A Different World: Tom Werner Wants To Make An Impact On Screen, Stage & In The Stadium
Tom Werner is backing new projects in television and football with the aim of making a wider cultural impact. He says Netflix’s revival of A Different World should engage with issues facing students, while a planned series about Liverpool FC will tell the story of the club through its people and history.
The ten-part A Different World follows Deborah, the daughter of original characters Dwayne and Whitley, in her first year at the fictional Hillman College. It premiered at number four on Netflix’s chart with 4.2 million views in its opening days and reached number one in 12 countries; the streamer renewed it for a second season shortly after its September debut. Werner said the original series coincided with a roughly 25% rise in admissions to historically Black colleges and universities, and hopes the revival can also have an effect. The Liverpool project is being developed with A24, Box to Box Films and writer Jack Thorne, with Jude Law attached to play former manager Bill Shankly.
- Werner wants his projects to have cultural impact.
- A Different World drew 4.2 million opening views.
- Jude Law is attached to play Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Werner’s projects could use popular television to connect audiences with histories and experiences that are underrepresented on screen. A renewed A Different World may prompt interest in historically Black colleges and engage with current student concerns, while a Liverpool series could bring the club’s people and history to a broad audience.
The case against
Cultural influence is hard to predict, and the original series’ reported link to increased HBCU admissions does not show that a revival will have the same effect. Turning a college story and a football club’s history into commercial entertainment may also simplify complex experiences or favour a polished narrative over the perspectives of the people it depicts.