MULTIPLE EMMY AWARD WINNER KIRSTIE ALLEY STARS IN "WHILE I WAS GONE," A SUSPENSEFUL NEW TELEVISION MOVIE BASED ON THE OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION AND NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLER BY SUE MILLER, TO BE BROADCAST SUNDAY, OCT. 10, ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

Peter Horton ("thirtysomething") and Bill Smitrovich ("The Practice") Also Star

Multiple Emmy Award winner Kirstie Alley ("Cheers") stars in WHILE I WAS GONE, a suspenseful new television movie to be broadcast as the "CBS Sunday Movie" Sunday, Oct. 10 (9:00-11:00 ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Based on the Oprah Book Club Selection and New York Times best-seller by Sue Miller, the drama is about a woman whose peaceful existence is shaken to the core when a friend from her past comes back into her life. Peter Horton ("thirtysomething") and Bill Smitrovich ("The Practice") also star.

Jo Beckett (Alley) leads a comfortable life with a successful veterinary practice, a devoted husband, Reverend Daniel Beckett (Smitrovich), and a beautiful home in a lovely small town outside of Boston. Still, she is strangely dissatisfied with her life. One day, while sitting in a boat with her husband, Jo has an out-of-body type experience during which she looks down upon the boat and doesn't see herself in it. As she describes the feeling to Daniel later that evening, she feels that the experience is some sort of premonition.

One afternoon, a man brings his dog into her veterinary practice to be treated, and Jo recognizes him as Eli (Horton), a former housemate from her bohemian days more than 20 years ago, who is now married and has moved to her small town. Though they were never involved in the past, Eli is still attractive to Jo and when he invites her to lunch at a fancy hotel in Boston, she goes with the intention of sleeping with him. Instead, Eli reveals a secret to Jo that returns her to the darkest moments of her past and threatens to destroy life as she knows it.

Kirstie Alley is best known for her Emmy Award-winning performance as Rebecca Howe on the popular television series "Cheers." Other television credits include "Veronica�s Closet," the mini-series "Blonde," on the Network, the television movies "Family Sins," "The Last Don" and "The Last Don II," also on the Network, and guest appearances on "Wings," "Roseanne," "Dharma and Greg" and CBS�s "Without A Trace." Alley made her feature film debut in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." Her subsequent movie credits include "Look Who�s Talking," "Look Who�s Talking Too" and "Look Who�s Talking Now," "Sibling Rivalry," "Masquerade," "Deconstructing Harry" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous."

Peter Horton is known to television audiences for his role as Gary Shepherd in the drama "thirtysomething." He also starred in the television series "The Geena Davis Show" and "Brimstone." Horton's television movie credits include "Children of the Dark," on the Network, "Into Thin Air: Death on Everest," "Crazy Horse," "Death Benefit," "Choices of the Heart" and the mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon." His feature film credits include "Thought Crimes," "The End of Violence," "The Baby-Sitters Club," "Singles," "Where the River Runs Black" and "Children of the Corn," among others. Horton has also directed many episodes of television series including "Once and Again," "The Shield" and "The Wonder Years."

Bill Smitrovich is best known to television audiences for his portrayal of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Walsh on the series "The Practice." He also co-starred in the television series "Life Goes On" and "Crime Story." His additional television credits include the movies "The Reagans," "Far East," "A Nero Wolfe Mystery," "Texas Justice," "Labor of Love: The Arlette Schweitzer Story," the mini-series "The '60s" and CBS�s live broadcast event, "Fail Safe." Smitrovich�s feature film credits include "Thirteen Days," "Air Force One," "Ghosts of Mississippi," "Independence Day," "The Phantom," "Silver Bullet" and "Splash."

WHILE I WAS GONE is produced by von Zerneck/Sertner Films. Frank von Zerneck and Robert M. Sertner ("Scott Turow's Reversible Errors") are the executive producers; Richard Fischoff ("The Mystery of Natalie Wood") and Peter Sadowski ("Scott Turow's Reversible Errors") are the producers. Mike Robe ("The Junction Boys") directed the movie from a script by Alan Sharp ("Mission of the Shark").

RATING: To Be Announced