SUMMER DAYS (AND SUMMER NIGHTS) ARE HOT ON HALLMARK CHANNEL NETWORK SCHEDULES 14 ORIGINALS MAY-SEPTEMBER
Network�s Original Fare Includes Nine New Mysteries from the Hallmark
Channel Mystery Movie Franchises, Three Blockbuster Hallmark Channel
Original Miniseries and Two Contemporary Hallmark Channel Original Movies
Hallmark Channel keeps the heat on the network�s stellar year-to-date ratings
announcing an ambitious summer schedule of all-new Hallmark Channel Original movies,
miniseries and the premiere of season two of the popular Hallmark Channel Mystery
Movie franchises. The announcement was made by David Kenin, Executive Vice
President, Programming for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel from this
year�s NCTA National Show in San Francisco.
�We are extremely bullish about our summer season, especially with the success
our original programming has seen recently,� said Kenin. �We hope this summer
strategy will draw new viewers to their sets and introduce them to the diverse slate of
programming Hallmark Channel offers year round.�
The 14 programs for summer include two contemporary Hallmark Channel
Original movies, three big-budget blockbuster Hallmark Channel Original miniseries and
the launch of the second season of the network�s popular Hallmark Channel Mystery
Movie franchises � nine all-new whodunits. Season one of the original mystery movies
contributed significantly to the network�s recently announced first quarter 2005 ratings
success.
Hallmark Channel has just delivered its highest quarter in network history,
ranking #9 in Total Day Household Rating (.7 rtg, tied with 1 other network) and #13 in
Prime Time Household Rating (1.0 rating, tied with 2 other networks). In addition to
the previously announced ratings success of the Hallmark Channel Mystery Movie
franchises, Hallmark Channel Original movie premieres � such as �Annie�s Point� and
�Family Plan� � have also been a significant ratings driver for the network.
The Hallmark Channel Mystery Movie franchises -- �Mystery Woman,� starring
Kellie Martin and Clarence Williams III, �McBride,� starring John Larroquette and �Jane
Doe,� starring Lea Thompson � will begin premiering nine new installments beginning in
early June.
�Mystery Woman,� which originally premiered as a single two-hour movie and
instantly became a viewer favorite, was created in 2003 by Michael Sloan. But it is
acclaimed �Diagnosis Murder� creator, Joyce Burditt, who fashioned the concept into a
limited series and helms it today. Emmy�-nominated actress Kellie Martin (�Life Goes
On�) is Samantha Kinsey, an amateur sleuth who inherits her uncle�s mystery book store
and discovers that crime speaks volumes when she uses clues from the books to solve
real-life crimes. Three-time NAACP Image Award-nominee (�The General�s Daughter�)
Clarence Williams III (�Mod Squad�) is Philby, Samantha�s mysterious crime-solving
partner. �Mystery Woman� also stars Nina Siemaszko (�The West Wing�) and Casey
Sander (�Grace Under Fire�).
�McBride,� starring five-time Emmy� Award-winner John Larroquette, is a �copturned-
attorney for the little guy.� Though his cases are mostly pro bono, McBride
occasionally acquires some pay back through barter, like a rundown ranch house with
an abandoned dog (Jesse, played by Kuma) who becomes tough-talking McBride�s
constant companion. The defense won�t rest when McBride is on the case. �McBride�
also stars Marta DuBois (�Luminarias�) and Matt Lutz (�Murder Without Conviction�).
�Jane Doe� stars Lea Thompson (�Back to the Future,� �Caroline in the City�) as
Cathy Davis, a seemingly ordinary soccer mom with an extraordinary aptitude for solving
puzzles and unraveling crimes. Joe Penny (�Jake and the Fat Man�) is Frank Darnell,
Davis� former partner � now head of the super secret Central Security Agency -- who
recruits Davis back to the agency to unravel the bureau�s most baffling crimes. When
Darnell calls �code name Jane Doe,� the bad guys don�t stand a chance. William R.
Moses (�Perry Mason Mysteries�) also stars.
Hallmark Channel also announces the premieres of two Hallmark Channel
Original movies.
�Fielder�s Choice,� which premieres Saturday, June 18 (9/8 c), stars Emmy�
Award-winner Chad Lowe (�Life Goes On�) as Phillip Fielder, a single guy whose
impeccable wardrobe matches his perfectly organized apartment. Fielder doesn�t even
allow his dog (Kuma) to shed hair indoors! But, Phillip�s world is turned upside down
when his sister is killed in a tragic accident and he becomes an instant father to her son,
Zach. Struggling to maintain his place in corporate America in the cutthroat world of
advertising while also caring for his nephew, Phillip is forced to face the most difficult
decision of his life. Marin Hinkle (�Two and a Half Men�), Bodhi Elfman (�Collateral�)
and Academy� Award-nominee, two-time Golden Globe Award-winner and five-time
Golden Globe Award-nominee George Segal (�Who�s Afraid of Virginia Wolf,� �A Touch of
Class,� �Just Shoot Me�) also star.
