HOOPS&YOYO RETURN FOR AN ADVENTURE THAT'S SO FUNNY IT'S SCARY IN "HOOPS&YOYO'S HAUNTED HALLOWEEN" A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL ANIMATED SPECIAL, OCTOBER 26

Hallmark Channel presents the World Premiere of the Hallmark Channel Original Animated Special, "hoops&yoyo's Haunted Halloween," Friday, October 26 (7pm ET/PT, 6C). The half-hour special about the world's most famous pink kitty & green bunny team will encore immediately after its premiere.

In "hoops&yoyo's Haunted Halloween," hoops&yoyo have waited until the last minute to search for costumes. When their search leads them to the mall, hoops&yoyo find themselves locked inside after closing. They soon discover that they're not alone - the mall is actually haunted by monsters. Through a series of frighteningly ridiculous events, hoops&yoyo learn that the "monsters" aren't monsters at all. It's a hilarious adventure for the whole family that's so funny, it's scary!

"Our partnership with Hallmark Cards to produce original animated fare is still in its infancy and yet has already delivered several imaginative, creative, even award-worthy programs around the hoops&yoyo and Jingle the Husky Pup brands," said Michelle Vicary, Executive Vice President, Programming, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel.

"Last year's first-ever hoops&yoyo animated TV special (hoops&yoyo Ruin Christmas) was so well-received by the characters' fan base that Halloween was the next logical story to tell," Vicary concluded.

Created by Bob Holt and Mike Adair in 2003, hoops&yoyo have gone from e-card characters to launching their own web site (hoopsandyoyo.com) and successful retail product lines, including paper greeting cards with sound, gift products, phone apps and more. 2012 is also the characters' third year as hosts of the popular "Hallmark Channel's Movie Night with hoops&yoyo."

"hoops&yoyo's Haunted Halloween" is produced by Pershing Road Productions in association with Bent Image Lab. Jodi Schade, Diana Larson Stuart, Shawn McClaren and Ray DiCarlo are executive producers. Tsui Ling Toomer is producer. Rob Shaw directs from a teleplay by Dan Taylor, Peter Martin, Bev Carlson, and Michael Hauge.

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 available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of over 87 million subscribers. The top-tier program service is distributed through approximately 5,500 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leading destination for quality family programming with an ambitious slate of original TV movies and specials, as well as some of television's most beloved sitcoms and series, including The Golden Girls, Frasier, Little House on the Prairie, and The Waltons. Since 2010, Hallmark Channel has also been home to original daytime lifestyle programming and is debuting two new daily series, Home & Family and Marie, on October 1, 2012. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, which focuses on family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, original Hallmark Channel movies and special events.