Yes, the 1980s/1990 series which (slightly problematically these days) was created by Bill Cosby as a spin-off of his own show, is getting the follow-up treatment with a new series.
What’s the story of ‘A Different World?
(L to R) Dawnn Lewis, Lisa Bonet and Marisa Tomei in ‘A Different World’. Photo: Carsey-Werner Productions.
‘A Different World’ followed –– at least initially –– Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and her new classmates at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college.
The retooled second season continued to follow the students’ lives, with the love story between Guy’s Whitley Gilbert and Hardison’s Dwayne Wayne at the center.
Dwayne, famous for his glasses that flipped up, finally married on it in the Season 5 episode “Save the Best For Last.” Though Whitley was adamant she didn’t want children, she discovers she’s pregnant in “When One Door Closes,” the penultimate episode of the series, and everyone is elated. However, things get somber when Dwayne reveals he’s accepted a job in Japan where he and his wife will raise their family — a truly different world.
Fun fact: Meg Ryan was originally cast as Denise’s roommate in Season One, but opted to pursue her film career, with Marisa Tomei taking her place.
Meg Ryan in Bleecker Street’s ‘What Happens Later.’ Credit: Bleecker Street.
What story will the new show follow?
The sequel will reportedly focus on the couple’s youngest daughter, who is now also attending Hillman.
While casting is yet to begin officially, the producers have reportedly reached out to original cast members regarding interest and availability, and it seems (though Netflix has yet to comment officially) that at least a few of them will return in some capacity.
Felicia Pride, who wrote on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and more recently was a producer on ‘Bel-Air’ is aboard to oversee the writing on the show, with the original producing team involved.
When will the ‘A Different World’ series land on Netflix?
Don’t get too excited just yet –– versions of this new series have been in the offing for years with little forward movement. But with Netflix backing it, we can surely assume that the latest effort will make it to the company’s servers.
(L to R) Leah Sava Jeffries, Walker Scobell and Aryan Simhadri discuss Disney+’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri about their work on the series, Annabeth and Percy’s relationship, Percy’s friendship with Grover, the novels the series is based on, and what fans will think of the new show.
(R to L) ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover. Photo: Disney.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Scobell, Jeffries and Simhadri, as well as executive producers Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz.
Moviefone: To begin with, Walker, what has it been like for you playing the iconic role of Percy Jackson in this new series?
Walker Scobell: I’m very excited and at the same time, I’m a little nervous. I don’t know what people are going to think and I hope they like it.
Leah Jeffries in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.
MF: Leah, can you talk about the relationship between Annabeth and Percy? How would you describe it in your own words?
Leah Sava Jeffries: I feel in this first book, it went from stranger enemies, basically. I feel they were already enemies before they even knew each other. It was like when I first saw him, I was like, “You’re already getting on my nerves.” That’s how Annabeth kind of was though. It was always like, “Are you going to keep talking or are we going to go on the quest now?” It was very much like that, and I felt at the end, going into the second book, that’s when it starts to build into a friendship, and that’s what it was like when we were filming. But TV shows aren’t really filmed all together in unison. Sometimes we film episode eight, and then sometimes we go all the way back to one. So, when we had to film it, we had to change very quickly. So, at the end, it was a little bit closer than the next day. They’re like, “Okay, we’re going all day back to episode three.” Then I’m like, “Can you shut up please?” Then I go all the way back down to, “You’re not so bad.” So, it definitely builds though, but that’s basically how it is.
Aryan Simhadri in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.
MW: Aryan, can you talk about Percy and Grover’s friendship and how that is depicted in this series?
Aryan Simhadri: Grover plays a lot of different roles when it comes to helping Percy adjust. He helps him adjust to real human life. It’s hard to imagine someone who’s not human, who ages twice as slow can help someone who is human. But I think Grover is a very emotional character. He has a very deep understanding of how people are feeling around him, and I think that’s what helps Percy on both sides of the mist, I guess.
Walker Scobell in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.
MF: Walker, do you think fans of the books will enjoy the new series?
WS: I really hope they’ll like it. I think we’ve given them everything they need to like it. It’s very faithful to the books, which I think is very important for this, but I really hope they like it. I don’t know though. Hopefully. I think they will.
Leah Jeffries in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.
MF: Leah, had you read the books before shooting the series, and what do you think about the direction the show is taking the source material?
LSJ: Yes, I did read the books, and I was familiar with them before I had got the part. I also had watched the movie a lot. When I do auditions, they always tell me what the name is. When they first told me they were like, “For Percy Jackson.” I was like, “Wait, they’re making it again?” I was like, “Is it a remake or something?” At first, I didn’t know if it was a series or if it was a movie, so I was like, “Wait a minute, what’s happening here?”
(R to L) ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover. Photo: Disney.
MF: Finally, Leah, do you think the series gives you more time to explore these characters than a film would?
LSJ: Yeah, it does because trying to fit everything into a two-hour movie, and then say you’re trying to fit everything into an eight-hour-long series if you try to watch it all together, it’s a difference. But I think they are two different types of details that make up the same thing, basically.
Walker Scobell in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.
What is the plot of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’?
12-year-old demigod Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) is accused by the Greek god Zeus of stealing his thunderbolt.
Who is in the cast of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’?
Premiering on Hulu beginning November 1st is the new series ‘Black Cake,’ which is based on the popular novel by author Charmaine Wilkerson and was created by Marissa Jo Cerar (‘The Handmaid’s Tale’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with series creator Marissa Jo Cerar about her work on ‘Black Cake,’ adapting the novel, discovering family secrets, working in the writer’s room, casting, collaborating with directors, and her responsibilities as a showrunner.
(L to R) ‘Black Cake’ director Natalia Leite, Executive Producer and Showrunner Marissa Jo Cerar and Byron (Ashley Thomas). Photo: James Van Evers/Hulu.
You can watch the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about adapting the novel for this series?
Marissa Jo Cerar: When I read it, I just immediately saw it. That’s why I had to do it because it just spoke to me and I saw the series, I saw the structure. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I took the book; I read it fifty times and then wrote a pitch. The way I wanted to structure it, make it non-linear and have different characters points of view, and returning to the night of the murder multiple times. So, it spoke to me, I think. It wasn’t challenging to map that out and get the bible done. Then once we sold it and had to staff the writer’s room to write episodes two through eight, it was presenting them with all the things that I had done and then coming in with new voices, new stories and new perspectives, and how to expand all of that and add all the details and the texture to the map that I had created for everybody. The map that I had created, in addition to the book that existed.
MF: What was the process like for you in the writer’s room working with the other writers to complete the scripts?
MJC: I do a lot of prep for the writer’s room because I’ve been a writer in so many other rooms before I got my own show. So, I’ve learned what I think works best. For me, it’s just coming in with as much work as done as you can and then making it deeper, richer, more exciting, more surprising, and more interesting. Then bringing these new voices of people who have new perspectives and walk different paths than you. I tell them, “I don’t want you just to agree with me”, or to say, “This is great because I did it.” That’s a complete waste of time. Let’s just be honest and respectful, obviously, because it can break your heart when people tell you that what you’ve just worked so hard on for months is not good. But it’s just being as honest as possible with all of us having the same goal, make an amazing series with great characters.
Mia Isaac in ‘Black Cake.’ Photo: James Van Evers/Hulu.
MF: Did you already have certain actors in mind during the writing process?
MJC: I didn’t. For Benny, I absolutely did because I was working on my first show, ‘Women of the Movement’ with Adrienne Warren. She was starring in it, so I was hearing her because I was literally hearing her on set every day and working with her, and then editing and seeing her every day. So, I heard her as Benny, and I just thought it would be an amazing different kind of character that she hasn’t played before. So, I heard her. Then everybody else, they came on screen, and I suddenly saw them. Like Mia Isaac who plays Covey. Covey was born when I looked on my computer screen and saw her casting tape. I was like, “Okay, Covey was born.” When I saw Ashley Thomas who plays Byron, when I met him for the first time on Zoom, I was like, “Oh, you are Byron.” Nobody else is Byron. So, it gradually happened through these magical actors who just brought it and they showed us things that we didn’t even know existed, and they really brought these characters to life.
MF: Can you talk about the symbolism of the Black Cake in the series?