�Back to You And Me,� which premieres Saturday, July 23 (9/8 c), stars
Grammy� Award winner Lisa Hartman Black (duet with Clint Black, �When I Said I Do,�
also Soap Opera Digest winner for �Knot�s Landing�) as Dr. Sydney Ludwick, a beautiful
physician who is grieving the loss of a beloved patient to cancer -- and the emptiness of
a relationship of convenience with another staff doctor -- when she reluctantly decides
to return to her small hometown long enough to attend her high school reunion. Rue
McClanahan (Emmy� Award-winner and three-time Emmy� Award-nominee, �The
Golden Girls�) stars as the mother whose misunderstood acceptance of Sydney�s father�s
suicide leads to deep resentment between the two women. Sydney rashly decides to go
back to the city, but a chance meeting with an ex-boyfriend (Dale Midkiff, �Love Comes
Softly�) rekindles romance and a chance for happiness where she could not find it
before � at home. �Back to You & Me� also stars Larry Manetti (�Magnum, P.I.�) and
Barbara Niven (�One Life to Live�). Hartman Black is married to country superstar, Clint
Black, who provides the music for �Back to You & Me.�
Hallmark Channel will premiere three big budget blockbuster Hallmark Channel
Original miniseries this summer.
�Frederick Forsyth�s ICON,� which premieres Monday, May 30 (7/6 c) stars threetime
Golden Globe Award-nominee Patrick Swayze (�Ghost�) in the fiercely compelling
four-hour miniseries, which is an adaptation of the novel by the same name from bestselling
author, master of intrigue and international suspense, Frederick Forsyth. In
�Frederick Forsyth�s ICON,� the manifesto of a new Russian presidential candidate has
been found � a disturbing blueprint for returning his country to a military dictatorship.
Only one ex-CIA operative is qualified to stop him. Now the life and death fight to save
the future of Russia and its people has begun. �Frederick Forsyth�s ICON� also stars
New York Film Festival Award-winner Annika Peterson (�Moment in Time�), Ben Cross
(�Chariots of Fire�), Patrick Bergin (�Patriot Games,� �Sleeping with the Enemy�), Niko
Nicotera, Marta Kondova and Emmy� Award-nominee Michael York (�The Lot�).
Jules Verne�s �The Mysterious Island,� which premieres Saturday and Sunday,
July 2-3 (9/8 c), stars Golden Globe Award-winner and two-time Emmy� Award-nominee
Kyle MacLachlan (�Twin Peaks�), two-time Emmy� and Golden Globe Award-nominee
Patrick Stewart (�The Lion in Winter,� �Moby Dick�), Gabrielle Anwar (�Scent of a
Woman,� �Body Snatchers�), Omar Gooding (�Hangin� With Mr. Cooper,� �Smart Guy�),
and the UK�s Empire Award-winner Vinnie Jones (�Two Smoking Barrels�) and follows
the adventures of a group of castaways who use their survivalist savvy to build a
functional community on an uncharted island. Based on Jules Verne�s classic novel,
�The Mysterious Island� chronicles a hot air balloon that is blown far off course and
crash lands with all of its passengers on an uncharted island. One of the marooned
voyagers nearly dies after a skirmish with bloodthirsty buccaneers, but is saved by
mysterious medicine. The group discovers their secret helper is Captain Nemo (Stewart)
who later dies and is buried at sea in his beloved submarine.
�Supernova,� which premieres Saturday and Sunday, September 3-4 (9/8 c),
stars Luke Perry (�Beverly Hills, 90210�), two-time Golden Globe Award-winner, twotime
Oscar� nominated and Emmy� Award-nominee Peter Fonda (�Ulee�s Gold,� �The
Passion of Ayn Rand� and �Easy Rider�) and two-time MTV Movie and Alma Award-
nominee Tia Carrera (�True Lies,� �Wayne�s World� and �Relic Hunter�) as a team of
scientists who make the horrifying discovery that the next star set to explode is our sun.
It�s an Armageddon that will engulf everything before turning the universe into a vast
black hole -- the most devastating explosion in nature. With flames traveling faster than
the speed of light, �Supernova� will obliterate the entire world unless the dedicated
astronomers throw disaster off course.
Hallmark Channel is a 24-hour basic cable channel that provides a diverse slate
of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 68 million
subscribers. The program service is distributed through 4,800 cable systems and
communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Crown
Media Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWN) owns and operates Hallmark Channel. In 2004,
Crown launched its second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel. Through its
subsidiary, Crown Media Distribution, LLC, Crown also distributes titles from its awardwinning
collection of movies, miniseries and films for exhibition in a variety of television
media including broadcast, cable, Video-on-Demand and High Definition Television.
For more information, please visit www.hallmarkchannel.com
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