became such a big deal because it was this black college coming of age show in the 80s and 90s. The first of its kind, and it tackled all these big topics like race and class and sexual assault and domestic violence, and it had groundbreaking conversations about HIV/AIDS. And it became a showcase for Black Hollywood. It introduced now icons like Calibari and Jada Pickensmith, and yeah, it was just funny and great and good and made my life. It was really like, it made a difference in enrollment and HBCU's went up. A different world is just iconic and classic. And if you haven't watched the original, you should. It was great and good in a change of life. That's, I think that's a good, good thing for us to carry forward into this conversation because it didn't really work in show. And then it's a tie we get to this, right? We get to sort of Netflix saying, we want to do a different world, but they don't want to do a revival. They want to do more of a revival than it is a reboot, right? But kind of going like, this is not like a whole bunch of new characters. There are some new characters, but also some of the original ones are back to it. You want to talk about the setting? Who do we have back for this different world? Mm-hmm. It's definitely more of a continuation, so it's interesting to like pick back up with these original characters, like some 30 odd years after they were essentially young adults, maybe children, depending on your definition of the word. We're back at Hillman, of course, and Hillman is struggling, like most educational institutions are these days. And we're centered on DeBora Wayne, who is the daughter of Dwayne and Whitley. And this whole new group of students, we have some of the original characters returning. And we see how their histories are combining, and it pains me to know that there may be situationships even in my 60s and even in my 70s. But I really do like that their history is belong in the world and are centered in this world. And I think that what the show is really about is like, how do you honor the show that, as you can clearly see from Kathleen's reaction to just talking about the impact of the show on her, like, how do you honor a show that people feel so deeply protective about and want to see those same characters, while still letting young characters have experiences in the show that speak beyond the original show as well and just like opening things up. And I think it's really interesting, like the casting and the characters they've chosen, I was really excited to see a queer character, I was really excited to see the neurodiverse character, multiple neurodiverse characters, and characters who are black who weren't necessarily black American. I think that's an experience we don't get to see on screen a lot. And I think that's where the work of a revival comes in. >> Yeah, I'm deeply regretful that a show has informed you that there are still situations into your succeed. That is still continues to be I think that exists. I just want to give people a taste of what they're expecting the show, so here's a bit of the trailer. >> Welcome to Hill, the pre-imminent HBCU in the country. >> The Blackness, the Blackness. >> Baby, why are you here? >> My parents have been wishing home since before they knew my name. >> I just want to prove to them, I can question. >> I ain't coming this far, just to come this far. >> You didn't get in anywhere else, did you? >> Mom, this is my roommate, Rashida. >> I wear you from, Compton, watch her, nah. >> Kathleen, this is the show that you said is great and good to change your life and now it's back. >> So tell you, what do you like about the revival? >> There's so much of it that I like and I was worried. I think with any revival you worry that it's not going to honor the original, but for all the reasons Sarah Ty said. And also, the nostalgia is strong. I watched, because I'm so young, I'm mostly watching the different world through reruns. And then I went back and watched the whole thing when I was in university. And this really captures the spirit of it. It's goofy and fun while also taking these young people, taking what they're going through very seriously. And it also doesn't shy away from critiquing Hillman as an institution, speaking to some of the real issues facing HBCU's now. I love the cast, I laughed a lot. I also love, and this is something that was pointed out by the writer in the Guardian, that this is a show that imagines black characters in the future. And how often do we get that? How often do we get to see black characters grow into adults who realize their dreams, they have kids who carry on their legacies, they continue to have situationships? I just loved seeing those OG characters and the callbacks, but also it felt fresh and fun. And it's a really good snapshot of, I think, what young black kids are figuring out in their lives today. I just feel like it's important to go back and highlight that you just kind of slipped it in because I'm so young. You might have missed it. I just want to let you know, I called you. Sarah Ty, I heard about you. What about the show? I was working for you. Listen, all my dads are here. Joe Morton's here. Joe Morton's here, blowing everyone else out of the water in like a one-to-two episode brief appearance. And I'm just really about to see. Please. Oh