MJC: As it was in the book, it’s this marriage of cultures. The colonizers brought it to the islands and then it was adapted for the people of that community, and they made it their own. ‘Black Cake,’ the series, it’s all these characters and these cultures from all over the world, from multiple timelines, all coming together to tell the story, which all begins in Jamaica. They’re all connected by this one character, and the event of the murder is the big turning point, but they don’t know it fifty-six years later that it was a turning point in their lives too, until they hear Eleanor reflecting on it as she’s dying to find out who she is. So, it’s really about the marriage of cultures and how we’re all connected.
(L to R) Benny (Adrienne Warren) and Byron (Ashley Thomas) in ‘Black Cake.’ Photo: James Van Evers/Hulu.
MF: Byron and Benny learn some shocking secrets about their family, was that difficult for you to imagine as a writer?
MJC: I couldn’t, and that’s why we talked about it a lot and we wanted to be truthful in that portrayal. This is an earth-shaking discovery by these adult siblings, that you find out you’ve been living your life a certain way and suddenly you find out that it was a lie. “My mom was not telling me all this stuff that happened to her, who she was before she was my mom? She was lying. We thought she was an orphan. She wasn’t an orphan.” I can’t imagine it. I wanted to make sure we capture that with Byron and Benny’s relationship and their scenes because to feel honest, like a truthful portrayal of this discovery, it’s not something you’ve just learned. You’re like, “Okay, let’s listen to these recordings and figure it out.” You’re like, “Wait, I don’t know if I can listen right now.” Then you listen a little bit and you’re like, “I can’t, I have to stop”, because it’s too much and you don’t know what it means. They must take a full journey. Season one is just the beginning of that journey for them.
MF: Can you talk about your responsibilities as a showrunner and what that entails?
MJC: Everything. It’s hard to explain. I try to explain to my parents what my job is, and it depends where we are. In the beginning stages, this was a book that I read, and I brought to the studio where I have a deal, Capital Entertainment, and I said, “I want this to be my next project.” So, then we take it out. It wasn’t like it was sent to me like, “Hey, what’s your take, your pitch?” It was like, “No, let’s take this out.” So, at that point, it’s like, “Okay, crafting an amazing pitch.” Then when you sell it, and I write my script. I staff a writer’s room. So, staffing a room, reading dozens and dozens of scripts, finding the people to fill up the room and tell the story. I’d already had a Bible written before I staffed the room. Then it’s in the writer’s room every day, breaking the stories, reading the outlines, writing them, and rewriting them. Then when you’re casting, it’s doing all of that and casting at the same time. Watching casting tapes, sending your selects. Then when you’re in pre-production and scouting locations, hiring costume designers and production designers. Then it’s filming, and you’re on set. Usually my experience, this is my second show as showrunner, it’s writing, filming, and editing all at the same time and casting all at the same time, because you’re still casting later episodes when you’re filming the early episodes. So, it is me approving, meeting, adjusting, and rewriting for several reasons at the last minute because we lost a location, or an actor dropped out and can’t be in this episode. So, we must rewrite the episode. It’s everything. Being a showrunner, it’s being the creative last word before you deliver a script and outline an episode to the studio, the production company, and the network.
(L to R) ‘Black Cake’ director Natalia Leite and executive producer and Showrunner Marissa Jo Cerar. Photo: James Van Evers/Hulu.
MF: Finally, can you talk about collaborating with series directors?
MJC: On television, sometimes the director does all the episodes. Sometimes you only have two. We had four. It’s just making sure it’s a collaboration. But so much work is done before the director. In this instance, before the directors come on, because writing all the episodes, breaking all the story, there was a book. It’s just making sure you’re creatively on the same wavelength and tonally, you understand it’s the type of show that you both want to make. Then when the director is on set and running set, it’s just having communication that works for both of you and never stepping into their role. It’s a delicate dance and it’s a case-by-case basis. But I just like working and collaborating with people. We just want to make something cool and great, and I also want people to show me a new idea, something I didn’t think of. A writer, a director, an editor, a composer. That’s the beauty of doing television. It’s so collaborative. They are running the ship. They are, but in TV, it’s still a little different with the showrunner because we’re with the episodes for long after the directors are.
