October 20, 2005

MULTIPLE EMMY AND GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD WINNER MARY TYLER MOORE, EMMY AND GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD WINNER CAMRYN MANHEIM, JENNIFER ESPOSITO, ERIC SZMANDA, POPPY MONTGOMERY AND JASON PRIESTLEY STAR IN "SNOW WONDER," A NEW HOLIDAY TELEVISION MOVIE TO BE BROADCAST SUNDAY, NOV. 20 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Mary Tyler Moore ("The Mary Tyler Moore" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show"), Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Camryn Manheim ("The Practice"), Jennifer Esposito ("Crash"), Eric Szmanda ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"), Poppy Montgomery ("Without A Trace") and Jason Priestley ("Beverly Hills 90210") star in SNOW WONDER, a new holiday movie to be broadcast as the "CBS Sunday Movie," Sunday, Nov. 20 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SNOW WONDER is based on the short story by Connie Willis, in which a suspiciously magical Christmas Eve snowstorm blows some small miracles into the lives of people around the country.? The five distinct stories are unconnected, but each unique story shows the profound way in which people's lives are affected by the strange weather anomaly, or as some may call it, the divine miracle.

They are: Paula (Montgomery), a lovelorn maid-of-honor at her best friend's wedding who, with the help of the blizzard, suddenly realizes that her unrequited love for the groom isn't so unrequited; Bev (Manheim), a recently widowed woman who flees to New Mexico to escape memories of her husband's favorite holiday; Pilar (Esposito), a single, divorced mother who dreads the idea of her son spending Christmas with his abusive father; Luke (Szmanda), who is trapped inside his tiny apartment with his crazy Aunt Lula (Moore) and is amazed when she reveals the secret romances she had with some famous actors; and Marjean (Caroline McKinley), who, thanks to the weather, discovers the truth about her philandering husband, Warren (Priestley).?

Mary Tyler Moore earned seven Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress for her starring roles in the Network comedy series "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." She also received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Mini-Series or Special for "Stolen Babies." She was nominated for Emmy Awards for her performances in the CBS television movie "First You Cry" and the mini-series "Gore Vidal's Lincoln." Moore earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, as well as a Golden Globe Award, for the feature film "Ordinary People." Her television credits also include the films "Mary and Rhoda," "Payback," "The Last Best Year," "Heartsounds," "Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes" and "Blessings," both on the Network, and "The Gin Game." Among her other feature film credits are "Flirting with Disaster," "Just Between Friends" and "Six Weeks." Moore was honored with a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway play "Whose Life Is It Anyway?"

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Camryn Manheim won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the long-running television series "The Practice." She also appeared in the television series "Will & Grace," "Chicago Hope," on the Network, "Ally McBeal" and "Gideon's Crossing." Manheim's television movie credits include "The Laramie Project," "The Loretta Claiborne Story" and the mini-series "The Tenth Kingdom." Her feature film credits include "Scary Movie 3," ?"Twisted," "Dark Water," "The Road to Wellville," "Eraser," "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" and "Happiness." ? Manheim's theater credits include "Missing Persons" and her one-woman show, "Wake Up, I'm Fat!," which was also a New York Times best-selling book.

Jennifer Esposito's feature film credits include "Crash," "Summer of Sam," "Taxi," "Breaking All The Rules," "Kiss Me Guido," "No Looking Back," "Boys Life 3," "Just One Time," "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer," "Don't Say A Word," "The Bachelor," "Side Streets," "Welcome To Collinwood" and "Dracula 2000." Her television series credits include "Related," "Spin City" and "New York Undercover." She also appeared in the television movie "The Sunshine Boys."

Eric Szmanda is best known for his role as Greg Sanders in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," on the Network. His other television series credits include "The Net," "The Division," "Oh Baby!," "Freakylinks," "Three Sisters" and "Zoe." His feature film credits include "The Rules of Attraction," "True Vinyl" and "Little Athens." Szmanda starred on stage last fall in the one-man show "Hyenas" at the Stages Theatre Center in Hollywood. His additional stage credits include "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and regional productions of "Black Box," "La Indian Queen" and "The Bullfight." He served as a music consultant on the feature film "Life as a House."

Poppy Montgomery is best known for her role as Samantha Spade in "Without A Trace," on the Network. Among her other television credits are the CBS mini-series "Blonde," in which she starred as Marilyn Monroe, and the movie "Raising Waylon," also on the Network. She was a series regular in "Relativity" and in "The Beat," opposite Mark Ruffalo. She was first seen in a starring role in the feature film "Dead Man on Campus." Her other feature film credits include "The Other Sister," "Life," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Between."

Jason Priestley is best known for his role as Brandon Walsh on the series "Beverly Hills 90210." His other television credits include the upcoming series "Love Monkey," on the Network, "Tru Calling," "Sister Kate" and the television movies "Murder at the Presidio," "Colditz," "Sleep Murder," "I Want To Marry Ryan Banks," "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye," "Homicide: The Movie," "Common Ground," "Vanishing Point," "Teen Angel" and "Teen Angel Returns." His feature film credits include "Tombstone," "Love and Death on Long Island," "Going the Distance," "Chicks with Sticks," "Die, Mommie, Die!," "Fancy Dancing," "Time of the Wolf," "Cover Story," "Cherish," "Dark Side," "The Fourth Angel," "Zigs," "Eye of the Beholder," "Coldblooded" and "Calendar Girl."

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SNOW WONDER is produced by The Wolper Organization in association with Warner Bros. Television. Mark M. Wolper ("Helter Skelter") and Ragna Nervik are the executive producers; Vince Gerardis ("Riverworld") and Ralph Vicinanza ("Riverworld") are the co-executive producers and Gideon Amir ("My Mother, the Spy") is the producer. Peter Werner ("Boomtown") directed the movie from a script by Rodney Vaccaro ("Three To Tango") based on a short story by Connie Willis.

RATING: To Be Announced

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Press Contacts: Kelli Raftery 212-975-3163 kraftery@cbs.com Tiffany Smith 323-575-3833 tiffany.smith@tvc.cbs.com

Photo Contacts:         Nancy Eichenbaum        212-975-7627            neichenbaum@cbs.com
                        Rudi Simpson    323-575-201             rudi.simpson@tvc.cbs.com