OXYGEN AIRS "GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER" AS PART OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION
OXYGEN CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND 40th ANNIVERSDAY OF "GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER"
Groundbreaking Film Screens Sunday, February 24th at 2:00PM ET/PT
New York � February 19, 2008 � Oxygen airs "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" as part of its celebration of Black History Month and in homage to the groundbreaking movie's 40th anniversary. Staring Sidney Poitier, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, the 1967 comedy-drama tackles the controversial subject of interracial marriage. The film won the 1967 Academy Award� for best Writing Original Screenplay and garnered a Best Actress win for Katherine Hepburn. "Guess Who's Coming to Diner" shows on Oxygen Sunday, February 24th at 2:00PM ET/PT.
"'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' was a provocative, relevant movie when it premiered forty years ago and it remains so today," said Jason Klarman, General Manager of Oxygen.
Historically, interracial marriage had been illegal in most of the United States, and was still illegal in 17 Southern U.S. States until June of the movie's premiere year.
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is the story of an affluent white girl Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton) and prominent black doctor John Prentice (Sidney Poitier). After falling in love on vacation, the movie begins as they come to the San Francisco home of Joey's successful and influential parents Matt (Spencer Tracy) and Christina (Katharine Hepburn). Although the two consider themselves to be socially progressive, the prospect of this interracial marriage startles both of them - especially Matt. The situation becomes even more entangled when John tells Matt that he won't marry Joey without Matt's blessing, a factor that becomes exacerbated by the couple's insistence that they get married immediately.
About Oxygen Media
Oxygen is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and is currently available in over 73 million homes. The network was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape -- creating a network targeted to younger women. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's television, with a vast array of unconventional and original programming including "The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency," "The Bad Girls Club" and "Tori & Dean: Inn Love."
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