Chipo Chung in ‘Black Cake.’ Photo: Beth Dubber/Hulu.
What is the plot of ‘Black Cake’?
In the late 1960s, a runaway bride named Covey (Mia Isaac) disappears into the surf off the coast of Jamaica and is feared drowned or a fugitive on the run for her husband’s murder. Fifty years later in California, a widow named Eleanor Bennett (Chipo Chung), loses her battle with cancer, leaving her two estranged children, Byron (Ashley Thomas) and Benny (Lashay Anderson), a flash drive that holds previously untold stories of her journey from the Caribbean to America. These stories, narrated by Eleanor, shock her children and challenge everything they thought they knew about their family’s origin.
Sometimes, movies just can’t contain the story when it comes to a novel series adaptation. Such appeared to be the case when 20th Century Fox (in its pre-Disney days) released two films based on Rick Riordan’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ books.
Even with Chris Columbus –– who had helped launch the hugely successful ‘Harry Potter’ film franchise –– at the helm of the first, the movies didn’t deliver the way studios and fans had hoped for, and the on-screen version only managed two entries: 2010’s ‘The Lightning Thief’ and 2013’s ‘Sea of Monsters’ (directed by Thor Freudenthal).
Hopes are higher for the TV version which, thanks to Disney buying Fox, finds itself on Disney+, with the sort of budget and, potentially, running time that fans are hoping can do justice to the stories.
Of course, it’ll still have to connect with wider audiences to avoid the creeping trend for streaming services that wipe unsuccessful shows from their servers after a season or two, which is something that has happened with Disney+ as much as any other.
What’s the story of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’?
Walker Scobell in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.
The new show tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell of ‘The Adam Project’), who’s just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god Zeus (the late Lance Reddick who died shortly after the season wrapped) accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt.
With help from his friends Grover (Aryan Simhadri) and Annabeth (Leah Jeffries), Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.
Who else stars in ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’?
(R to L) ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover. Photo: Disney.
Walker Scobell in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.
Riordan, who is serving as an executive producer and head writer on the show, seems confident in the new version.
Here’s what he told Entertainment Weekly (in an interview conducted before the start of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes) about the process of bringing the series to life:
“We have been involved in the series since its inception, since the very, very earliest conversations about what a new Percy adaptation might look like, how it would be sketched out, whether it would be episodic. So, I feel comfortable telling fans of the books who have been waiting — in some cases, decades — for this kind of faithful adaptation, that this is the one you’ve been waiting for. We are involved and I think you’re gonna love it.”
‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ launches with its first two (of eight) episodes on Disney+ on December 20th.
Walker Scobell in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.(L to R) ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, and Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth. Photo: Disney.Leah Jeffries in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.Leah Jeffries in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.Aryan Simhadri in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.Aryan Simhadri in ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians.’ Photo: Disney/David Bukach.(R to L) ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ stars Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, and Aryan Simhadri as Grover. Photo: Disney.
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The film is loosely based on the true story of a quartet of octogenarians from Massachusetts who become obsessed with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. In the film (not in real life), the ladies decide to take a road trip to Super Bowl LI to finally see Brady play in person, which results in an unforgettable weekend for the four lifelong friends.
The result is a fun but predictable movie that is basically just a commercial for the NFL and Tom Brady’s legacy. However, the weak script, familiar jokes and corny dialogue is transcended by the four fabulous lead characters and the wonderful performances from the legendary actress playing them.
Full disclosure: I’m from Massachusetts. My mother still lives there, she is over 80, and is a diehard Patriots fan. So, it goes without saying that I was already predisposed to like this movie since all four of the main characters, in one way or another, remind me of my mom. While I definitely had some issues with the script and the ridiculousness of the third act, the film is still very enjoyable, mostly because of the lead actresses.
(L to R) Jane Fonda plays Trish, Sally Field plays Betty, Lily Tomlin plays Lou, and Rita Moreno plays Maura in ’80 For Brady’ from Paramount Pictures.
Of the four main actresses, Lily Tomlin is really the lead, playing Lou, the catalyst for the friends becoming such Brady fans. Tomlin, a legendary comedian in her own right, handles the comedy well, as you would expect, but is really impressive in her dramatic scenes, in particular one with Brady himself.
