Ajai Sanders Movies

Longtime television director Tony Singletary (Married... With Children, Moesha) makes his feature debut with this urban comedy set in a radio station. John Witherspoon stars as Wes, a station director who has his hands more than full with disc jockeys Jordan (Marcus Chong) and Venom (A.J. Johnson). The DJs have their hearts in the right place, but soon their antics get out of control. Ajai Sanders also stars. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Hoping to prove that he's got initative, Will (Will Smith) offers to supply an ailing Hilary (Karyn Parsons) with medicine prior to an important meeting at the TV station. Unfortunately, the unanticipated aftereffects of the "remedy" nearly cause Hilary to lose an important sponsor. Meanwhile, Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) despairs when her out-of-work brother Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) rather than her dad Philip (James Avery) shows up for her school's "career day". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As the sixth and final season of A Different World gets under way, newlyweds Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) are returning from their honeymoon in Los Angeles -- which unfortunately coincided with the Rodney King riots! Nor is life a bed of roses for the couple upon settling into their new home. Whitley loses her position at the art gallery, forcing Dwayne to hold down three different jobs to make ends meet. Things look temporarily brighter when Dwayne is offered a lucrative job in Japan, but alas, this opportunity also comes a-cropper. And on top of everything, Whitley learns she is pregnant! Meanwhile, Dwayne's formerly footloose roommate Ron (Darryl M. Bell) has matured sufficiently to assume the management of a trendy nightclub. As for Ron's erstwhile girlfriend Freddie (Cree Summer), she has apparently forsaken her tacky Annie Hall wardrobe and her artistic inclinations for a stylish business suit and a career in law, leading the increasingly militant Lena (Jada Pinkett) to label Freddie a sellout -- at least until she realizes that Freddie intends to improve the system from within, rather than as the perennial outsider. As for Whitley's no-nonsense former roommate Kim (Charnele Brown), she has finally settled upon a boyfriend who is truly marriage material (it's taken her long enough). Newcomers to the cast includes Gary Dourdan as Shazza Zulu, whom Freddie briefly dates before returning to Ron; Karen Malina White as the garrulous and somewhat pushy college freshman Charmaine Brown, a character carried over from A Different World's "parent" series The Cosby Show; Patrick Malone as Terrell, a student who may look and act like a thug but isn't...and may be a potential boyfriend for Charmaine. When near the end of the series' run Lena, Charmaine, Terrell, and Gina Devereaux (Ajai Sanders) decide to rent a house together, the casual viewer might assume that the producers had a spin-off series in mind, but this never came to fruition. Before leaving A Different World, let us give an affectionate nod to actor Lou Myers, who has woven in an out of the proceedings as Vernon Gaines, chef at the campus hangout The Pit. The series' resident philosopher, Vernon is known far and wide for occasionally bending the truth to serve his needs -- but in the season six episode "A Rock, A River, A Lena," we are offered proof incarnate that Vernon did indeed make the acquaintance of guest star Lena Horne during WWII. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Freddie (Cree Summer) is visited by a man (Victor Love) identifying himself as her prison pen-pal Jamal. Finding out that Jamal desperately needs a job, Ron (Darryl M. Bell) turns over his janitorial duties to him--an act of generosity both Ron and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) regret when Whitley (Jasmine Guy) falls for the former convict. As it turns out, Jamal is a fraud in more ways than one...but this does not in any way, shape or form result in a reunion between Dwayne and Whitley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of a three-part story, Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) seems unconcerned over Whitley's new romance with senatorial candidate Byron Douglas (Joe Morton)--and Whitley (Jasmine Guy)is disappointed that Dwayne isn't jealous. Meanwhile, Kim (Charnele Brown) believes that Dwayne and Whitley can be brought back together under the right circumstances, and she might be right. But Kim isn't quite so certain that Ron (Darryl M. Bell) will be able give up his womanizing for her sake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of A Different World's two-part Season Five finale, Whitley (Jasmine Guy)is just about to wed Byron Douglas III (Joe Morton) when she realizes that she is still in love with Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison). Whitley's social-climbing mom Marion (Diahann Carroll) works overtime to convince her daughter to go through with the ceremony whether she wants to or not. Wackiness ensues (as wackiness often does), and the episode comes to a surprising and slightly surreal conclusion. "Saving the Best for Last" marks the final series appearance of Dawnn Lewis as Jaleesa Taylor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Whitley (Jasmine Guy) goes power-mad when placed in charge of the Alpha Delta Rho sorority pledges, prompting Kim (Charnele Brown) to lead a revolt against her. One thing leads to another, and before long Whitley and Kim