my God. Baby, please. I'm just so glad to see our elder Black Thespians, who aren't like Blackpuster Star. Blackpuster Star is like Denzel or whoever, just celebrated and working and having a continued character life on screen. And I think what I really enjoyed about the show is that rooting in Dennis Selgin, the character callbacks. I think it struggles a bit in the first half of the season to kind of integrate the older generation with the newer generation. But it finds its footing and it finds its identity in a bit more ease in the last half of the season. And it feels more natural and at home with itself. And it feels like it's settling into a multi-camera format also, which can sometimes feel soapy, but I think by the end, it really grows into itself and the comedy improves. And again, the amount of situations really stresses me out. It feels very insecure junior in a good way, in a good way, in a good way, in a good way. It's a cure junior complimentary. That's actually like a, that is a, that is a, that is a nice thing to say on a show. I'm like, I'm like, oh, you're too young for insecure. Here you go. Oh, first of all, the idea of someone being too young for insecure stresses me out and never speak of that ever again. But let's talk about the characters for a moment, Kathleen, because you guys mentioned in Duane, Winston Whitley, Freddie Brooks is back, played by Canada's own crease summer. But let's talk about some of the new characters also, DeBora, who is the daughter of Duane and Whitley. Any characters that you find yourself going like, I am rooting for you. I'm on board with this, where this journey is going. DeBora definitely, she's played by Tony Award winner, Amelia Joy Mune. And she is so good and she's got that rebellious spirit that I feel like Denise would have had if they let that character be who she could have been. I was rooting for her. I was also rooting for Shaqiel. I might get some hang of for this, but I was also rooting for Shaqiel. of Ron, may my name be your name. because he's one of the finest men. This is Cornell, Young, the fourth. He's one of the finest men I've ever seen in my life, like distracting Lenny Handsome. And you know I'm going to cling to the romance in any story. So I really had a hollyberry son must also be the most beautiful person. Thank you, exactly, correct, which was correct. And I just, yeah, I'm sorry, I'm down bad for him. I also love Khojo. Aside from his accent, I love Khojo and Rashida. And Rashida's played by the real-life daughter of Toshina Arnold. I was rooting for Amir as well, the queer character. I thought he showed the evolution of the series really well and why this reboot should exist. And these are just like kids figuring out their sexuality in real time. They're making mistakes. They're finding their voices activist, which is just what you do in college. I was rooting for everybody, I'm rooting for everybody black. [LAUGHTER] That's always, even Dave. OK, maybe not Dave, not Dave. Well, but the Republican. There was a thing happening, though, when you mentioned a character being like, I'm really, really good for this character. And Sarah Ty, you know Sarah Ty is good for coming through and going, wow, really even that person. This is the mess-- this is the mess you're willing to endure. They're always getting checked, mate. Sarah Ty's always going to check. Yeah, on national radio, I love this for you. I love this is the place where you get checked. Sarah Ty, I think like, Kathleen referred to earlier, but like part of the thing that made a different world such a significant show is that it was not afraid to tackle the real world. It was not afraid to tackle the real world. And like really serious things are happening in the real world. And talk about sexism and talk about racism and talk about the AIDS epidemic and also talk about the stigma that followed. And like, there is-- that's a legacy for a show that feels very difficult to broach. If you're going to bring a show into 2026, how does a revival sort of handle that part of a different world's legacy? Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about how teenagers who are growing into young adults like don't have a lot of media for them. Like the three of us grew up in a very spoiled generation. We had that huge wave of 2000s black television to grow up on that was specifically centered at teenagers and young adults. And I'm worried about the children growing up on Discord. I can't lie to you. So I'm grateful for the way that it tackles the issues it does. It's very much like those landmark episodes of not just a different world, but black media in general, like fresh prints. You think of those landmark episodes that deal with difficult topics such as race and class and gender because they are important. And even if there is a bit of an after-school special vibe, maybe that is for people who are watching this after school. You know, it may be a bit too easy. It may be a bit heavy-handed or overly sentimental. But and it's not meeting any that I have personally, but I can see it doing so for younger audiences for whom these ideas and ways of thinking are new. I love the sia of Cree Summer just like bell-hooksing every episode. Let's radicalize the kids. Let's radicalize it. And I think especially in contemporary era, like a lot of black