It’s A Strike: New Sitcom Rolls With The Story of a Michigan Native

They always say you should chase your dreams, or else you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Michigan native Tom Smallwood would probably agree with you, because chasing his dreams has landed him with a new sitcom on CBS sharing his unique story.

Thursday night CBS debuted their latest sitcom, How We Roll. The show is based on the story of how PBA champion Tom Smallwood went from playing a small bowling alley in Saginaw to becoming one of the PBA's greatest bowlers.

If you're unfamiliar with Tom Smallwood's story: he grew up in Flushing, Michigan and found his love of bowling from a young age. Smallwood's parents took him as a toddler to Colonial Lanes for their Sunday-night mixed league, which later led to his interest in bowling itself.

He moved to Saginaw for college, where he started to play in a few tournament leagues but didn't find success. It was only later after he was laid off from GM that he took another attempt at becoming a professional bowler.

Smallwood practiced for free at the now closed State Lanes in Saginaw, after job applications didn't not pan out. He had been a regular league bowler there, and was a neighbor of the owners, Anne and Steve Doyle. When a chance opened up for him in Detriot in 2009, when he was able to scrape together the $1500 entry fee, and finished third at the Trials (out of 97 bowlers). This landed him in the top eight of bowlers who gained PBA exemptions for the 2009–2010 season. This tournament opened the doors for the rest of his professional career.

How We Roll stars comedian and actor, Pete Holmes as Tom Smallwood.

The first episode is lighthearted and fun, and the rest of the season should follow suit. This first season has 11 episodes, so we'll see where they take the TV equivalent of this Michigan celebrity during his small screen sitcom debut.

And if you're wondering if Tom Smallwood himself watched the first episode...

He did, and he was bowled over.

You can watch How We Roll on Thursday nights at 9:30pm EST on WWMT, or stream it online using Paramount+.