ABC Sets Summer Schedule

As with NBC last week, ABC has unveiled their schedule for the Summer and it looks like reality series (which are cheap to produce and make good money for networks) will dominate the lineup. Returning shows Wipeout, The Bachelorette and Bachelor Pad are joined by five new ones including spinoff of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, Take the Money and Run and Mark Burnett’s Expedition Impossible.

On the scripted side ABC will drop two shows, both of which are produced elsewhere. Canadian import Rookie Blue (featuring Reaper’s Missy Peregrym) is back as well as the new Canadian/U.K. co-production The Hot Zone are on the schedule. The thriller Missing, originally to be released in the Summer, has been pushed back.

Here’s a list of the network’s Summer shows and their premiere dates followed by some description of the new shows:

Monday, May 23
9:00-11:00: The Bachelorette (season premiere)

Monday, May 30
8:00-10:01 PM: The Bachelorette (regular time premiere)
10:01-11:00 PM: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

Thursday, June 16
8:00-9:00 PM: Wipeout (sneak-peek episode)*
9:00-10:00 PM: 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show (series premiere)*
10:00-11:00 PM: Rookie Blue (second season premiere)*
*If there is a Game 7 of the NBA Finals, programs will move to Thurs., June 23

Tuesday, June 21:
8:00-9:00 PM: Wipeout (regular time premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM: Expedition Impossible (series premiere)
10:00-11:00 PM: The Hot Zone (series premiere)

Thursday, July 28:
9:00-10:00 PM: Take the Money and Run (series premiere)**
**If there is a Game 7 of the NBA Finals, series will premiere Thursday, Aug. 4

Monday, Aug. 8
8:00-10:00 PM: Bachelor Pad (second season premiere)
10:00-11:00 PM: America’s Karaoke Challenge (series premiere)

EXTREME MAKEOVER: WEIGHT LOSS EDITION – Documents the amazing makeover of eight courageous, “super obese” people. Shot over an unprecedented 365 days, the participants set out to safely lose half of their body weight, ultimately revealing an amazing metamorphosis. Trainer and transformation specialist Chris Powell (“The 640-Pound Virgin”) will guide each of eight participants through their transformation process by moving into their homes with their families or loved ones. From the producers of “The Biggest Loser,” “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition” is executive-produced by JD Roth, Todd A. Nelson and Matt Assmus. The series is produced by 3 Ball Productions/Eyeworks USA.

101 WAYS TO LEAVE A GAME SHOW – Features contestants competing in one of the most insane game shows in history for a chance to win $50,000. In “101 Ways,” contestants will match wits in a series of multiple choice questions, with one contestant being eliminated every round. But unlike any other game show in the world, the eliminated contestant will then be ejected from the show in spectacular fashion — i.e., being flown away strapped to the wing of a biplane, pushed off the top of a moving semi truck, dragged underwater by a one-ton anchor or yanked off a dock by a speed boat. The show will be hosted by Jeff Sutphen (“BrainSurge”). Produced by Endemol USA, Matt Kunitz (“Wipeout”, “Fear Factor”) will serve as the executive producer.

EXPEDITION IMPOSSIBLE – PREMIERES TUESDAY, JUNE 21 (9:00-10:00 p.m.) – Adventurer, zoologist, big cat trainer and all-around risk taker Dave Salmoni hosts ABC’s epic summer series, “Expedition Impossible,” which features ordinary people doing the extraordinary in the biggest adventure of their lives. The show will feature 13 teams of 3, racing on an expedition across vast deserts, over snow capped mountains and through raging rivers. Each week a new stage of the expedition will be revealed to the teams. After 10 stunning legs of competition, one team will cross the finish line first to claim victory. Mark Burnett and Lisa Hennessy serve as executive producers. Both the television show and format will be distributed internationally by Mark Burnett International Distribution.

THE HOT ZONE – This new drama is set in 2006 at the only military hospital providing advanced surgical care in all of Southern Afghanistan, and charts the frantic lives of the hospital’s resident doctors and nurses from Canada, America, the U.K. and other allied countries. This highly-charged series follows the characters as they navigate through the relentless life-and-death battles on the operating table and the never-ending conflicts that arise from working in a war zone military hospital. “The Hot Zone” stars Elias Koteas (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) as Colonel Marks, Michelle Borth (“Hawaii Five-0”) as Canadian surgeon Dr. Rebecca Gordon, Luke Mably (“The Gates”) as neurosurgeon Dr. Simon Hill, Deborah Kara Unger (“The Hurricane”) as Australian army psychiatrist Major Ada Pedersen, Terry Chen (“Sanctuary”) as trauma team leader Captain Bobby Trang and Arnold Pinnock (“The Listener”) as Commander Will Royal, Chief of Nursing. “The Hot Zone” is a production from Canada’s Sienna Films and the U.K.’s Artists Studio. Daniel Petrie Jr. is executive producer and showrunner. Executive producers are Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny for Sienna Films, Gub Neal, Justin Thomson-Glover and Patrick Irwin for U.K.-based Artists Studio, as well as Simon Vaughan of Lookout Point. “The Hot Zone” was created by Jinder Oujla-Chalmers and Douglas Steinberg.

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN - From the producers of “The Amazing Race” and the “CSI” franchise comes an entirely new heart-stopping competition show. Combining all the elements of an edge-of-your-seat spy thriller with the excitement of rooting for real people in various locales outwitting high-level investigators, “Take the Money and Run” is an exhilarating competition series that will take reality television to a whole new level. The cat and mouse format will pit investigative professionals against everyday people trying to win a $100,000 prize. “Take the Money and Run” is produced by Profiles Television LLC and Jerry Bruckheimer Television, and distributed in the U.S. by Horizon Alternative Television. Executive producers are Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Elise Doganieri and Philip Morrow. KristieAnne Reed and Mark Dziak are co-executive producers.

AMERICA’S KARAOKE CHALLENGE – About a competition that draws thousands of the most talented singers together in the ultimate sing-off – the Karaoke World Championships USA. It’s a battle of performances from America’s biggest karaoke competition that will crown a new king and queen of karaoke. Produced by Lincoln Square Productions for ABC.