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seven-time Emmy^® winner EDWARD ASNER STARS IN A

POWERFUL STORY OF LOVE, FAMILY, SERVICE and tradition

‘THE CHRISTMAS CARD,’

A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE,

PREMIERES DECEMBER 2 

John Newton, Alice Evans and Lois Nettleton Also Star 

Edward Asner, iconic seven-time Emmy^® Award-winning actor who starred in such TV classics as “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Lou Grant,” stars in a powerful story of love, family, service and tradition in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie, “The Christmas Card,” premiering exclusively on the network, Saturday, December 2 (9/8 c).  Encore presentations are Saturday, December 2 (11/10c), Sunday, December 3 (1am/12c), Thursday, December 7 (9/8c) and Monday, December 25 (7/6c).  The film salutes the sacrifices made by America’s men and women in uniform, especially during the holidays.

          “The Christmas Card” is the story of Cody Cullen (John Newton), a career soldier who is deeply touched by an anonymous holiday card he receives while serving in Afghanistan.  When he returns to the United States, he treks to the picturesque California town of Nevada City, from which the card originated.  He soon meets and unexpectedly falls in love with Faith (Alice Evans), the woman who sent the card – and is practically accepted as a new member of the family by her parents (Asner and Lois Nettleton).  But there’s one major roadblock to happily-ever-after:  The girl has a boyfriend who moves fast to propose once Cody is in the picture.  Will Faith accept?  Or is the soldier a soul mate who rescues Faith in the nick of time?Asner, a seven-time Emmy^® winner, starred last year in Hallmark Channel’s “Out of the Woods” and is reunited with “Woods” director Stephen Bridgewater.  John Newton (“Desperate Housewives,” “Melrose Place”), Alice Evans (“102 Dalmatians”), Lois Nettleton (“Crossing Jordan”), Ben Weber (“Everwood”) and Peter Jason (“Deadwood”) also star.

“The Christmas Card” is an RHI Entertainment Presentation of an Alpine Medien Production in association with Larry Levinson Productions. Robert Halmi Jr. and Larry Levinson are executive producers.  Stephen Bridgewater directed from a screenplay by Joany Kane.

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 75 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 Total Day and Prime Time household ratings and is the nation’s leading network in providing family-friendly programming.  Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel. 

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