HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL ADDS SOME MAGIC THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH "THE MOST WONDERFUL MOVIES OF CHRISTMAS" ITS FIRST-EVER UNIQUE HOLIDAY PROGRAMMING SLATE

"The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas" Features The Network's First-Ever Original Holiday Movie "Christmas with Tucker" And Five Christmas Classics

Hallmark Movie Channel is giving its viewers a special gift by celebrating the joy of Christmas with a unique programming slate of holiday-themed movies. Programming this holiday season will feature 24-hours of heart-warming, family-friendly Christmas Classics and the premiere of its first-ever original holiday movie as part of the new seasonal programming event, "The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas." The Hallmark Movie Channel Original, "Christmas With Tucker," starring Golden Globe(R) and Emmy(R) winner James Brolin, Gage Monroe, Josie Bissett and Barbara Gordon, will premiere Monday, November 18 (8pm ET/PT, 7C) alongside five beloved and classic family Christmas movies airing on Hallmark Movie Channel.

In the original heartwarming tale "Christmas With Tucker," young George (Munroe) learns to be a man after the death of his father and separation from his mother (Bissett). He spends time with his grandparents (Brolin and Gordon) on their Kansas farm over the holidays, where he makes a new friend in a dog named, Tucker. George attempts to adopt Tucker as his own and discovers the importance of responsibility and the power of true love just in time for Christmas. "Christmas With Tucker" is a prequel to the 2009 Hallmark Hall of Fame film "A Dog Named Christmas."

Hallmark Movie Channel will also premiere five family-friendly Christmas classics as part of "The Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas":

· "Christmas in Connecticut" (1945) starring Barbara Stanwyck as a Manhattan food writer who is forced to pose as the country housewife persona she's created in her column.

· "The Bishop's Wife" (1947) starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven, an angel is sent to help a stubborn Episcopal bishop remember the importance of family.

· "Babes in Toyland" (1961) featuring Annette Funicello as Mary Contrary and Tommy Sands as Tom Piper in a fun-filled holiday adventure featuring favorite nursery rhyme characters.

· "Holiday Affair" (1949) A romantic comedy set in a department store starring Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh and Wendell Cory.

· "It Happened on 5th Avenue" (1947) starring Gale Storm, Victor Moore and Ann Harding, a band of homeless New Yorkers make a boarded-up Fifth Avenue mansion their holiday house.

Hallmark Movie Channel, the second linear channel from Crown Media Holdings, Inc., simulcast in SD (Standard Definition) and HD (High Definition), is a trusted family-friendly network devoted to quality storytelling. Available in over 50 million homes and one of the fastest-growing cable TV networks, Hallmark Movie Channel is a 24-hour digital cable network dedicated to bringing viewers original movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, and presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library. In today's crowded television landscape, the network offers viewers a diverse range of film genres, including mysteries, westerns, coming-of-age dramas, and epic fantasies.

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