Personal Finance And You! Things We All Should Know. Badmitton ...

Personal Finance And You! Things We All Must Know.

Personal finance is as significantly about how to invest money as it is about how to help save and invest money. The suggestions delineated beneath are meant to instruct you a little about every. If you just put into action a couple of these suggestions into your day- to-day existence, you are positive to be on a significantly far better road to securing your future.

Use your favourite credit cards often if you don?t want to drop them. Credit score card companies could close or lessen credit restrict on inactive or unprofitable accounts with no advance notice, which could negatively influence your finances in the future. Use them often and spend off the balances to remain out of financial debt.

If you happen to be clean out of school don?t purchase a home but. As a substitute, go ahead and lease an apartment right up until you have some monetary safety. The worst point you can do is pile financial debt on best of financial debt when you happen to be not even specified if you?ll have a job. Be conscious of your monetary predicament as a recent graduate.

If you usually discover your self barely generating it from a single paycheck to the up coming, you may be far better served by signing up for overdraft defense from your lender or credit union. It could include a charge of a number of bucks for each month, but the regular overdrawn account arrives with a fee of at minimum $20 for each transaction.

To help save your money you could want to contemplate doing work from home. In fact, heading to the workplace can expense you a whole lot. Between gasoline, parking, and buying meals, you are heading to finish up shelling out half of your examine just before you even get it.

1 of the easiest ways to help save a little money every month is to discover a cost-free checking account. Since of the monetary crisis taking place, it is obtaining more difficult to discover banking companies that even now offer cost-free checking. Oftentimes, banking companies fee ten bucks or more for each month for a checking account, so you finish up with a savings of above a single hundred bucks a 12 months!

Even though bottled h2o could look like an insignificant expense when you purchase it individually, it will include up above time. As a substitute of buying bottled h2o every single day, invest in a h2o filter. This will permit you to generate h2o that has the exact same flavor as bottled, at little to no expense.

It was once said that the only safe way to double one?s money is to fold it in half. This is basically telling you that there are no positive things out there, so in order to guard your finances, make positive you happen to be not enjoying wild and free with any type of investment decision possibilities. Your money will not double, but it could absolutely disappear.

It truly is crucial to have an unexpected emergency savings account just in situation something unexpected takes place. You must be putting a percentage of your income into a savings account currently, but you must have a separate account for emergencies. Becoming geared up for a disastrous predicament can help save you a whole lot of stress.

Exercising

Exercising caution when you estimate what type of mortgage loan payments you can find the money for. A mortgage loan is a very prolonged-expression monetary proposition. Meeting your payment obligations will count on how significantly money you will earn above a quantity of several years. Keep in brain the possibility that your income could remain continuous or even fall in the future, when you contemplate mortgage loan payments.

You require to assess the stability in your portfolio every 12 months. Re-balancing will support your investments remain aligned with chance tolerance as nicely as objectives. It will also permit you practice buying very low and selling substantial, which is often a great idea.

By investing, shelling out, and conserving meticulously we guarantee our future. Every single of these actions necessitate thorough consideration of occasionally even the seemingly inconsequential elements of our individual finances. They necessitate arranging. By having to pay interest to these particulars now we can help save ourselves substantial monetary regret in the future.

Source: http://vvbbc.com/2012/03/personal-finance-and-you-things-we-all-should-know/

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Egypt's Brotherhood considering presidential run

CAIRO (AP) ? The leadership of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is meeting to decide whether to field a candidate from its ranks for the country's upcoming presidential election.

The outcome of Tuesday's meeting will send a signal as to whether the fundamentalist group intends to escalate or defuse rising tensions with the rest of Egypt's political players.

Liberal parties have expressed alarm with the growing control over Egypt's political levers by the Brotherhood and other Islamists, including their taking a majority of seats on a panel tasked with writing a new constitution.