media with huge network support or platform support like Netflix, we haven't seen a lot of diversity on screen within the representations of blackness. We haven't seen a lot of queerness. We haven't seen a lot of conversations around class, at least not in this like intermingled way. So I'm glad to see it here. It does feel like an answer or a continuation to that, you know, Lisa Benake and B. Pregnant, but not Claire Huxble. Like I think Claire Huxble could be pregnant on this show. Hmm. That first of all, that's a significant change. That's a significant alteration, but also that normalize bell-hooksing as a verb, I want to see that in every part of me. I will say that like there's all of this lovely positive energy about the return of a different world, but also actor Desmond Guy, who plays Whitley. She's received some really nasty online attacks about her age and appearance. Desmond posted a written response to her Instagram recently. I just want to read you a bit of what she said. She said, quote, the internet can be brutal to women as we grow older. It asks us to celebrate life while criticizing every sign that we've lived it. It went on to say, let's spend less time judging ourselves at each other and more time loving each other and making memories and living the life we're here to live. Kathleen, what do you make of the response to Desmond Guy and also the way that she handled it? This makes me so mad. I saw the discourse before I had watched the series. And honestly, it shouldn't matter if Desmond Guy did look older than she is, or if she had, quote, unquote, aged poorly, whatever that means. That still shouldn't give people the right or the audacity to speak on her looks like this. But the fact is she looks amazing. She's 64 years old. She looks like a stunning woman of her age. She's thin. She's probably worked very hard and had worked done to look like that. And she still is getting this black. Like she still can't win, even though she fits the mold of conventional beauty standards. Let black women age. Everyone is so caught up in black don't crack. You have to look 25 at 65. And it's a dangerous, frustrating mentality. Aging is a gift and making it to 64 years old. As a black woman in America is a damn near miracle. So what you're not going to do is fix your Twitter fingers to say something negative about one of the greatest living sitcom actresses of all time, where you're not going to do is perpetuate the societal pressure that's placed on women that we are not allowed to age. Jasmine Guy saw those messages and had to release that statement, which is elegant and nicer than I would have been. She had to do that and that is heartbreaking. But this is bigger than her. This is also about all of us who are watching those takes and internalizing that shame. And what no one is talking about is how Kadeem Harterson also has visibly aged. Where is that conversation? This discourse is sexist and gross. And it's anti black, anti black women. And y'all better wrap it up. By end of day, you start, I don't want to hear this anymore. We're done. We're done. I appreciate the timeline. Like, bye, roughly here. Let's stop all this time. We're done. It's just like, I guess, me very worked up because it's so frustrating to just be an older black woman who looks like she does and you're still getting the flat. It's just-- [SIGHS] So Ty, I want to close on this. I want to close on this note, the idea that when a different world debuted back in 1987, we didn't have a lot of black coming of age stories on television. It was the only show that was doing black college experience at the time. We have since had a bunch of those shows, like BET has done a bunch of them. Dear white people, you mentioned insecure earlier. You said this feels a bit insecure, junior. There's bringing back gets to life. There is a broader spectrum of black coming of age stories. In that universe, it's kind of real briefly here. How do you think a different life sort of holds up now that there's a whole bunch of other shows that are offering something similar here? I think it's-- I was thinking about this while I was watching it, and I was specifically thinking about all the programming on BET that came out in the wake of insecure in Atlanta and this kind of black television runnestones we had in the last decade. And so it's tough to tell. It's really tough to tell. And I think that it's interesting to see the kind of topics that we saw in things like Brea Mac gets a life on this larger scale. And I think what this show specifically gives us that maybe other shows doesn't is that intergenerational aspect. I'd really like to reflect Kathleen's comments. I think aging is a gift. I think it's not a moral failure. It's something we can all learn from. And I think to have a show about the black experience without the wisdom and even the mess-ups of our elders is a oversight. So I always enjoy something that's more intergenerational on scope. I think that's the perfect place to leave it. I really appreciate your time, you guys. This has been wonderful. Thanks again. Thank you. Of course. Good to see you guys. Kathleen Newman-Bermang is a director of entertainment at Refinery29. Sarah Ty Black is a film critic in Toronto. You can find their work at the Global Mail, CBC Arts, and right here on commotion. You can watch that