Lauren Ashley Smith Inks Overall Deal With CBS Studios

Denise Petski
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Writer and producer Lauren Ashley Smith (A Black Lady Sketch Show) is expanding her relationship with CBS Studios, signing an overall deal with the studio. Under the pact, Smith will be creating comedies for network/streaming on all platforms.

Smith is currently writing and executive producing a U.S. remake of British comedy Timewasters for ABC through CBS Studios. The as-yet untitled time travel comedy will revolve around four Black twentysomething New Yorkers who accidentally end up in the year 1926, despite being deeply unenthusiastic about and deeply unequipped for time travel. The series follows the foursome’s often-bumbling attempts to survive and thrive in the Harlem Renaissance as it explores what it means to be Black in 2021, what it means to be Black in 1926, and the unique experience of being Black in both time periods.

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Timewasters was created by Daniel Lawrence Taylor, who also starred in it, and ran for two seasons on ITV2 in the UK.

Smith was head writer and co-executive producer for the first two seasons of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, for which she won a TCA Award and received three Emmy nominations including Outstanding Writing for a Variety Sketch Series.

Smith previously served as the head writer of BET’s The Rundown with Robin Thede, a senior producer on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and a staff writer on VH1’s Best Week Ever. Alongside her sisters, Smith currently co-hosts Smith Sisters Live, a weekly pop culture radio show on Cohen’s SiriusXM channel Radio Andy.

Smith is repped by UTA, 3 Arts and Granderson Des Rochers, LLP.

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