This almost slipped by us… thanks to the several readers who emailed or sent me tweets about it.

Nickelodeon has ordered 20-episodes of a new half-hour comedy project titled The Haunted Hathaways, from writer-producer Robert Peacock.

The series centers on a single mother (played by Ginifer King) and her daughters (Amber Montana, Breanna Yde), who move to New Orleans and learn that their new house is already occupied by a father (played by Chico Benymon) and his sons (Curtis Harris, Lil’ P-Nut).

And as if that isn't already enough of a surprise, they further discover that the father and his sons happen to be ghosts.

By the way, in case you haven't already figured it out, the single mother and her daughters are white, and the single ghost father and his ghost sons are black.

How exactly (or if) race plays any part in the narrative, we don't know yet.

It's probably not unintentional that both parents are single – even though one of them is a ghost. 

But it's certainly an unconventional premise, and I guess I'll give Nickelodeon a nod for trying something that seems like it'll be something unique.

Then again, it is Nickelodeon, so it'll be a kid-friendly show, and likely won't be anything heavy.

The 38-year-old Chico Benymon is likely best known for his role as Andre "Spencer" Williams on the UPN comedy Half & Half.

Curtis Harris played a young Anthony Mackie in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and has featured in several TV series.

And Lil' P-Nut (aka Benjamin Flores Jr.) is a newbie, providing the voice for Atticus in Happy Feet Two as his only previous work.

Boyce Bugliari & Jamie McLaughlin, creators of the 2011 Nick series Bucket & Skinner’s Epic Adventures, have come on board as showrunners.

No ETA yet, but stay tuned…