Since its inception, ABC’s Black-ish series garnered comparisons to something of a modern-day Cosby Show and naturally, its spin-off Grown-ish, in which daughter Zoey (Yara Shahidi) goes off to college has drawn lines of comparison to Cosby Show spin-off A Different World in which daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet) does the same.
Looks like the creators are hip to the connections and decided to flip the script and promote the latest season of Grown-ish by using the iconic intro sequence from A Different World in an updated format for the Season 2 trailer of the series.
It’s all in the details from Zoey getting herself together in front of a mirror that her reflection steps out of just as Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) did in the original to Aaron (Trevor Jackson) rocking the same flip-up glasses popularized by Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison). The original Grown-ish theme song performed by sister duo and series stars Chloe x Halle gets an update as well to echo the nostalgic motifs ringing throughout.
A Different World originally aired for six seasons on NBC in the late 80s and early 90s and was set on the fictional campus of historically black college Hillman. On Grown-ish, the surroundings are set to the backdrop of the fictional Cal U (not to be confused with the actual Cal U in California, Pennsylvania).
The new season of the show will pick back up on January 2nd on the Freeform channel.