Raf

I thought saying the spinoff was "not a serial" was as dead a giveaway as I could come up with.

Jessica Tate is shot by South American guerillas in the series finale of Soap. She later appeared on an episode of Benson as either a ghost (my memory) or some other kind of apparition (imdb's memory) who needed Benson's help to do a good deed to get to heaven (or something). Robert Guillaume won an emmy for playing Benson on Soap. Billy Crystal's big break was on Soap as one of the first openly gay characters on a network tv series.

Good lord that took a long time.

The show (not the spinoff) featured (did not STAR... featured, in most episodes) a ventriloquist who was so good that it caused a technical screw-up during production. Seems the sound guy would point the mike at the dummy, not the ventriloquist, whenever the dummy had a line. The show featured the first black actor to win an Emmy as best supporting actor in a comedy series. He went on to star in the spinoff, which was named for his character. According to imdb trivia, my memory may have failed me on my original clue. So I MAY be right, but I may be wrong. If I'm wrong, here's what REALLY happened: One of the main characters in this series appears to be shot to death in the cliffhanger finale. We find out in a spinoff series that the character actually is in a coma, but shows up as an apparition who needs to do a good deed to get into heaven. So, if I'm wrong, she was only mostly dead, which is not the same as all dead. The actor known for that last joke had his big break in the original series.

The series I'm looking for parodied the genre for which it was named. The spinoff was more of a straightforward sitcom with stories that were largely non-serial.

Manhunter Brian Cox X2: X-Men United

If you put all the episodes of both series together, I would wager 1 percent or fewer dealt with the supernatural.

They are both sitcoms. The spinoff lasted much longer than the original.

One of the main characters in this series appears to be shot to death in the cliffhanger finale. We find out in a spinoff series that the character actually died, and shows up as a ghost who needs to do a good deed to get into heaven.

For pity's sake, PLEASE JOIN THE GAME!!!!

NOT a sequel. Cut your answer in half.

My first clue was exceptionally well timed. Name the actor: Walter Black Benjamin Martin Nick Marshall Rev. Graham Hess

Hoo-ah. Al Pacino

Ay dios mio.

And Walter Matthau's more famous collaboration with Neil Simon was The Odd Couple. You're up, George!