Smokey and the Bandit Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
96 free Smokey and the Bandit trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
40 free Smokey and the Bandit trivia questions with answers. Smokey and the Bandit was the second-biggest film of 1977 behind Star Wars, and to a lot of the South it still feels less like a movie than a documentary. This quiz covers the whole run: the $80,000 Coors bet, the black-and-gold Trans Am, Cledus and Fred in the Kenworth, Sheriff Buford T. Justice and his 'sumbitch', Jerry Reed's overnight hit song, the bridge jump, the Georgia locations, Hal Needham's stuntman past and the two sequels. It starts easy and works up to production details only devoted fans know. Use it solo, at a car show, or as a round on movie night; difficulty ratings are shown so you can pick your battles. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the films, the song and the people who made them, and each question carries its source.
30 of 96 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In the trucker slang behind Smokey and the Bandit's title, what is a 'Smokey'?
A highway patrol officer
A highway patrol officer is a 'Smokey' because state troopers' wide-brimmed campaign hats resemble the one worn by Smokey Bear, the Forest Service's fire-prevention mascot.
Q 02Which comedy legend plays Sheriff Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit?
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason asked not to be left alone in the patrol car, so a dim-witted son was written in beside the sheriff to give him someone to play off.
Q 03In Smokey and the Bandit, the beer has to be collected from which city?
Texarkana
Texarkana sat on the edge of Coors country: in 1977 the beer could not legally be sold east of Texas, so hauling 400 cases of it home turned the heroes into bootleggers.
Q 04Why did 1970s Coors, the Bandit's contraband cargo, have to be kept cold on the road?
It was unpasteurized
It was unpasteurized and free of preservatives, so Coors could spoil within a week if it got warm, and it went from brewery to customer in refrigerated trucks.
Q 05What is the Bandit's real name in Smokey and the Bandit?
Bo Darville
Bo Darville is the Bandit's real name; the part was first planned for another actor in a $1 million B movie, until Burt Reynolds read the script and agreed to star.
Q 06What do fans call the giant bird decal on the hood of the Bandit's Trans Am?
The Screaming Chicken
The Screaming Chicken, as fans call the Firebird's hood decal, flew on cars that weren't what they seemed: the film's '1977' Trans Ams were 1976 models fitted with the new front end.
Q 07In Smokey and the Bandit II, what is the Bandit's new Trans Am called?
Son of Trigger
Son of Trigger replaces the Trans Am the washed-up Bandit sold to pay for his drinking: 'Can you imagine Roy Rogers selling Trigger for a six-pack?' he asks.
Q 08What is the job of the Bandit's Trans Am during the beer run?
Decoy to draw police away
Decoy to draw police away: the Bandit calls his car the 'blocker', speeding ahead to attract the patrol cars while Snowman's truck slips through with the beer.
Q 09What make of truck does Snowman drive in Smokey and the Bandit?
A Kenworth W900
A Kenworth W900 is Snowman's rig, and it saves the run: four miles from the finish, with the Bandit ready to give up, Snowman takes the lead and smashes through the police roadblock.
Q 10In Smokey and the Bandit, what breed of dog is Snowman's companion Fred?
A basset hound
A basset hound, Fred rides in the truck cab with Snowman; a biker's claim that the dog bit him starts the diner brawl that ends with Snowman flattening the gang's motorcycles.
Q 11Who plays Carrie, the runaway bride the Bandit picks up, nicknamed 'Frog'?
Sally Field
Sally Field won the part because Burt Reynolds fought for her casting when the studio had doubts, and the two began a romance during the shoot.
Q 12In Smokey and the Bandit, whose wedding does Carrie run away from?
Junior Justice's
Junior Justice's wedding is the one Carrie flees, which is why his father, the sheriff, hounds the Bandit across state lines without ever learning about the beer.
Q 13Which diminutive singer-songwriter plays Little Enos Burdette?
Paul Williams
Paul Williams plays Little Enos opposite the 6-foot-7 comedy writer Pat McCormick as his father, a size mismatch all three films play for laughs.
Q 21What is the title of Smokey and the Bandit's theme song?