brand new, a different world right now on Netflix. In a world where the news feels bigger, louder, and harder to make sense of, Canadians need more than headlines. Hi, I'm Karen C. Oden, news reporter and host to the Big Story podcast from world shaping events to the everyday stories that spark debate. My team and I will explain what matters and why it matters to you. We're here to help you make sense of the news and give you the context you need for those kitchen table conversations. Trusted, Canadian-focused, curious. Listen to the Big Story wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ You got to lie ♪ That is a bit of brand new music from Beck. That is a title track of his new record, "Ride Lonesome." Man, that is my favorite gear, a Beck. That's the thing that Beck does that I enjoy the most. That's sort of like quieter, singer, songwriter, you guy. Ride Lonesome, however, is not the only reason that Beck is in the news right now. This week, we got an unauthorized biography called "The Last Demptation of Beck" with the untold story of a pop messiah. Mark Masters is here to tell us why the book has already generated a fair bit of controversy. Mark is good to see. How's it going? Great, how are you doing? Pretty good, man. This book says it's giving us Beck's untold story, quite unquote. What are we getting here exactly? Well, there's a lot of different untold stories with Beck. Their stories of his relationships, their stories of the way he mixes music, the way he came up. But the biggest thing is, of course, Scientology. And to be honest, when I first got a copy of this book, I was like, I wonder if they even talk about it because it's such a hot topic. But not only does Josephine talk about it, it's main thrust of the book, really, is his relationship to Scientology and how deep it goes. I mean, he grew up within the church. His parents were both part of the church. He went to a school that was owned by the church. And it's shaped a lot of who he is. He has kind of an ambivalent relationship to it, but he's admitted he's part of it at times. And he's spoken positively about it at times. And there's just a lot of things that happen to him and that he did two and with people that have something to do with Scientology. I'm conscious of the fact that there will be people listening to this conversation going. Actually, I didn't know that Beck had a relationship with Scientology whatsoever. I think that is sort of an under-talked about part of Beck because I do think like he's a person in life where the most part stays out of the press. This book is written by a journalist named Josephine Riceman who you interviewed for your music book podcast. What can you tell us about why she wanted to write this book? Well, she was growing up the Big Beck fan and she often thought about writing a book about him. She loved midnight vultures, that album. She wanted to write a book about that but she just couldn't really find a story there. And then through a coincidence of someone she knew outside of this whole situation, mentioned something to her about back about knowing him and some things about a story. And she started pursuing that and she started realizing there is quite a story here with him about, like you say, a lot of people don't know he's part of Scientology because that's his general persona is he doesn't talk a ton about himself. Yeah. And so she realized while there are a lot of stories here that we haven't heard from him because he's somewhat reticent, I don't necessarily think it's just because of Scientology, that's kind of his personality. Yeah. But through the book we find out that, you know, that that's the personality was shaped by all parts of his background and upbringing. It always comes up, people go like, wait, I'm a loser baby guy? Wait, the E-Pro guy? That guy. I can also imagine like some people are going to listen to this in some fans particularly back where we'll listen and see that the timing of this book coming kind of alongside a brand new back album, they might read that as like kind of opportunistic, right? They might sort of get like the book's legitimacy, it becomes question because of that comes question because of some of the anonymous sources. What do you say to those criticisms that people might level at the book? Well, I mean, and a lot of people don't know this who aren't involved in books, but books take a long time to write. And she started writing this in 2022. So I don't think even Beck knew that he would have an album coming out now. So I think it's mostly just the coincidence. Now, I mean, maybe the publisher coordinated a little bit once they knew his, but certainly the thrust of the book isn't look at him now that your people are talking about him again. In fact, it's just sort of a happy coincidence for the author that she did have to kind of convince the publisher that he's still relevant enough for a biography to come out. You know, because I mean, he's been up and down in terms of his recognition and popularity. Yeah, there's something consistent about Beck and that like he's always pretty out albums. It's a matter of like whether people are paying attention or not, and that absolutely goes in raves. The last week of portion of the last temptation of Beck was published in Vulture. And that excerpt got a lot of people talking