A screenwriter, director and producer who has had his hand in many film comedies from the late 1970s, Shyer has frequently teamed with his wife Nancy Meyers and screenwriter Alan Mandel. The son of a Directors Guild founder, Shyer got his first credit as a producer (with Mandel) of the TV pilot "Cops" (CBS, 1973), but quickly moved on to writing. He contributed episodes of "All in the Family" and "The Odd Couple", among others. After penning (again with Mandel) the pilot "Lady Luck" (NBC, 1973), he moved into films with the crowd-pleasing Burt Reynolds vehicle "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977,