By Nellie Andreeva | Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

"Everybody Loves Raymond" veteran Ray Romano, whose show was U.S. television's top sitcom when it ended its nine-year CBS run last year, is looking to return to the small screen starring in a new comedy on cable's HBO.

Talks are under way for the 10-episode single-camera project, now in the early stages of development, that would star Romano as a fortysomething billionaire who has six months to live.

Dennis Klein, co-creator of one of HBO's signature comedies, "The Larry Sanders Show," is on board to write the show. And the creators of the Fox network's hit spy thriller, "24," Joel Surnow and Bob Cochran, supervising as well as executive-producing the new comedy.

Romano and Klein also are expected to share executive-producer credits on the limited series.

Additionally, "24" show-runner Howard Gordon -- Surnow and Cochran's partner at their Real Time Productions company -- is expected to be involved in the project.

The lead character rings close to Romano's real-life status as a fortysomething who has amassed a fortune from acting on his hit CBS series as well as from his ownership stake in that show, which continues its successful run in syndication.

Sources said Romano, Surnow and Cochran pitched the idea to HBO months ago, but the project remained dormant until recently, when HBO and 20th Century Fox TV began discussions to put it in development.

Romano is no stranger to HBO. The premium cable network's division HBO Independent Prods. co-produced "Raymond." He also appeared on HBO standup comedy showcases early in his career.

He follows in the footsteps of Larry David (NBC's "Seinfeld") and Lisa Kudrow (NBC's "Friends") who chose HBO for the next stage in their TV careers after their blockbuster comedies ended.

Surnow and Cochran won an Emmy for writing the pilot of "24." The real-time thriller returns in January for its sixth season. Surnow, Cochran and Gordon also are busy working on the "24" feature film that is slated to begin shooting in summer 2007.

Romano won an Emmy for his starring role as a harried family man and sports writer on "Raymond" and shared two best comedy series Emmys with the rest of the show's producing team.

He most recently voiced the character of Manny the woolly mammoth in the computer-animated box office hit "Ice Age: The Meltdown," and is attached to star in an untitled comedy feature for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

Klein received an Emmy nomination for co-writing the "Larry Sanders" pilot with Garry Shandling.