Bandit (film series)

Bandit
Genre
  • Action
  • Comedy
Based onCharacters created by Hal Needham
Written byChris Abbott
Brock Yates
David Chisholm
Jay Huguely
Directed byHal Needham
StarringBrian Bloom
Brian Krause
ComposersSteve Dorff
Velton Ray Bunch
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes4
Production
CinematographyMichael Shea
EditorStephen Lovejoy
Running time91–94 minutes
Production companyUniversal Television
Original release
NetworkSyndication
ReleaseJanuary 30 (1994-01-30) 
April 10, 1994 (1994-04-10)

Bandit is a 1994 American television series based on the Smokey and the Bandit franchise. All four episodes – Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit and Bandit's Silver Angel – were produced for Universal Television's Action Pack programming block from original Smokey and the Bandit director/writer Hal Needham.

Brian Bloom stars as a younger version of Bo "Bandit" Darville, the character originated by Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). The series serves as a reboot set in 1994. Instead using the then newly released fourth generation Pontiac Trans Am at the time, the car featured as "Bandit One" in this series is a Dodge Stealth, while the original Smokey and the Bandit trilogy introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am, Smokey and the Bandit I and II both featured a second-generation Trans Am while Smokey and the Bandit III (1983) featured a third-generation Trans Am.

The show's hit theme song "Another Dream Away" was performed by country music singer Dawn Sears. Sears is also featured in the opening title sequence performing the song while playing her guitar.