Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983): The Lost Jackie Gleason Version, Burt Reynolds’ Exit, and a Franchise in Trouble - The 80s Movie Podcast

By 1983, the road had gotten a lot bumpier for one of the biggest franchises of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In this episode of The 80s Movie Podcast, we revisit Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, the unusual final chapter in the Smokey and the Bandit series, released without Burt Reynolds in a starring role and built around an entirely different concept than audiences originally expected. Instead of focusing on Bo “Bandit” Darville, the film shifts attention to Sheriff Buford T. Justice, played once again by Jackie Gleason, while Jerry Reed’s Snowman reluctantly steps into Bandit territory. The result is one of the strangest franchise pivots of the 1980s. We explore the behind-the-scenes story that makes Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 such a fascinating Hollywood curiosity, including the original abandoned concept, Smokey Is the Bandit, in which Jackie Gleason reportedly played both Sheriff Justice and a version of the Bandit before poor test screenings led to major reshoots. We also discuss the absence of Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, the shift toward broader comedy, the now-iconic black-and-gold 1983 Pontiac Trans Am, and why the movie struggled both critically and commercially upon release. Over time, Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 has developed a strange kind of cult fascination among franchise fans, not necessarily because it works, but because of how unusual its production history became. Online discussions still debate the lost “Jackie Gleason cut,” the heavily reworked story, and whether the film deserves reevaluation as a chaotic relic of changing tastes in 1980s comedy and action cinema. Join us as we unpack one of the oddest sequels of the decade and the moment a once unstoppable franchise finally ran out of road.