The "Hallmark Hall of Fame," a staple of CBS Sunday nights for 16 years, is moving to ABC this fall.
In the new arrangement, formally announced this morning but a done deal for months, "HHOF" will air its three-a-year productions Sunday nights before Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day — and then reair one week later on Hallmark Channel, which is owned by Crown Media Holdings, in which the card company holds a controlling interest. Until now Hallmark Channel has simply promoted "HHOF" as one of its many made-for-TV-movies."ABC contacted us and we started talking to both of them," said Brad Moore, the president of the Hallmark Hall of Fame, in an interview this morning. "And we started talking to the Hallmark Channel too, looking at all our options. The most honest way to tell you about that process is that I thought: Why not the best of both worlds?"One of television's oldest, most honored franchises (80 Emmys and 11 Peabodys), "HHOF" is the last of its kind — the single-sponsor anthology series. All of its counterparts were killed off in the 1950s by the TV Western, but it survived and thrived thanks to the ongoing support of "Hallmark Cards of Kansas City," as the announcer always says at the beginning of the program."HHOF" has been on ABC, NBC, PBS and CBS over its six-decade history. Moore said that the ABC deal won't result in fatter production budgets or a return to the old four-a-year schedule. But it will aim its feel-good stories at an audience just a bit more appealing than the one watching CBS on Sunday nights."This is all about reaching a young adult women audience," Moore said. "ABC has a lot of shows with an emotional basis more than a crime show basis. I'd just have to say it's a real good fit."Moore was on the set of the next "HHOF," currently filming in Detroit and based on a Mitch Albom book, "Have a Little Faith." It stars Bradley Whitford, Laurence Fishburne and Martin Landau and is directed by Jon Avnet.Not surprisingly, the biggest star of "HHOF's" 2010-11 season is planning a return to the Hallmark screen — the ageless Betty White."We've got another one in the works with her," Moore said.Read more Aaron Barnhart
Posted on Thu, Jul. 07, 2011 11:13 AM
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Hallmark Hall of Fame moving to ABC, Hallmark Channel
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