In fact, all four actress were cast extremely well and play relatable characters. Jane Fonda plays Trish, an author of Rob Gronkowski fan-fiction who is desperately trying to hold on to her youth and beauty. Sally Field plays Betty, a book smart former professor, who still loves her husband (Bob Balaban) but is looking for a little excitement in her life. Finally there is Maura, played by Rita Moreno. She is the oldest of the friends, a widow who misses her late husband, and a bit of a hustler living in a retirement home.
In a movie like this, you could easily see one or two of the actresses getting more screentime than the others, but luckily that is not the case. Each actress has more than a few moments to shine on their own, and all of their characters are fleshed out extremely well. Fonda and Tomlin have worked together before in ‘Nine to Five’ and the Netflix series ‘Grace and Frankie,’ and as you expect, have great chemistry together. But I was also impressed with how much chemistry they both had with Field and Moreno. You really get the feeling that these four women have been friends for a long time.
While the characters are well-defined and their backstories well fleshed out, it’s the familiar attempts at humor and ridiculous third act plot points that hurt the film in my opinion. For example, the ladies attend a Super Bowl party where they are given Gummy Bears, which of course they don’t know are laced with THC. This leads to the characters being high, and getting into silly situations that are extremely predictable, like Maura wondering into a celebrity Poker game.
(L to R) Sally Field as Betty and Lily Tomlin as Lou in ’80 For Brady’ from Paramount Pictures.
Another predictable plot point is when the characters, of course, lose their Super Bowl tickets the day before the game. In fact, this is so predictable that you want to yell at the screen because you can actually see them losing the tickets long before the characters realize it, telegraphing for the audience what the next conflict will be.
Which brings me to my biggest issue with the film, which is that once they get to the Super Bowl, it’s all fantasy. What I mean by that is almost nothing that happens at the Super Bowl could happen in real life. No one can get into a Super Bowl without tickets, the security is just too much, so the idea that these four octogenarians could ultimately find their way in without tickets is just laughable.
But the most ridiculous, over-the-top moment of the film comes during the halftime of Super Bowl LI. Football fans will remember that the Patriots were losing to the Atlanta Falcons 21-3 at halftime, and mounted an unforgettable comeback that took them into overtime eventually winning 34-28. Without giving too much away, the movie would have you believe that it was Lou that inspired Tom Brady’s legendary comeback.
Now, while that is a nice idea for the movie, this is a film supposedly set in reality. It doesn’t take place in the Multiverse as far as I know, it takes place in our world where Tom Brady and the NFL really exists. So, the idea that four 80-year-old women could get access to the star quarterback during halftime was so far beyond any reality I could comprehend, that it took me completely out of the movie.
(L to R) Lily Tomlin plays Lou with Producer Tom Brady in ’80 For Brady’ from Paramount Pictures.
For Brady fans wondering if he just has a cameo in the film, I’m happy to say no, his role is surprisingly larger than that. While he is definitely in a supporting role, he pops up throughout the film, both as himself, and also as himself in Lou’s imagination. Brady gives a strong performance, even if he is just playing himself, and is surprisingly good in his emotional scenes with Tomlin. But it is no surprise to me why Brady would want to make this movie, where he also serves as a producer, because the entire film is one giant ego stroke for the GOAT.
The NFL, which famously doesn’t allow its brand to appear in just any movie, ask Oliver Stone about ‘Any Given Sunday,’ clearly was on board with this production. In fact, a large part of the second act takes place at the NFL Super Bowl Experience, and at times seems more like a commercial for the NFL than a narrative movie. The NFL also (presumably) allowed the film to use footage from Super Bowl LI to recreate the game, which works surprisingly well and is still engaging, even though the audience already knows the outcome.
In the end, ’80 for Brady’ is a fun movie that NFL and Patriots fans will enjoy, and my mom and her friends will love! While the film at times loses any sense of reality and slips into pure fantasy, and has more than its share of script issues and NFL propaganda, it’s funny and works thanks to the talent of Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Rita Moreno.
(L to R) Rita Moreno plays Maura, Jane Fonda plays Trish, Sally Field plays Betty, and Lily Tomlin plays Lou in ’80 For Brady’ from Paramount Pictures.