East Bound and Down
East Bound and Down was written virtually overnight by the film's Snowman, and when he offered to rework it the director warned him not to change a single note.
Q 22For the westbound scenes, Reed recorded an alternate version of the theme called what?
West Bound and Down
It had modified lyrics and added strings and horns, and rarely gets played today.
Q 23Where do the Bandit and Snowman have to deliver the beer in Atlanta?
The Lakewood Fairgrounds truck rodeo
Q 14Which word is Sheriff Buford T. Justice's signature insult for the Bandit?
Sumbitch
Sumbitch was borrowed from real life: Burt Reynolds told the sheriff's actor about a lawman back home who said it all the time, and it became the character's catchphrase.
Q 15Sheriff Buford T. Justice was named after a real highway patrolman whom Burt Reynolds's father knew in which state?
Florida
Florida: Burt Reynolds's father was police chief of Riviera Beach and knew a highway patrolman named Buford T. Justice, so the name was borrowed for the film's Texas sheriff.
Q 16Which TV western star was the studio's pick to play Sheriff Buford T. Justice?
Richard Boone
Richard Boone, the Have Gun – Will Travel star, was the studio's choice, but Burt Reynolds wanted someone 'a little crazier, a little more dangerous, and a lot funnier' and pushed for the eventual star.
Q 17Smokey and the Bandit was the directorial debut of which former stuntman?
Hal Needham
Hal Needham had been Burt Reynolds's stunt double and houseguest for more than a decade when he wrote the script and talked his famous friend into starring.
Q 18Which film was the only one to out-gross Smokey and the Bandit domestically in 1977?
Star Wars
Star Wars alone earned more at the US box office in 1977; the trucker comedy was a sleeper that caught fire in Southern theatres before spreading nationwide.
Q 19In which state was Smokey and the Bandit primarily shot?
Georgia
Georgia stood in for every state on the route: even the famous bridge jump, set in Arkansas, was filmed outside the town of Jonesboro.
Q 20In Smokey and the Bandit, what does runaway bride Carrie do for a living?
A dancer
A dancer: Carrie calls herself a gypsy who goes from chorus line to chorus line, and boasts that she was on Broadway once, for almost 12 minutes, because the show closed on its first night.
The Lakewood Fairgrounds truck rodeo is where the bet began and must end: Snowman rams the police roadblock at the gate and the heroes roll in just before the deadline.
Q 24What double-or-nothing challenge do the Bandit and Carrie accept at the end?
Fetch clam chowder from Boston
Fetch clam chowder from Boston: the Burdettes offer double or nothing on an 18-hour run, and the heroes speed off in the Burdettes' convertible with the sheriff's wrecked cruiser limping behind.
Q 25Which famous director counted Smokey and the Bandit among his favourite films, as his daughter later confirmed?
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock screened films in his studio office every week, and his daughter Patricia confirmed that this good-ol'-boy chase comedy was a favourite of his final years.
Q 26For which Academy Award was Smokey and the Bandit nominated?
Best Film Editing
Best Film Editing brought the film an Oscar nomination, on a shoot where the stunt cars were wrecked so fast that the crew stripped dead ones for parts to keep the last running.
Q 27Smokey and the Bandit premiered at which famous New York venue?
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall hosted the premiere, where the trucker comedy did poor business; rebooked into Southern theatres and drive-ins, it took off and was then reopened across the country.
Q 28Which studio distributed Smokey and the Bandit?
Universal
Universal backed the film but sent a 'hatchet man' two days before shooting to cut $1 million from the budget, forcing a 30-hour scramble to redo the schedule.
Q 29Pat McCormick, who plays Big Enos Burdette, was a joke writer for which late-night host?
Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson delivered Pat McCormick's best-known gag after a Los Angeles tremor: 'Due to today's earthquake, the God Is Dead rally has been canceled.'
Q 30The idea for Smokey and the Bandit came to its director on the set of which 1976 Burt Reynolds film?
Gator
Gator was on location in the South, where Coors couldn't be bought, when a stuntman on the crew caught a hotel maid stealing his smuggled bottles and saw a movie plot in it.