• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 1, 2008

Two days before NBC plans to announce its schedule for the next year, ABC said it would offer an array of fresh programming this summer, including a "High School Musical" spinoff.

Overall, ABC will offer eight unscripted series. It remains to be seen whether NBC will run new dramas or comedies until September, when it could use the August Beijing Olympics as a promotional platform. "Heroes," for example, is scheduled for an early September return, before the expected start of the regular broadcast season.

ABC's summer run includes "High School Musical: Summer Session," offering a competition looking to discover top talent for a music program. Contestants, however, are ages 16 to 22. The spinoff of the hit movie franchise (on ABC's sister network Disney Channel) launches July 20, and runs Sundays and Mondays for three weeks, then shifts to Mondays.

Also on tap is the return of "The Bachelorette," part of the "Bachelor" series that debuted several months before "American Idol" in 2002 and continues to be a solid doubles-hitter for ABC. The series should draw a wide audience for its two-hour debut May 19, as it follows a finale of "Dancing with the Stars."

ABC is also bringing back "The Mole"--which, unlike "The Bachelor," has been on the shelf since 2004. (Ot debuted in 2001). Premiering this summer on May 26, the Monday series chronicles 12 contestants who try to snuff out the "mole"--the plant that would prevent them from a windfall. ABC said the series would have online and mobile extensions.

On Tuesday, June 24, ABC will premiere "Wipeout," which involves an obstacle course and has echoes of "Fear Factor" and "American Gladiators." "I Survived A Japanese Game Show," which has 10 Americans sent to Japan to compete on a popular game show there, launches June 24 and airs Tuesdays.

The one break from the reality string is ABC News' "Hopkins," billed as a documentary series chronicling life inside Baltimore's leading Johns Hopkins Hospital. Debuting June 26, it will run in six parts.