mostly because it was a story behind this album. Mark, you're a fan of this record and we came out a lot of people thought, okay, this is a song that is a breakup. It's about his breakup with his fiancee who allegedly cheated on him. That was a story. They sort of got spread across media and became a part of how people talk, I think, about that record. This new book tells us actually the story is a little bit different. What do we learn about this record? Oh, yeah. And then Vulture excerpt goes into this in detail. Based on the sources that Josephine talked to, he broke up with her essentially thinking that she had cheated on him, but apparently from what she can find that that didn't happen. And it sounds like it was relatively motivated by the church coming back into his life right around this point. And basically having him tell her you need to break up with her, you need to have her sign these papers saying that she's breaking up with you. It's a very kind of strange scene, but quite well sourced from what I can tell, but so, you know, it's very likely that this is what happened. And it's definitely a big dramatic thing. Does that change your reading of that record? Like the fact that we learn all of this stuff now? That's interesting. For me personally, it doesn't because I came to that record before I knew what it was about. And I just found it a very powerful record about loss and life. And I mean, even though mutations had been kind of on that track, it was the first record where he sounded like sad, depressed, withdrawn in his vocals and his lyrics. And I just felt as very universal. So for me personally, the story behind it, changing doesn't matter a lot. I still think it's really a powerful record. If that's what you came to the record with, maybe you will hear it differently. And maybe you'll think, oh, he's not completely the victim in the situation. But I still don't think that it changes the pattern. The music, he makes universal music when he's really good. And it doesn't matter what happened behind it. Look, I do think anyone reading that Vulture excerpt would walk away with the impression of being like, I don't know, like a Beck is maybe not the nice guy that he presents himself to be because he kind of has this like reputation of being like, just a nice guy who writes some songs and the songs really connect, you know, and you read that excerpt and go, maybe I have a different impression of him. But also, like you say, this book is not really a take down expose. So what are the more sympathetic qualities of Beck that come through in Josephine's writing, you think? Well, I think especially his background, as a child growing up in church of Scientology and schools that were owned by them, he, you know, he was, there's some indoctrination happening with him that anybody would have trouble shrugging off. I'm sure. And there even seems to have been a little bit of possible abuse. And Scientology has this outlook on children that they're sort of responsible for what happens to him or to kids, you know, and so he might have even internalized that too. There's also a part of Scientology that teaches the kids if you're in a conflict, kind of shut down. And a lot of people have said about Beck, they'll be talking to him and he'll just sort of stop responding. And the connection there seems pretty strong. So, you know, and I'm sure there's some people in his life who are like, this guy was a bad guy to me, and I wouldn't want to invalidate that. But I feel like Josephine gives a pretty balanced look at him in terms of how, you know, he's got free will, he can do what he wants, he's done some bad things. But we have to look at the whole picture and realize where some of this might have come from. And some people have had, you know, have come out of Scientology much worse than Beck did. So, there are some, there are some positive things about him. I think you, you know, ultimately he's tried to be a good person, but some things have gotten away. Would listen, first of all, try to be a good person of the fantasy. Some things got in the way, I do think you hear some of that in the music. I think that is some of the stuff that he's actually working through musically. But also, I was having this experience of, I read the the Vulture excerpt right after I listened to the album. So, like, I listened to the album first, and then I read that excerpt. And I did have this sense of like, oh, I'm listening to a complicated person. I'm like, the way that I feel about the record, I really enjoyed the songs with that record. You get a deeper and more complicated image of that person. And sometimes that's just a thing for all of us to sit with, you know. I really appreciate your time, Mark. Thank you so much for being here, man. Well, thanks so much for having me. Great to talk to you. Of course. It's been wonderful. Mark Masters is a music journalist and host of the musical podcast. He was on Tucson, Arizona. The last temptation of Beck, the untold story of a pop messiah is out now. And Beck is currently touring North America. He plays Massey Hall in Toronto on October 14th and 15th. That's it for the show today. My name is Alamine Alba Mahmoud. This show is called "Cobocean." We'll be back tomorrow. We'll see you then. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca/podcasts.