Smokey and the Bandit episodes of the series. Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. He contacted Pontiac and an agreement was made that four 1977 Trans Ams and two Pontiac LeMans 4-door sedans would be provided for the movie. The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends. (From 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro had two round headlights, and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four rectangular headlights, while
Charles Shyer Odd Couple", Shyer transitioned into feature films and received his first writing credit on "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977), starring Burt Reynolds. The following year, Shyer co-wrote "Goin' South," directed by and starring Jack Nicholson, and received his first Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Screenplay for the Walter Matthau/Glenda Jackson film "House Calls" (1978). In 1979, Shyer teamed up with Nancy Meyers and Harvey Miller to write and produce "Private Benjamin," starring Goldie Hawn in the Oscar-nominated lead role of Private Judy Benjamin. Contrary to the conventional wisdom at the time, that a female lead with no male