CBS Looking for a Strike with New Sitcom Based On Saginaw Man’s Life

CBS is hoping for a strike with their latest sitcom How We Roll this week, and they have a Saginaw man's life to thank for the inspiration.

The network said today that How We Roll,  formerly known as Smallwood tells the life story of Tom Smallwood of Saginaw. Smallwood was living a typical life in Michigan when he fell on hard times after being laid off from his job at the GM Pontiac East Assembly Plant. An avid bowler for years, Smallwood decided to put his past time to work and shoot for becoming a professional bowler on the tour.

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CBS breaks down the plot for the new show as the following;

"HOW WE ROLL, based on professional bowler Tom Smallwood’s life, stars Pete Holmes as Tom, a stoic Midwest husband and dad who gets laid off from a car assembly line and makes the extraordinary decision to provide for his family by following his dream of becoming a professional bowler. As a skilled player, Tom knows that in bowling you get two chances; no matter what you do with the first ball, you get another one to make it right—the ultimate second chance. Keeping that in mind, Tom begins his new career with the loving okay from his wife, Jen the unfaltering support of Archie, his mentor and the proud owner of Archie’s Lanes: Home of the Curly Fry, the cautious backing of his protective mom, Helen, and the encouragement of his son, Sam. It remains to be seen if Tom will strike it big on the Pro Bowler circuit, but right now, the pins are set, he’s taking his second shot and it’s 300 or bust!"

Smallwood, who won the PBA Tour in 2009, was actually approached by Hollywood about 10 years ago regarding telling his story. He told Mlive that there were talks of a movie and even a book, but nothing developed. Flash forward just over 10 years, and the story will now be told in a comedic form.

How We Roll will hit your local CBS station will at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31. It will also stream on Paramount+ live and on-demand.