DELTA BURKE, CHRIS ELLIOTT AND MICHAEL MCKEAN JOIN CAST OF NBC'S "THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS," ALSO STARRING JOHN GOODMAN, CHRIS KATTAN, ETHAN SUPLEE, EDDIE GRIFFIN AND CAROL KANE

Filming of Family Christmas Comedy Now Underway in Louisiana

BURBANK, Calif. � July 14, 2006 � Delta Burke ("Designing Women"), Chris Elliott ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and Michael McKean ("A Mighty Wind") have joined the cast of NBC's "The Year Without a Santa Claus," a heartwarming story about Santa Claus and a young boy who help each other believe in Christmas again.

The film, which also stars John Goodman, Chris Kattan, Ethan Suplee, Eddie Griffin and Carol Kane as previously announced, will air on NBC during the 2006 holiday season. "The Year Without a Santa Claus" is based on the 1974 Rankin-Bass holiday perennial that featured stop-motion animation.

Burke will play Mrs. Claus, and Elliott and McKean will play Heatmiser and Snowmiser, the two feuding sons of Mother Nature (Kane). Mrs. Claus is greatly dismayed when Santa (Goodman) � convinced that people have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas � decides to take a year off and not deliver any gifts. She enlists the help of his two closest elves, Jingle (Suplee) and Jangle (Griffin), to help prove there are children who still care about the true spirit of the holiday. But their efforts are complicated by Heatmiser (Elliott) and Snowmiser (McKean), whose help Jingle and Jangle will need to save Christmas � before Santa's devious head elf (Kattan) takes over his job.

Mark Wolper ("Salem's Lot," "Helter Skelter") is the executive producer, and Ron Underwood ("City Slickers," "Mighty Joe Young") directs the two-hour movie from the Wolper Company in association with Warner Bros. Television. "The Year Without a Santa Claus" is filming in Shreveport and Natchitoches, Louisiana.