Julia Roberts to produce paranormal series for Lifetime

More and more television has been bringing in veterans of the silver screen, giving actors the chance to test their creative mettle behind the scenes. America's go-to rom-com actress Julia Roberts is the latest to head in this direction, with a new pilot greenlit by Lifetime.

The cable network has added the drama "Paranormal Housewives" from the pretty woman to its development slate. Roberts will serve as executive producer on the pilot with her longtime collaborator Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Robyn Meisinger from Madhouse Entertainment.

The series will be based on a real-life group of female professional paranormal investigators from Southern California, headed by Erin Potter and friends Kirsten Thorne and Marsha Covert-Garcia. Apparently the "paranormal investigator" job market is dominated by men as well and the trio wanted to right the ship. As one might gather from the title, the women's fictional counterparts will take part in some ghost hunting, though it's unclear whether the script (written by "Miss Congeniality" writer Katie Ford) will stick with the "Ghost Hunters" documentary-style paranormal activities or go full bore into the more fantastical, like a female version of The CW's "Supernatural." Hopefully more the latter.

This is the second television project from Roberts and her producing team, teaming with ABC Studios on a workplace comedy entitled "Taming of the Shrew" for the network with Marc Hyman penning the script. Will Roberts continue to pursue small-screen endeavors? Can we expect her to make an appearance on either of her series to give them a potential ratings boost?