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In 2008, Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan, lost his job at an auto assembly plant. Unable to find steady work, he decided to go all in on making his dream of becoming a professional bowler a reality. After two major championships and more than $600,000 in PBA Tour career earnings, Smallwood appears to have come out ahead on that gamble.

Actor/writer/comedian/podcaster Pete Holmes steps into Smallwood’s bowling shoes for How We Roll (CBS Thursdays at 9:30pm ET/PT beginning March 31), a new sitcom inspired by Smallwood’s leap of faith from the factory floor to the pinnacle of tenpins.

“You have a job that maybe isn’t your dream job, but you need to support your family,” Holmes says. “And when the going gets really tough, you make a play at your dream because really you don’t know what else to do. Even if you don’t know bowling or relate to bowling, I think everybody can relate to what it feels like to take a chance when so much is on the line, when your family is on the line and your livelihood is on the line.”

Tom gets encouragement from his wife, Jen (Katie Lowes), a hairdresser who’s willing to go the extra mile to make this work. Their son, Sam (Mason Wells), a schoolkid with a talent for tap dancing, inspires his dad to go for it. And Tom’s buddy, mentor and sponsor, Archie (Chi McBride), owner of Archie’s Lanes: Home of the Curly Fry, is going to cash in when Tom makes it big.

How We Roll has that comforting, familiar feel of a classic multicamera family sitcom, something that’s becoming increasingly rare on TV. “There aren’t that many family shows happening right now — not just shows for families, but shows that are for families and about those dynamics,” Holmes says. “I want to see a family that’s supporting each other, not just for the warmth of it, but also for the humor in that.”

Is He Rolling for Real?

While it looks real, Holmes says How We Roll’s set for Archie’s Lanes isn’t actually a functioning bowling alley. “We have maybe a little more than half of the lane of a real alley,” he says. “I do bowl, but I’m really bowling the ball towards another set, or towards a camera person or towards the director. There are people whose job it is to stop the ball that I’m rolling towards some equipment or a person.” That could be a tough task, as Holmes says he performs with a 10-pound ball whenever possible. As for getting a real lane, maybe that will be for Season 2.