Billy Ray Cyrus Stars in 'Christmas Returns to Canaan,' A Hallmark Channel Original Movie

Country music superstar and multiple Grammy(R) nominee Billy Ray Cyrus stars in "Christmas Returns to Canaan," a Hallmark Channel Original Movie World Premiere coming exclusively to Hallmark Channel during Holiday 2011. "Christmas Returns to Canaan" is the sequel to the network's highly-rated "Christmas in Canaan" [OAD December 12, 2009]. Cyrus, Grammy(R) nominated in 1993 for his debut album "Some Gave All," will write and perform an original song for "Christmas Returns to Canaan," which he also did for the debut movie in the "Canaan" film series. Hallmark Channel's "Countdown to Christmas," one of the most anticipated seasonal events in entertainment, features more hours of holiday-themed programming than any other network.

In "Christmas Returns to Canaan," Cyrus reprises his role as Daniel Burton in the 1960s-era saga of a family's experiences in racially charged Canaan, TX. In the story, Daniel's son Bobber needs extensive orthopedic surgery and months of intensive physical therapy to recover from being struck down by an automobile. Rodney Freeman (Matt Ward, narrates the story), the young black man who Daniel took into his home and raised as another son, has become a famous writer and offers to fly Daniel and Bobber to San Francisco and to pay for the surgery. Once in San Francisco, Daniel meets Briony Adair (Gina Holden), a physical rehabilitation specialist who will be working toward Bobber's recovery. When therapy progresses slowly, Bobber invites Briony to come home to Canaan to spend Christmas with the Burtons and continue his treatment. Briony is a natural at caring for a thriving family, but Sarah, Daniel's daughter, distances herself not wanting to dishonor her late mother's memory with the caring woman who has captivated Daniel's time and attention. A dust-up involving a Burton family Christmas tradition causes Briony to leave, and Sarah immediately feels sad that she behaved so jealously.

Daniel begins to feel just as lonely as he discovers Sarah has applied to college and will leave home soon. Concerned with the thought of losing both Sarah and Briony, Daniel busies himself helping his neighbor Shoup overcome the prejudice of the townspeople who refuse to do business with an African-American merchant. Before long, business is booming and Daniel is too busy to notIce That Sarah has made a trip to the West Coast to smooth things over with Briony. When Daniel returns home from work, he questions an extra place setting at the table. Daniel soon learns a very special friend has returned to Canaan. "Christmas Returns To Canaan" is a Canaan Films Inc. Production. Ted Bauman, Howard Braunstein, Dan Angel and Margaret Loesch are executive producers. Lynne Bespflug, Darin Oishi and Neill Fearnley are associate producers. Ted Bauman is producer and Donald Davenport is co-produceR. Neill Fearnley directed from a teleplay by Donald Davenport. Based on the book by Kenny Rogers and Donald Davenport.

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 87.5 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leading network in quality family programming with an ambitious slate of original TV movies, lifestyle and general entertainment content, and is the home of "The Martha Stewart Show", which anchors the channel's new daytime HOME block. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, which focuses on the 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.

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