Debar-Mercury is partnering with writer and actor Tyler Perry to develop a half-hour comedy for first-run syndication.

Mr. Perry, a well-known playwright and stage actor on the urban theater circuit whose feature films “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” and “Madea’s Family Reunion” were underestimated by Hollywood before becoming box office hits, is making his first foray into television.

His series, “House of Payne,” will feature an multigenerational African American family living under one roof. Debmar-Mercury will make the first 12 episodes available to stations starting this spring with additional episodes available for fall 2007.