Some of the biggest names in comedy, including Seth MacFarlane and Danny McBride, are developing a Smokey and the Bandit TV series. Burt Reynolds starred in the original 1977 road comedy as the titular Bo "Bandit" Darville, a bootlegger tasked with smuggling 400 cases of beer from Texas to Georgia with his partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow (played by Jerry Reed). Along the way, Bandit meets a runaway bride nicknamed "Frog" (played by Sally Field in her breakout role) who inadvertently sets the police on them since she left the local sheriff's son at the altar.
Smokey and the Bandit was an enormous success, earning $300 million at the box office to become the second highest-grossing movie of 1977, right behind a small indie darling called Star Wars. It had an immediate impact on American culture, even boosting sales of the now-iconic Pontiac Trans Am. Not only did it launch Fields to stardom and Reynolds to superstardom, but it also launched a franchise that includes two theatrically released sequels, four TV films, and a sort of "spiritual sequel" in The Cannonball Run, released in 1981 and starring Reynolds.
Seth MacFarlane and Danny McBride are now reviving the Smokey and the Bandit franchise with a new TV show. THR reports that the two comedy stars will be joined by prolific comedy filmmakers David Gordon Green and Jody Hill in developing the series, which the creators say will be a new take on the franchise. Green, a frequent McBride collaborator who's worked with him on Pineapple Express, Eastbound & Down, and the 2018 Halloween installment, is set to direct the pilot episode.
Although the two still dabble in film, MacFarlane and McBride have been doubling lately on TV projects. In addition to his long-running animated sitcom Family Guy just starting its 19th season, MacFarlane recently starred as former Fox News exec Brian Lewis in the Showtime miniseries The Loudest Voice. As for McBride, he's churned out two HBO series in the last four years: Vice Principals, which ran for two seasons, and the televangelist comedy The Righteous Gemstones, which was renewed for a second reason.
McBride and MacFarlane's collaboration on Smokey and the Bandit will be quite interesting considering their different comedy tastes. Anyone who's watched a single clip of Eastbound & Down or The Righteous Gemstones knows McBride boasts a flair for extraordinarily dark and vulgar humor, making HBO his perfect home. On the other hand, MacFarlane tends to work only with traditional networks that ensure his material is more appropriate to a wider audience. Regardless, a collaboration among the most talented comedy creators in the world is undoubtedly an exciting development for anyone who's followed them since their early work.
Source: THR