Smokey and the Bandit original film. The updated version of the film features sounds inaccurate for what would be produced by the Trans Am or the numerous other Pontiac vehicles in the film. The original film had correct sounds that were usually recorded live as the action took place. A series of four made-for-TV spin-off films ("Bandit Goes Country", "Bandit Bandit", "Beauty and the Bandit" and "Bandit's Silver Angel") were produced in 1994 for Universal Television's Action Pack with actor Brian Bloom playing a younger version of Bandit. The three original films introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am, and the Dodge Stealth
Sally Field a best dramatic actress Emmy Award in 1977 and enabled her to break through the typecasting of her sitcom work. In 1977, she co-starred with Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, and Jerry Reed in the year's #2 highest-grossing film, "Smokey and the Bandit". In 1979, Field played the eponymous union organizer in "Norma Rae", a successful film that established her as a dramatic actress. Vincent Canby, reviewing the film for "The New York Times", wrote: ""Norma Rae" is a seriously concerned contemporary drama, illuminated by some very good performances and one, Miss Field's, that is spectacular." For her role in "Norma