S. Epatha Merkerson, who spent 17 seasons playing NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the long-running NBC police procedural drama series 'Law & Order' until the show was cancelled in 2010, will be returning to TV on CBS' untitled Susannah Grant supernatural medical drama pilot.

Jonathan Demme ('Beloved,' 'The Manchurian Candidate') is directing the pilot, which centers on Michael (played by Patrick Wilson), an ultra-competitive surgeon whose life is changed forever when his ex-wife (played by Jennifer Ehle), a doctor running a free clinic, dies and begins teaching him what life is all about from the hereafter. Merkerson will play Michael's assistant, Rita, stated Deadline.com.

Without her help, he probably wouldn't make it through the day as she is really the person running the office. Sassy and strong-willed, Rita is not someone you should cross.

Merkerson, who also won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress for her role in the HBO film 'Lackawanna Blues' will next be seen on the big screen as one of the leads in the upcoming Tyler Perry film, 'We the Peoples.'

The veteran theater actress, whose stage credits include 'Birdie Blue' and 'Come Back, Little Sheba,' was last seen opposite Kerry Washington in the independent film 'Mother and Child.'