By A Different World is one of the most popular sitcoms to emerge from the 1980s and ’90s, but some viewers watching the series on Netflix have noticed something very strange about the way it looks. The Cosby Show spin-off, which originally aired on NBC from 1987 to 1993, has reportedly been subjected to an AI-assisted upscaling process for its Netflix presentation. It’s not clear whether Netflix or a rights holder made the call to use AI, but the result can be seen in some of the video examples below, where faces, hands, logos, and even background text appear distorted or smeared.
Watch the A Different World AI upscaling examples
@shanselman They used artificial intelligence #AI upscaling on #ADifferentWorld and it…sucks. #Netflix ♬ original sound – Scott Hanselman
@shanselman Replying to @Samantha Sophia ♬ original sound – Scott Hanselman
Futurism noted the issue was first highlighted by developer and blogger Scott Hanselman, who posted videos examining Netflix’s presentation of A Different World. Hanselman works on AI at Microsoft and pointed out that simply increasing the resolution of older footage doesn’t create new visual information that wasn’t present in the original material.
Why does A Different World look so strange on Netflix?
A Different World originally aired from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993, and was produced as a spin-off of The Cosby Show. The series was shot on film, but viewers today are often watching older television through digital transfers and restorations designed for modern displays. Hanselman argued that the Netflix version appears to be using AI upscaling to sharpen the footage. When the original image doesn’t contain enough information to accurately reproduce a face, piece of text, or other fine detail, an algorithm has to estimate what those details should look like. That’s where things can go very wrong.
In one example above, background text that was already too blurry in the source material to read appears to have been transformed into strange, garbled shapes. Other examples show facial features that don’t look quite right.
As Hanselman explained, the original show could look perfectly acceptable on the CRT televisions for which it was originally produced. Those old displays were much more forgiving of low-resolution television images. If the information isn’t actually there, an upscaling system has to make an educated guess, and sometimes that ends up looking like hieroglyphics.
Hanselman clarified that there are legitimate ways to faithfully upscale older television footage. The problem isn’t the idea of improving the resolution of an older show, but how that process is performed. Traditional restoration and upscaling can involve more time and resources than just processing every frame through an automated system. The difference becomes obvious when an algorithm encounters something it cannot actually resolve.
What is A Different World about?
A Different World was originally centered on Denise Huxtable, played by Lisa Bonet, and the students of Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college in Virginia. The series was inspired by student life at historically Black colleges and universities. After Bonet left following the first season, the show shifted its focus toward a larger ensemble, particularly Whitley Gilbert-Wayne, played by Jasmine Guy, and math whiz Dwayne Wayne, played by Kadeem Hardison.
The sitcom ran for six seasons and addressed subjects that The Cosby Show generally avoided, including race and class relations, sexual assault, and the Equal Rights Amendment. One episode that aired in 1990 was among the first American network television episodes to address the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS.
How A Different World changed after season one
The show’s original concept was quite different from what it eventually became. The initial premise centered on a white student attending a historically Black college, with Lena Horne serving as an acting teacher. During development, the concept changed to focus on a Black student, Denise Huxtable, attending Hillman with a white friend. Meg Ryan was originally cast as Denise’s white roommate, but she chose to pursue a film career instead. Marisa Tomei ultimately took the role of Maggie Lauten.
After the first season, however, Bill Cosby and the producers felt the show wasn’t accurately portraying life at a historically Black college. Debbie Allen, an alumna of Howard University, was brought in as chief creative officer to revamp the series. Allen wanted to keep Tomei on the show and had ideas for exploring Maggie’s experience as a white student at a predominantly Black college. The network rejected that direction, and Tomei was released from the series.
Cree Summer and Charnele Brown joined the cast, while Darryl M. Bell and Sinbad were promoted to the principal cast. Glynn Turman and Lou Myers were also added in supporting roles. Those changes transformed A Different World into the ensemble sitcom audiences came to know, with Whitley and Dwayne increasingly at the center of the series.
The cast of A Different World
The main cast of A Different World included Lisa Bonet as Denise Huxtable, Marisa Tomei as Maggie Lauten, Dawnn Lewis as Jaleesa Vinson-Taylor, Jasmine Guy as Whitley Gilbert-Wayne, Kadeem Hardison as Dwayne Cleofis Wayne, Mary Alice as Leticia “Lettie” Bostic, Loretta Devine as Stevie Rallen, Darryl M. Bell as Ronald “Ron” Marlon Johnson, Sinbad as Coach Walter Oakes, Charnele Brown as Kimberly Reese, Cree Summer as Winifred “Freddie” Brooks, Glynn Turman as Colonel Bradford Taylor, Lou Myers as Vernon Gaines, Ajai Sanders as Gina Deveaux, Jada Pinkett Smith as Lena James, and Karen Malina White as Charmaine Tyesha Brown. The series also featured numerous recurring and guest stars, including Joe Morton, Bumper Robinson, Gary Dourdan, Jenifer Lewis, Diahann Carroll, Patti LaBelle, Phylicia Rashad, Bill Cosby, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Robert Guillaume, Harold Sylvester, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
What do you think of the AI upscaling issues on the Netflix version of A Different World? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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