The Brotherhood had pledged not to contest the presidential vote in a bid to assure liberals and Egypt's western allies that it doesn't intend to govern alone. But Brotherhood officials have recently suggested they could field a candidate.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's powerful Islamists on Monday faced a backlash on two fronts as they try to solidify their hold on the country's politics, as liberal politicians quit a panel tasked with drafting a new constitution to protest its domination by Islamists.

More ominously, the ruling military issued a veiled threat of a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood if the group persisted in demands to form a new government.

The warning pointed to a growing possibility of confrontation between the Brotherhood and the military, which emerged as Egypt's two most powerful institutions since the fall of longtime authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak a year ago. For months, they have moved between cooperating and jostling for position.

But the Brotherhood appears to be growing in confidence over its position. The group holds nearly half the seats in parliament, making it the largest bloc ? and its strength grows even more on some issues in which it is backed by the second-largest bloc, the ultraconservative Islamic Salafis.

Together they have been demanding the ouster of the military-appointed prime minister so they can form their own government. The military has staunchly refused. They have also used their strength in parliament to create a constitutional panel with an Islamist majority, giving them the strongest hand in writing the new charter.

In response to the tensions with the military, the Brotherhood's leader, Mohammed Badie, said in comments posted on the group's website Monday that it was "quite possible" for the Brotherhood to reverse an earlier decision not to field its own candidate in presidential elections due in May.

If the military-Brotherhood quarrel escalates, the transfer of power from the military to a civilian president ? scheduled for before July 1 ? could be in jeopardy. Their dispute could also hand the liberal and secular groups that engineered the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak an opportunity to move back to center stage after months on the side.

The independent Al-Shorouq daily said on Monday that several members of the ruling military council have expressed their disapproval of the makeup of the panel in a meeting with Brotherhood leaders. Brotherhood officials could not be reached for comment, but the report was the latest in a series published in the independent media suggesting that relations between the two sides have become so strained that a rapprochement may not be possible any time soon.

Two prominent liberal Egyptian politicians ? independent lawmaker Amr Hamzawy and Christian activist Mona Makram Obeid ? were the first to announce they were pulling out of the 100-member constitutional panel on Monday.

Lawmaker Emad Gad said 11 other liberal politicians have also decided to pull out and were due to formally announce their decision on Tuesday, a day before the body is scheduled to hold its inaugural session. The group include eight members of the panel and three "reserve" members, who would serve if a member bows out for any reason. Gad is one of the three reserve members pulling out.

"The entire process is a show to conceal the intention to draft a constitution for a religious state," said Gad, a Christian. "It's a disgrace to the constitution," Sherif Samir, a spokesman for the secular Free Egyptians Party, said of the religious slant of the panel.

The controversy surrounding the panel's makeup drew a guarded reaction from the United States, which has over 30 years regarded Egypt as a key partner in the fight against Muslim militancy.

"We want to see a new constitution for Egypt that upholds democratic values and universal human rights in all of their aspects and provides protections and assurances for the participation and the rights of all Egyptians," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington on Monday.

She said the panel has an "obligation to uphold and defend and protect the democratic rights that brought them to power in the first place, including the universal rights of all groups."

Selected over the weekend, the panel includes nearly 60 Islamists and only six women and six Christians. The members were chosen by parliament's two chambers, where Islamists have a comfortable majority of more than 70 percent.

"I polled those who elected me and the majority of them said they preferred for me to stay on the constituent assembly," Hamzawy wrote. "I gave the matter a great deal of thought and studied the makeup of the assembly. My conscience told me to pull out."

Obeid, a former lawmaker and a prominent women's rights activist, said, "the religious nature and the absence of women are behind my withdrawal from the constituent assembly."

The new constitution will determine whether Egypt, a mainly Muslim nation of some 85 million people, will become further Islamized. The charter also will determine whether the decades-old system of a powerful president will be maintained, or instead, an empowered parliament under Islamist domination will set the tone.

The Brotherhood's spat with the military has its roots in the Islamists' resolve to fire the military-backed government of Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, a Mubarak-era politician who is nearly 80.

