David Farnor | On 08, Nov 2015

YouTube is officially kicking off its slate of original content with the trailer for a new Smosh series.

The scripted show (called Part Timers) will star the Smosh duo – Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox – and will premiere early next year. Produced by Defy Media, the managers of Smosh, and sponsored by Edgewell Personal Care’s Schick Hydro brand, the 11-episode programme is one of the first productions from YouTube’s new original content initiative.

The video site is pumping more and more money into supporting its creators, both working to build its community and retain talent, as rivalry from Facebook increases. The plan is to use these original titles as exclusives to attract people to sign up to its new subscription service, YouTube Red.

Part Timers, though, will not be part of that exclusive subscription package, because the series instead generated income for Google by bringing Schick on board as a brand partner.

The show will see Padilla and Hecox play workers at Pork E. Pine’s, a fading arcade and pizza parlour, who become friends in between looking after a six-foot-tall porcupine.

The release of the trailer arrives just as Facebook continues to mount its competition with YouTube, revealing that it is now attracting 8 billion views a day. YouTube, though, isn’t showing signs of worry, instead ploughing ahead with its array of original titles, which includes a reality series from PewDiePie and the producers of The Walking Dead, a satire of reality singing contests, a feature-length action comedy about alien invasion, and a murder mystery series hostead by Joey Graceffa bringing together an ensemble of top YouTubers.

Part Timers will premiere on 11th January 2016.

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