have challenged each other to a fistfight. And while handling pledges for the Kappa Lamda Nu fraternity, Ron (Darryl M. Bell) must somehow "rehabilitate" the self-centered Terrence (Cory Tyler). This episode was directed by series regular Glynn Turman (Col. Taylor), who does not otherwise appear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season five of A Different World finds sweethearts (and recent college grads) Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) resuming their romance; Whitley's pal Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis) surprising one and all by eloping with hard-nosed calculus professor Col. Clayton Taylor (Glynn Turnan); and the off-and-on relationship between Ron (Darryl M. Bell) and Freddie (Cree Summer) back in "on" mode, with Ron actually evincing signs of growing up and accepting responsibility by heading a band called X-Pression. New to the cast is Jada Pinkett as streetwise freshman Lena James, who, thanks to a computer glitch, ends up staying in Whitley's extra bedroom. Lena later gets in trouble for her flagrant disregard of dorm rules; after setting fire to her room in an effort to cook dinner, Lena is forced to pay damages by the new dorm director -- none other than Whitley. This enables Lou Myers to make several amusing appearances as Vernon Gaines, chef at the local hamburger joint where Lena has landed a job in order to make money in a hurry. Ultimately, Lena is reinstated at the dorm, with fellow freshman Gina Devereaux (Ajai Sanders) as her roommate. Meanwhile, grad student Dwayne is teaching classes at Hillman college, with Whitley's former roomie Kim as his assistant. Feeling emboldened by his new status and a regular paycheck, Dwayne finally proposes to Whitley, and she accepts -- only to take back her "yes" when it appears that Dwayne has been unfaithful to her. It is at this point that Joe Morton joins the cast as Hillside alumnus Senator Byron Douglas III, who launches his own crusade to make Whitley his wife. Season five ends as Whitley prepares to march down the altar with Byron -- whereupon Dwayne appears, setting the stage for a gentle revision of the finale of the 1967 film The Graduate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fifth season of A Different World begins with the start of another school year at Hillman College, where Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) has accepted a job as a math teacher, and Whitley (Jasmine Guy) has decided to accept Dwayne's marriage proposal and forsake a job in New York to become a campus dorm director. As Dwayne shops for Whitley's engagement ring, she searches high and low to find housing for incoming freshman Lena James (Jada Pinkett in her first series appearance). Elsewhere, Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis) and Col. Taylor (Glynn Turman) have a surprise for everyone--almost as big as the surprise that Taylor's son Terrence (Cory Tyler) has for his dad (though Terrence's revelation has been edited from most syndication prints of this episode). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having finally managed to get Lena (Jada Pinkett) to move out of the spare room, Whitley (Jasmine Guy) now turns her attention to her duties as dorm director. Or more specifically, she turns her attention to dumping most of those duties onto her assistant Kim (Charnele Brown). Consequently, Kim doesn't have the time to tell Lena not to cook in her dorm room--and the result is a fire that nearly gets the girl suspended from school. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Will Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) go on to graduate school, or will he accept a fabulous job from the Kinishewa company? Dwayne allows Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Ron (Darryl M. Bell) to sway his decision, but he is ultimately forced to rely on his own judgement thanks to a crisis involving Col.Taylor's son Terrence (Cory Tyler). And Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis) is visited by her married sister Danielle (Vanessa Bell Calloway), who is fed up with being "just a housewife." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With a hurricane rapidly approaching Hillman College, everyone takes shelter at The Pit. As the huddled masses nervously wait for the storm to blow over, a number of mini-dramas are played out. Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) are forced to cancel their anniversary plans; Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis) is convinced that she is doomed, and takes solace in liquor; Col. Taylor (Glynn Turman) comes to regret turning down assistance from his son Terrence (Cory Tyler); and while trying to persuade radio talk host Freddie (Cree Summer) to play his band's demo record between weather bulletins, Ron (Darryl M. Bell) finds himself falling for her. . .and vice versa. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

To get over her breakup with Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison), Whitley (Jasmine Guy) focuses all her energy on the African American art exhibit she is organizing for the dedication of a new dorm. Unfortunately, Kim and several other students strongly object to certain controversial "slave" and "mammy" images in the exhibit, making Whitley more defensive than ever. But wait, it gets worse: Just before the exhibit is to open, Whitley discovers to her horror that she is descended from a family of slave-owners. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide