Month of Marathons Include Massive Halloween Scare-Athon and Tom Cruise-Athon Englewood Cliffs, NJ (September 27, 2005) - Universal HD's October lineup features new series Medical Investigation and the HD premiere of Complete Savages, marathons like the Tom Cruise-athon and weekend-long Halloween Scare-athon, and the continuation of its Friday SportsNight block. On October 16, Universal HD has invited you to jump on your couch and get crazy with its Tom Cruise-athon, featuring two highlights from Cruise's early career. Far and Away, a romantic adventure directed by Ron Howard, stars Cruise and Nicole Kidman as two young Irish immigrants who move to America in the 1890s to create a better life for themselves. With Born on the Fourth of July, Cruise earned an Oscar(r) nomination and a Golden Globe(r) Award for his portrayal of an idealistic young American who proudly enlists during the Vietnam War, but returns a quadriplegic and must then struggle to overcome drug-addiction and depression in order to turn his life around. Over Halloween Weekend (Saturday, October 29 - Monday October 31), Universal HD provides its extensive Halloween Scare-athon, with over 70 hours of chilling programming in high def. Movies include The Frighteners, Casper, The Guardian, and Ghost Story, along with great classics like Curse of the Werewolf, Sci-Fi favorites like Decoys and Tremors 3 & 4, creepy episodes of Medical Investigation, and a special Halloween episode of Complete Savages. The series Medical Investigation continues its Universal HD rollout with new-to-HD episodes in October. The show features Neal McDonough and Kelli Williams as members of a mobile medical team from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who are summoned in a heartbeat to scope out -- and hopefully snuff out -- outbreaks of unexplained and fearful diseases. Additionally, from Emmy-winning writers/executive producers Julie Thacker-Scully, Mike Scully and Academy Award-winning director and producer Mel Gibson welcomes the Universal HD premiere of Complete Savages, a show chronicling the amusing and chaotic trials and tribulations of a father single-handedly raising five teenage boys. In addition, every Friday night, Universal HD continues its thrilling Friday SportsNight block, featuring more coverage of the Dew Action Sports Tour and sports-themed movies including The Babe and North Shore. "With our three-day Halloween Scare-athon beginning October 29, we can't promise that viewers will feel safe when they see the frightening line-up of horror classics in true HD," said Dan Harrison, Senior Vice President, Cross-Network Strategy & Emerging Networks for NBC Universal Cable Entertainment. "Also this month, we have live coverage of the Playstation Pro on October 14 and 15 at Midnight as part of the Dew Action Sports Tour." Universal HD, an NBC Universal Cable network, launched in fourth quarter 2004 is currently available in systems reaching more than 28 million homes in 100% 1080i HD, 24/7. Universal HD offers the best of NBC Universal's library in HD. Programming includes unedited and uninterrupted films, "Backdraft," "Carlito's Way," "Apollo 13" and "The Fast and the Furious;" award-winning series such as "Monk," "Law & Order: SVU" and "Battlestar Galactica;" performing arts and special events, "Music in High Places" and sports programming including the US Open and the 2004 Summer Olympics. For more information, please visit www.universalhd.com.