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
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