TCM Assembles Star-Studded 2008 Line-Up of Original Specials and Festivals

Sally Field, Laurence Fishburne, Richard Gere, Ed Norton, Abigail Breslin, Chris O'Donnell, Sydney Pollack, George Takei and Quentin Tarantino Among Talents Involved in Upcoming TCM Projects

Year Includes Tributes to Actor-Singer Frank Sinatra, Filmmaker Walter Mirisch and Animator Chuck Jones

TCM Continues Examination of Race in Hollywood With Month-Long Festival Focusing on Asian Images in Film

TCM to Launch Original Interview Series TCM PRESENTS ELVIS MITCHELL: UNDER THE INFLUENCE in July

Turner Classic Movies (TCM), basic cable's only classic movie network offering movies uncut and commercial free, is packing its 2008 programming slate with some of Hollywood's favorite talents. Oscar�- and Emmy�-winning actress Sally Field is among the many high-profile talents joining TCM host Robert Osborne for the monthly GUEST PROGRAMMER series. And Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Golden Globe� nominee Chris O'Donnell (Scent of a Woman) are teaming up to host the new movie showcase TCM ESSENTIALS JR.

Other 2008 projects for TCM include a new interview series hosted by film critic and interviewer Elvis Mitchell, entitled TCM PRESENTS ELVIS MITCHELL: UNDER THE INFLUENCE; a tribute to Frank Sinatra, presented in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of his death in May; an October documentary featuring renowned animator Chuck Jones discussing memories from his storied childhood; and a new edition of PRIVATE SCREENINGS, featuring a conversation between Osborne and veteran movie producer Walter Mirisch. In June, TCM devotes the month to examining Asian images in film, the third installment in its exploration of race in Hollywood.

"Our 2008 slate takes TCM to a whole new level, both in terms of the caliber of talent featured and the depth with which we are going to examine the art of filmmaking and the social issues influencing and influenced by cinema," said Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM. "We look forward to bringing these exciting projects to classic movie fans of all ages."

The following are highlights of upcoming programming on TCM:

GUEST PROGRAMMERS

Each month on this movie showcase, TCM invites a celebrity to exchange star status for a role as a devoted fan of classic film by picking a few favorite movies and sharing with viewers what he or she has come to love about each one. Upcoming stars featured on the showcase include acclaimed actor Tim Roth (May), talk-show host and humorist Bill Maher (June), Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Sally Field (July), Oscar-nominated director John Singleton (September) and The Office co-star Rainn Wilson (October).

TCM SALUTES FRANK SINATRA � Month-long film festival � Sundays and Wednesdays in May, beginning May 7 at 8 p.m.

Marking the 10th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's death, TCM will pay tribute to "Ol' Blue Eyes" with a month-long festival of films and specials airing Sundays and Wednesdays throughout the month. The Wednesday presentations will be hosted by his children: Nancy Sinatra, Tina Sinatra and Frank Sinatra, Jr. Among the films included in the May celebration are From Here to Eternity (1953), featuring Sinatra's Oscar-winning performance; the musicals Pal Joey (1957), On the Town (1949) and Anchors Aweigh (1945); the Rat Pack comedies Ocean's Eleven (1960) and Sergeants 3 (1962); and powerhouse dramas like The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), which earned him a second Oscar nomination, and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Also included are four outstanding television specials, including Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music (1965) and Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (1967), the latter teaming him up with songstress Ella Fitzgerald and Brazilian songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim.

RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: ASIAN IMAGES IN FILM � Month-long film retrospective � June

TCM will devote the month of June to an extensive, in-depth look at how Asians are depicted on film with RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: ASIAN IMAGES IN FILM. The event follows TCM's highly successful 2006 look at African-American images in film and its 2007 examination of gay images in film. Joining TCM's Robert Osborne to host RACE AND HOLLYWOOD: ASIAN IMAGES IN FILM will be Dr. Peter X. Feng, author of the books Screening Asian Americans and Identities in Motion: Asian American Film and Video. In addition, several talents from the world of film, literature and academia will take part in the festival, including filmmaker Wayne Wang, actress Ming Wen, writer Amy Tan, actress Rosalind Chao, actor George Takei, actress France Nuyen, actress Nancy Kwan, actor James Shigeta, actress Miiko Taka, film scholar Elaine Mae Woo, film producer Janet Yang and actress Lauren Tom.

TCM ESSENTIALS JR. � Sundays at 8 p.m., beginning June 1

Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Golden Globe� nominee Chris O'Donnell (Scent of a Woman) are teaming up to for TCM ESSENTIALS JR., a Sunday-night showcase that gives parents the perfect opportunity to introduce their kids to such classics as National Velvet (1944), The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), Mutiny On the Bounty (1935) and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). Breslin and O'Donnell, who are starring together in Picturehouse's summer release Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, host this showcase that demonstrates TCM's ongoing commitment to cultivating the next generation of classic movie fans. And like the network's popular ESSENTIALS, TCM ESSENTIALS JR. will provide background on the movies and what makes them a must-see for people of all ages.

TCM PRESENTS ELVIS MITCHELL: UNDER THE INFLUENCE � Original interview series � July

Movies often have a profound influence on people's lives, and nobody knows that more than one of Hollywood's top film critics/interviewers, Elvis Mitchell, who brings his special brand of in-depth and deeply personal interview style to this new original series. In each episode, Mitchell invites special celebrity guests to sit down and talk about how classic film has influenced their lives. The slate of interviewees includes acclaimed actors Edward Norton, Richard Gere, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Murray, Joan Allen and John Leguizamo, as well as Oscar-winning filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Sydney Pollack.

SUMMER UNDER THE STARS � August

TCM struts its stuff each August with the annual Summer Under the Stars festival, a month-long celebration during which each day is dedicated to one of Hollywood's most enduring personalities. Assembled from the network's library of more than 5,000 films, this one-of-a-kind festival is an opportunity for viewers to enjoy a varied selection from each star's body of work, uncut and commercial free. This year's stars include Charlie Chaplin, Anne Bancroft, Fred Astaire, Katharine Hepburn, Charlton Heston, Tony Curtis, Gene Kelly, Spencer Tracy, Greta Garbo, Michael Caine, Ava Gardner, James Garner and Greer Garson.

PRIVATE SCREENINGS: WALTER MIRISCH � September

Walter Mirish, an Oscar-winning producer and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, will sit down with TCM host Robert Osborne for an intimate discussion about Mirisch's more than 60 years in the film industry. Mirisch will talk about his storied career, which ranges from B pictures to such classics as The Magnificent Seven, West Side Story and In the Heat of the Night. He will also talk about The Mirisch Company, which for years was one of the most prolific and successful independent production companies in Hollywood.

CHUCK JONES: MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD � October

This unique special is taken from interviews the legendary animator gave just before his death in 2002. John Canemaker, who earned an Oscar for his animated short "The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation," conducted the interviews, which cover Jones' rough childhood and abusive father and how those factors led to his work in cartoons. In addition, Canemaker is creating original animation to go along with the interview.

Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 75 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. TCM presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world, the combined Time Warner and Turner film libraries, from the 1920s through the 1990s, uncut and commercial-free. The network also offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials, including the Martin Scorsese Presents: Val Lewton�The Man in the Shadows, the Emmy�-winning Stardust: The Bette Davis Story and the Emmy-nominated Brando. More information is available at tcm.com.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.