Patricia Richardson and More Star in Hallmark Channel's SMART COOKIES, Debuting Tonight, 8/18

In celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the Girl Scouts of the USA, four-time Emmy(R) nominee and two-time Golden Globe(R) nominated actress Patricia Richardson ("Home Improvement") stars with Jessalyn Gilsig ("Glee") and Bailee Madison ("Just Go With It") in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie World Premiere, SMART COOKIES tonight, August 18 (8 p.m. ET/PT, 7C). In the film, Gilsig portrays a perfectionist real estate agent who gets a new perspective when she's asked to lead a struggling Girl Scout troop through their competitive annual cookie drive. Ty Olsson ("The Twilight Saga") and Samantha Ferris ("Supernatural") co-star.

Julie Sterling (Gilsig) is a high-maintenance realtor who is just two sales away from being named "Real Estate Agent of the Year." A firm businesswoman, her schedule doesn't leave much time for anything else, including relationships. So when her boss Lola (Richardson) launches a closeted promotion for the company masquerading as company-wide commitment to community pro-social work, and assigns Julie to lead a struggling local Girl Scout troop, Julie is full of protests. Then, she meets the group of hopeless girls, a troop named the Fireflies, including eager new member Daisy (Madison). As she gets to the know the girls and sees their desperate need for friendship and self-esteem, Julie begins to do whatever it takes to transform them from zeroes to heroes in the annual cookie sale competition against their cruel rivals, the Monarchs, led by superior scout volunteer Hazel (Ferris).

With her high-powered sales skills, Julie puts the coveted "Real Estate Agent of the Year" possibility on hold and coaches the girls toward the highest profit on the cookie drive - until she finds out one of her girls is hiding a painful family secret and needs the help of her fellow scouts. To earn her own badge of compassion - and discover a meaningful romance with Daisy's dad (Olsson) - Julie must learn the bottom line isn't as important as the lasting bonds she's building with the scouts she's come to love.

"Smart Cookies," is a Front Street Pictures Production. Linda Kent, Robert Iscove, Jack Grossbart, Allen Lewis and Jimmy Hawkins are executive producerS. Harvey Kahn is the producer. Robert Iscove is also the director.

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 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. The channel is also home to The Martha Stewart Show and other lifestyle content. 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.

Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls, with 3.2 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouts is the leading authority on girls' healthy development, and builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. The organization serves girls from every corner of the United States and its territories. Girl Scouts of the USA also serves American girls and their classmates attending American or international schools overseas in 90 countries. 

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