"The (ruling) military council bears full responsibility for attempts to hinder the process of democratic transition and ... exporting crises to future governments," said a statement by the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political wing. The party also charged that the military might try to rig the presidential election to install a favorable candidate.

The military hit back with a strongly worded statement on Sunday saying it was unacceptable to question its commitment to turning over power to a civilian government and to a fair presidential election.

It also made a thinly veiled threat of a crackdown against the group by alluding to the mid-1950s, when the Brotherhood was outlawed and its members detained after the group challenged the rule of the military.

"We ask everyone to learn from the lessons of history so we avoid the mistakes of a past we don't wish to return to," the military statement said.

But the Brotherhood appeared to dismiss the warnings. One senior Brotherhood figure, Essam Yassin, suggested times had changed and that the group had no fear of the military.

"The hands of the clock never go back," he wrote on his Facebook page. "Believers are never stung twice from the same snake pit."

___

AP correspondent Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-brotherhood-considering-presidential-run-111345662.html

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Arab draft calls for Syria talks, end to violence

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/arab-economy-ministers-meet-baghdad-summit-102916017.html

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Mumbai, Miami on list for big weather disasters

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists said in a new report issued Wednesday.

The greatest threat from extreme weather is to highly populated, poor regions of the world, the report warns, but no corner of the globe ? from Mumbai to Miami ? is immune. The document by a Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate scientists forecasts stronger tropical cyclones and more frequent heat waves, deluges and droughts.

The 594-page report blames the scale of recent and future disasters on a combination of man-made climate change, population shifts and poverty.

In the past, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, founded in 1988 by the United Nations, has focused on the slow inexorable rise of temperatures and oceans as part of global warming. This report by the panel is the first to look at the less common but far more noticeable extreme weather changes, which lately have been costing on average about $80 billion a year in damage.

"We mostly experience weather and climate through the extreme," said one of the report's top editors, Chris Field, an ecologist with the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "That's where we have the losses. That's where we have the insurance payments. That's where things have the potential to fall apart.

"There are lots of places that are already marginal for one reason or another," Field said. But it's not just poor areas: "There is disaster risk almost everywhere."

The report specifically points to New Orleans during 2005's Hurricane Katrina, noting that "developed countries also suffer severe disasters because of social vulnerability and inadequate disaster protection."

In coastal areas of the United States, property damage from hurricanes and rising seas could increase by 20 percent by 2030, the report said. And in parts of Texas, the area vulnerable to storm surge could more than double by 2080.

Already U.S. insured losses from weather disasters have soared from an average of about $3 billion a year in the 1980s to about $20 billion a year in the last decade, even after adjusting for inflation, said Mark Way, director of sustainability at insurance giant Swiss Re. Last year that total rose to $35 billion, but much of that was from tornadoes, which scientists are unable to connect with global warming. U.S. insured losses are just a fraction of the overall damage from weather disasters each year.

Globally, the scientists say that some places, particularly parts of Mumbai in India, could become uninhabitable from floods, storms and rising seas. In 2005, over 24 hours nearly 3 feet of rain fell on the city, killing more than 1,000 people and causing massive damage. Roughly 2.7 million people live in areas at risk of flooding.

Other cities at lesser risk include Miami, Shanghai, Bangkok, China's Guangzhou, Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, Myanmar's Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) and India's Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta). The people of small island nations, such as the Maldives, may also need to abandon their homes because of rising seas and fierce storms.

"The decision about whether or not to move is achingly difficult and I think it's one that the world community will have to face with increasing frequency in the future," Field said in a telephone news conference Wednesday.

This report ? the summary of which was issued in November ? is unique because it emphasizes managing risks and how taking precautions can work, Field said. In fact, the panel's report uses the word "risk" 4,387 times.

Field pointed to storm-and-flood-prone Bangladesh, an impoverished country that has learned from its past disasters. In 1970, a Category 3 tropical cyclone named Bhola killed more than 300,000 people. In 2007, the stronger cyclone Sidr killed only 4,200 people. Despite the loss of life, Bangladesh is considered a success story because it was better prepared and invested in warning and disaster prevention, Field said.

A country that was not as prepared, Myanmar, was hit with a similar sized storm in 2008, which killed 138,000 people.

The study forecasts that some tropical cyclones ? which include hurricanes in the United States ? will be stronger because of global warming. But the number of storms is not predicted to increase and may drop slightly.

Some other specific changes in severe weather that the scientists said they had the most confidence in predicting include more heat waves and record hot temperatures worldwide and increased downpours in Alaska, Canada, northern and central Europe, East Africa and north Asia,

IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri told The Associated Press that while all countries are hurt by increased climate extremes, the overwhelming majority of deaths occur in poorer, less developed places. Yet, it is wealthy nations that produce more greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, raising the issue of fairness.

Some weather extremes aren't deadly, however. Sometimes, they are just strange.

Report co-author David Easterling of the National Climatic Data Center says this month's U.S. heat wave, while not deadly, fits the pattern of worsening extremes. The U.S. has set nearly 6,800 high temperature records in March. Last year, the United States set a record for billion-dollar weather disasters, though many were tornadoes.

"When you start putting all these events together, the insurance claims, it's just amazing," Easterling said. "It's pretty hard to deny the fact that there's got to be some climate signal."

Northeastern University engineering and environment professor Auroop Ganguly, who didn't take part in writing the IPCC report, praised it and said the extreme weather it highlights "is one of the major and important types of what we would call 'global weirding.'" It's a phrase that some experts have been starting to use more to describe climate extremes.

Field doesn't consider the term inaccurate, but he doesn't use it.

"It feels to me like it might give the impression we are talking about amusing little stuff when we are, in fact, talking about events and trends with the potential to have serious impacts on large numbers of people."

__

Online:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: http://www.ipcc.ch

____

Follow Seth Borenstein at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mumbai-miami-list-big-weather-disasters-150359548.html

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Pfeiffer: I looked 'like a bag lady' in the '80s

By Us Weekly

Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

For more than half her life, Michelle Pfeiffer "struggled with my own image as a sexual person."

Speaking to The Sun, the 53-year-old "Dark Shadows" actress says that it wasn't until she shot "The Fabulous Baker Boys" in 1989 -- "by which time I was 31" -- that she felt confident in her own skin.

Photos from Us: Ageless A-listers

"Even two years before that, I would not have been able to play the part of the sexually appealing Susie Diamond. She was dynamic and unapologetic and I was able to put on those clothes and play the part," Pfeiffer explains. "I think, because of the way I looked, I had stayed away from buying anything sexy or overtly sexual."

Video from Us: Michelle Pfeiffer and other stars shine at the 'New Year's Eve' premiere

"It was a turning point for me, because I could understand why men would find her sexy," Pfeiffer says. "I wish I'd been more like her. Before that, I would walk around looking like a bag lady!"

Pfeiffer also reveals that the "biggest turning point in my life" was becoming a mother to Claudia Rose, 18, and John Henry, 17, with TV producer husband David E. Kelley, 55. "If you had told me when I was 18 that I could survive on three hours' sleep a night, I'd have never believed it," Pfeiffer admits. "You just cope."

Photos from Us: Michelle Pfeiffer and other stars who have adopted

The actress adds that she doesn't want her children to follow in her famous footsteps. "I would say: 'Be a doctor or something else.' The value of a good education has never left me ... When I became a mother, I realized I had not taken enough advantage of my education and came to appreciate how important it really is."

More in TODAY entertainment:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/26/10876804-michelle-pfeiffer-i-looked-like-a-bag-lady-in-the-1980s

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Obama concedes strains between US, Pakistan

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, left, and U.S. President Barack Obama smile during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, left, and U.S. President Barack Obama smile during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, left, speaks to U.S. President Barack Obama during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

U.S. President Barack Obama covers the microphone as he arrives at the plenary session of the Nuclear Security Summit at the Coex Center in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 27, 2012. At left is Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Conceding strained ties, President Barack Obama on Tuesday welcomed Pakistan's review of its relationship with the United States, saying it was important for the two countries to get their partnership right.

Obama spoke alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani before the two men held private talks. The meeting came amid heightened tensions between their countries following a series of incidents that have marred trust.

"There have been times ? I think we should be frank ? in the last several months where those relations have experienced strains," Obama said of the dynamic between the U.S. and Pakistan.

The breakdown in the relationship followed the shooting death of two alleged Pakistani assailants by a CIA officer and the U.S. Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May. The tipping point came in November, when U.S. forces returned fire they believed came from a Pakistani border post, killing 24 Pakistani troops.

Pakistan broke off ties with the U.S. following that incident and launched a debate about new terms of engagement with Washington, including on the sensitive issue of CIA drone strikes on targets inside Pakistani borders.

Pakistan has since rejected offers by U.S. officials to give its spy chief advanced notice of the CIA's drone campaign against al-Qaida in Pakistan and to apply new limits on the types of targets hit.

Obama said it was important for the U.S. and Pakistan to have candid and open talks. He said he expects Pakistan's review will result in a "balanced approach that respects Pakistan's sovereignty but also respects our concerns with respect to our national security and our needs to battle terrorists who have targeted us in the past."

Pakistan is a key U.S. counterterrorism partner and its cooperation is essential for drawing down the American-led war in neighboring Afghanistan.

Anticipating renewed ties between the U.S. and Pakistan, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the U.S. would welcome Pakistan's potential participation in the NATO summit to be held in Chicago in May. Afghan officials are scheduled to attend the meeting, and Pakistan's participation would raise the prospects of a potential trilateral meeting between the U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Gilani, speaking at the start of his meeting with Obama, said he wanted stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And he said he appreciated Obama's statements of respect for Pakistan's sovereignty.

Obama and Gilani met on the sidelines of an international nuclear security summit in the South Korean capital of Seoul.

During remarks at the summit earlier Tuesday, Obama said the threat of nuclear weapons remains a potent challenge for the globe to confront, telling the more than 50 world leaders attending the meetings that "the security of the world depends on the actions that we take."

Obama said the international community had made progress in removing nuclear materials and improving security at nuclear facilities around the globe. But he warned "there are still too many bad actors in search of these dangerous materials and these dangerous materials are still vulnerable in too many places."

Action at the summit has been largely overshadowed by competing forces, including North Korea's plan for a long-range rocket launch and Obama's caught-on-tape remarks plotting strategy with Russia after the November elections.

Obama himself brought North Korea into the discussions in Seoul, using nearly all of his appearances during his three-day trip to warn Pyongyang that it would face further isolation if it proceeds with the launch.

The president also found himself trying to clean up a controversy created when an exchange with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that was meant to be private was picked up by a microphone. Obama was heard saying he would have more room to negotiate on missile defense after getting through the November election, presumably expecting to win and not have to face voters again.

Obama departed Seoul following his meeting with the Pakistani prime minister and was due back in Washington late Tuesday night.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-03-27-Obama/id-fa83f552f1454d839c21881307e67bd1

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Garrett Greer: Fall TV 2012-2013: ABC's Possible New Shows

Every year, the five major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX and NBC) order pilots to be considered for the fall season. A pilot, as you may know, is the first episode of a TV series and the final step in a long development process from idea to screen.

From the 87 drama and comedy pilots ordered this year, a new crop of television shows will be selected -- and I read the scripts for each and every one of them. Over the course of this week, I'll walk you through the network's pilot slates, offer a bit of analysis on their present schedules and provide you with a rundown of the drama contenders. (Plus, a little bit of info about the comedies, too.) Of course, not all of these shows will find their way to your TV set -- in fact, most of them you may never hear of again.

[NOTE: The versions of the scripts that I am commenting on were not necessarily final drafts and therefore could have changed in both content or title between my having read them and production -- though, drastic changes are unlikely.]

ABC did fairly well this past year, having the only two new broadcast dramas that could be considered success stories -- "Revenge" and "Once Upon A Time." Based on the scripts that they picked up to pilot, it seems they want more of what's already working.

Three of their projects hew very close to the ensemble soapiness of "Revenge": "Americana," about a New York fashion dynasty (a secret illegitimate daughter! attempted murder! bitchy ex-mistresses!); "Nashville," basically "Country Strong: The Series," except this time the ing?nue is the one coming unglued (a scheming up-and-comer! a fading star! daddy issues!); and "Scruples," another fashion-based soap, set in '70s Beverly Hills and centered around what was to become the famed Rodeo Drive (underage models! celebrity journalism! secret gays!). Of these, "Scruples" has the most compelling plot and, despite it's period trappings, feels the freshest -- but given ABC's disappointing experience with "Pan-Am," it still feels like a gamble.

This may explain why another attempt set in less-than-modern times seems to be cobbled together from other successful projects. "Gilded Lilys," produced by "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes, focuses on a grand hotel in the late 1800s, and appears to have lifted elements directly from a certain popular British soap: a prickly matriarch, a ladies' maid BFF, a gotta-find-a-husband plot line, and even a hotel guest turning up dead. "Lilys" draws not only on "Downton Abbey," but also "Titanic" (a third of the pilot takes place on a steamship bound for New York): The main character's chief love interest is a "lower class" "adventurous romantic" who rides steerage. Derivative, yes, but provided ABC has learned from other networks' similar attempts -- such as last fall's "Mad Men"-aping "The Playboy Club" -- it could prove to be a success.

Perhaps the most obvious move to capitalize on past success comes in the form of "Devious Maids," from king of "Adjective Plural-Noun" television Marc Cherry. Very similar to the his last series with ABC, "Devious Maids" asks "what if the 'Desperate Housewives' were richer and had hired help?" It's a modern twist on an upstairs/downstairs story, but the "big mystery" element -- a murder -- feels tacked-on, and Cherry's track record in that department isn't very good.

Then there's "666 Park Ave," based on the book series of the same name. This marks Alloy Entertainment's first project on broadcast television outside of The CW, for whom they produce "The Secret Circle," "The Vampire Diaries" and "Gossip Girl." The otherworldly soap centers on a young couple who become the managers for an apartment building in New York that just might be owned by Satan. It's compelling enough, but ABC's previous forays into the supernatural ("The Gates," a forgettable summer series, and, more recently, "The River") haven't had much in the way of staying power.

On the fantasy front, ABC picked up two projects that would pair very well with "Once Upon A Time." The first is a "Beauty & The Beast" adaptation (one of two this development cycle, the other being at The CW), which is a twist on the original fairy tale with a dash of "Game Of Thrones." The script is strong, but the key will be making this fantasy world (which relies heavily on otherworldly creatures, beast included) feel realistic on a non-premium-cable budget. The other project, "Gotham," doesn't rely as heavily on special effects, which could give it a slight edge on Beauty if it comes down to one over the other. It's a combo of "Once Upon A Time" and NBC's "Grimm," wherein an NYPD detective discovers that what makes New York City feel like a "magical" place is -- quite literally -- magic, and that it's up to her to keep it safe.

ABC's slate tends to typically skew towards soaps or family programming; but this year, it looks as though they want to expand into the kind of show that might be at home on a more action-oriented network like Fox. Up first is "Zero Hour," a fictionalized biblical-end times thriller on the same wavelength as "The Da Vinci Code" and "Indiana Jones" -- no joke: the bad guys are Nazis. It's not particularly substantive, but it could turn out to be a fun, "National Treasure"-esque adventure romp.

In a similar vein, but neither as effective or as fun, is Roland Emmerich's "Antichrist." I'm sad to say, given how mindlessly enjoyable his movies can be (like "Independence Day," "2012"), this turned out to be a pseudo-religious mess. The log line bills it as an apocalyptic political thriller, but the few political elements are completely overshadowed by murky mythology and out-of-left-field plot points. (A chauffeur who also moonlights as a leather 'n whips go-go dancer? I mean...)

At the other end of the spectrum is "Last Resort," by Shawn Ryan ("The Shield"). It's a tense action-adventure that involves a renegade nuclear sub, a possible American coup, and violent mobsters on an island in the South Pacific. It's a page turner absolutely fraught with tension and certain elements remind me of what I loved about the early seasons of "24."If ABC is looking to pull in more of a male demographic, this one is sure to do it.

As for comedy, ABC is again playing to its strengths by picking up 13 scripts that are, at their cores, family-centric -- whether they're about the workplace, a group of friends, or an actual family. As a matter of pure coincidence, the best of the crop were all purchased with their lead actresses attached: "American Judy," about a new stepmother (Judy Greer) who has to put up with a withholding mother-in-law, the town sheriff -- who happens to be her husband's hot ex-wife -- and step kids she's trying too hard to connect with; "Malibu Country," about the wife (Reba McEntire) of a country superstar who discovers her husband has cheated on her and moves her kids and mother from Nashville to Malibu, where she tries to get her life (and her own music career) back on track; "The Family Trap," about a young woman (Mandy Moore) who moves, along with her husband, closer to her insane family; and "The Smart One,: about an overachieving, type-A woman (Portia De Rossi) who winds up working for her less impressive, but more popular sister.

Looking at the state of ABC's present schedule, the network could pick up two to five hours of new programming, depending on how many current shows don't come back next year. Right now, things aren't looking good for "The River" or "Body of Proof." Plus, "Desperate Housewives" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" have already been served their pink slips, and things are too early to tell for "GCB" or "Missing." Even the fantastic, but low-rated "Cougar Town" could wind up getting the axe in favor of another project that looks like it could bring in a larger audience.

Unfortunately, sometimes a better script can be passed over in favor of another that seems like it might have broader appeal -- TV is a business and as much as we'd love to put or keep certain projects on the air, there is a bottom line to consider. That said, a good script does not always guarantee a good pilot; plenty can change in the translation from page to screen. At the same time, it's also possible for a mediocre script to be elevated by a great director or a fantastic cast (as I expect "Gilded Lilys" will be).

Taking all variables into account, below are my predictions for ABC's fall schedule, 2012.

SURE THINGS

• "Last Resort" -- handily ABC's strongest script, with a stellar cast and director attached, it has everything going for it.


• "Gilded Lilys" -- not the best, but ABC likes to be in the Shonda business and the cast (Blythe Danner, Matt Lauria, Matt Long, and John Barrowman, to name a few) will likely go a long way towards selling the material. The only complication here could be the expense associated with producing this kind of period piece.


• "Malibu Country" -- light, fun and with a recognizable star, Malibu's multi-camera format and red state sensibility would pair well with the likely-to-be-renewed "Last Man Standing."


• "The Family Trap" -- this wacky family (which includes Stockard Channing, Kurt Fuller, and Erinn Hayes) would be right at home with both "Modern Family" and "Happy Endings."

MAYBES

• "Zero Hour" -- If the network's appetite for action isn't fully satisfied by "Last Resort," I can see this being a fun addition to the lineup.


• "Devious Maids" -- If ABC is still high on Cherry, this could very well wind up on television ... not to mention that having a diverse cast certainly helps its chances.


• "Beauty & The Beast" -- but only if the fantasy elements are on-point.

In the last decade, ABC has been the home of family comedies, light procedurals and ensemble soaps. These series candidates -- the most of any network -- continue to build upon that brand, while expanding into a potential new wheelhouse of fantasy-tinged programming and the realm of action/adventure. If things go according to plan, next season could be very good for ABC.

Coming up tomorrow: A look at CBS -- home of the law enforcement procedural.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/garrett-greer/fall-tv-20122013-abc-pilo_b_1381224.html

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