ABC Announces Summer Schedule

BURBANK, April 1: ABC will
premiere eight original series in its summer schedule, including the return of The
Bachelorette on May 19 at 9 p.m.,
as well as a new series from Endemol and a High School Musical-based reality series.

The Bachelorette’s
premiere will follow the performance-show finale of Dancing with the Stars, and will air regularly on Monday nights from 8 to
10 p.m. In the fourth installment of ABC’s hit romance reality series, DeAnna
Pappas, who went through a last-minute rejection on the last season of The
Bachelor, has returned for her
shot at love. Also in May, The Mole returns to ABC’s lineup, and will debut with all-new missions and
locations, as well as online and mobile interactivity, on May 26 at 10 p.m.

From Endemol USA, Wipeout
will launch on June 24 at 8 p.m.
The series watches 24 contenders compete on an extreme obstacle course, and is
hosted by John Anderson with Jill Wagner as co-host. Also on June 24, I
Survived a Japanese Game Show will
roll out at 9 p.m. The unscripted reality game show looks at ten Americans who
are taken to Japan to compete in the ultimate Japanese game show. The six-part
program Hopkins will debut June
26 at 10 p.m. The series offers an intimate portrait of the men and women who
work in Baltimore’s John Hopkins Hospital. Dance Machine is also set for a June debut. Hosted by E! News correspondent Jason Kennedy, the show sees
contestants from all walks of life face off against each other in a series of
one-on-one dance-offs. The show will kick off on June 27 at 8 p.m.

In July, ABC will premiere
the multi-episode competition reality series High School Musical: Summer
Session. Following nationwide
casting sessions, finalists will participate in a summer music program to hone
their skills and eliminations will follow, with the winner given the
opportunity of a lifetime, but details of the grand prize have not yet been
revealed. High School Musical: Summer Session will debut July 20 at 8 p.m. and will continue on
Mondays in the same time slot through the end of summer. On July 21 at 9 p.m.,
the one-hour weekly prime-time event Wanna Bet will launch. The show features four celebrity
contestants/judges that are given the chance to earn money for a charity of
their choice by betting on the success or failure of some wild stunts, tricks
and mental challenges.

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski