'A GRANDPA FOR CHRISTMAS' RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS DOVE FAMILY APPROVED SEAL

HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE PREMIERING NOVEMBER 24 STARS ICONIC ERNEST BORGNINE, JULIETTE GOGLIA AND JAMIE FARR

Today the Dove Foundation announces that "A Grandpa for Christmas," a Hallmark Channel Original movie starring Academy Award�-winning actor Ernest Borgnine, which premieres Saturday, November 24 (9/8c), has received the group's highest honor, the Dove Family Approved Seal.

The Dove Foundation is a non-profit organization established to encourage and promote the creation, production, distribution and consumption of wholesome family entertainment. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leader of family-friendly entertainment.

"A Grandpa for Christmas," is a heartwarming holiday tale about Bert O'Riley (Borgnine), a retired song and dance man who becomes the instant guardian to the nine-year-old granddaughter he never knew he had. After living alone for 25 years, O'Riley is not much good at living with other people, much less a little girl who has heard nothing but negative stories about him from her mother and grandmother. The two lost souls eventually warm to one another and find a connection in a school Christmas pageant.

"A Grandpa for Christmas" also stars Juliette Goglia ("Ugly Betty"), Jamie Farr (M*A*S*H) and Katherine Helmond ("Everybody Loves Raymond").

It is an RHI Entertainment presentation of an Alpine Medien Film in Association with Larry Levinson Productions. Robert Halmi, Jr. and Larry Levinson are the executive producers. Nick Lombardo and Michael Moran are co-executive producers and Brian Gordon and Erik Olson are producers. The director is Harvey Frost, and David Alexander is the writer.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of nearly 85 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,300 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Prime Time and Total Day household ratings and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel, and will launch Hallmark Movie Channel HD in first quarter 2008.