Karen Malina White Movies

It's love at first sight when Will's disreputable friend Jazz (Jeff Townes) sees Jewel Robertson (Karen Malina White in her first series appearance)--a fugitive from justice who is being profiled on a TV reality show! Jazz gets word to Jewel that he wants to marry her, whereupon she shows up at the Banks house. Almost immediately, Jewel passes up Jazz in favor of Will (Will Smith)--but it is Philip (James Avery), and not Jazz, who suffers most from this situation. ~ 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

While on a shopping excursion with her former babysitter Mrs. Whitaker (Leila Danette), Pam (Erika Alexander) is shocked to discover that the chain supermarket in Mrs. Whitaker's neighborhood charges higher prices for lower-quality items than the store owned by the same chain in the Huxtable's neighborhood.. After sharing her outrage with her friends Lance (Allen Payne) and Charmaine (Karen Malina White), Pam sets up a "penny plan" whereby Mrs. Whitaker and her friends can shop at the supermarket with the more reasonable prices. This strategy proves both rewarding and exhausting for Pam and her pals, who are now committed to shuttling the little old ladies back and forth--nonstop! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a three-part story, Whitley (Jasmine Guy) adamantly tries to convince everyone (especially herself) that she has fallen out of love with Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison), and IN love with handsome political candidate Byron Douglas (Joe Morton). Elsewhere, Ron (Darryl M. Bell) promises to give up his womanizing for the sake of Kim (Charnele Brown), or at least that's what he says. And Cosby Show regular Charmaine Brown (Karen Malina White) shows up at Hillman with plans of enrolling--and, possibly, breaking off her long-standing relationship with Lance Rodman (Allen Payne). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Despite her less than stellar performance in high school, Pam (Erika Alexander) is determined to go to college. Both her friend Charmaine (Karen Malina White) and her guidance counselor Mr. Bostic (Richard Lawson) gently try to persuade Pam that her chances of being accepted by the same college that will take Charmaine are within the "slim to none" range, but our heroine is not about to be confused by the facts. Meanwhile, Cliff (Bill Cosby) suffers yet another home-repair mishap, while Olivia (Raven-Symone) is continually sidetracked from her school show-and-tell project. This is one of a handful of episodes in which none of the Huxtable children appear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Olivia (Raven-Symone) comes down with a bad case of laryngitis just before she is to sing for her grandparents' 55th anniversary. When none of the family's exotic "home remedies" prove successful, Olivia retreats to her bedroom, refusing to attend the anniversary party because she feels she's let everyone down. At the last moment, Cliff (Bill Cosby) and Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) come up with a solution to Olivia's plight--a solution involving a spirited lip-synch rendition of Koko Taylor's "I'm a Woman". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Erika Alexander joins the cast as Pam Tucker, the 17-year-old second cousin of Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad). Hailing from a poor Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Pam is rather awestruck by the suburban poshness of the Huxtable household, where she will be staying while her mom is off caring for her sick grandmother. However, Pam is not used to having a curfew, and has trouble adjusting to this new limitation on her social life--especially when her boyfriend Slide (Mushond Lee) invites her to a party in the Bronx. In addition to Tucker and Lee, Allen Payne and Karen Malina White make their first series appearances as Pam's Bronx-dwelling friends Lance and Charmaine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Embarrassed that his wife Bernice (Catherine Cox) is more athletically skilled than he is, father-to-be Alfred Phelps (Ray Demattis) prevails upon Cliff (Bill Cosby) to act as his sports coach, in anticipation of the birth of the couple's son. Alas, Cliff's input does nothing to build up Mr. Phelps' ego, so it is up to Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) to straighten out a knotty situation. Meanwhile, Pam (Erika Alexander) prepares for a date with Aaron Dexter (Seth Gilliam), an intelligent but timid fellow who is quite a contrast to Pam's boisterous Bed-Stuy buddies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single one-hour special), Slide (Mushond Lee) is pressuring Pam (Erika Alexander) to prove her love by having sex with him: "We both know how we feel about each other, now's the time we did something about it." In his efforts to prove that "everybody's doing it," Slide gets his friend Lance (Allen Payne) in hot water; it seems that Lance has been bragging about sleeping with his own girlfriend Charmaine (Karen Malina White)--which is news to her! Back at the Huxtable household, Cliff (Bill Cosby) and Clair (Phylicia Rashad) try to keep their cool while counseling Pam, but are unable to hide their shock and dismay when she asks permission to take birth-control pills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide