Check the transcripts

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — As another Television Critics Association press tour gets going, let's take a quick look back at some of the things network executives said at the last one, six months ago.

It's mean. It's a little unfair. (Hey, I thought "Drive" would be a hit, too.) But it's fun.

• Fox Entertainment president Peter Liguori on the prospects for "Drive": "We have a lot of faith in the show. It's a Fox concept. It's bold. It is something that explores something in a different arena. ... We have every faith that this is going to be a top show for us."

He axed it after three airings.

• Despite the prospect of "American Idol" returning, NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly was sounding sort of confident.

"You really saw us just collapse in the spring the last couple of years. Now, because we have more strength across the board, some bona-fide hits, some real pockets of strength, and some countermeasures, we're going to be able to hold together (and) succeed in certain time periods."

NBC got hit worse than ever.

• Reilly enthusiastically recalled the mid-1980s, when "The Cosby Show" helped lift NBC from last to first place in the ratings and set the network on a long run of dominance before it fell back to last place in recent years.

"I think that's going to happen again," he said.

Well, maybe, but Reilly won't be there to enjoy it. He was fired last month.

• CW Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff on "Hidden Palms": "The show is actually really good. We want to be able to highlight the series someplace that it can really get some attention."

It was so good she didn't put it on until the summer. Then she burned off episodes two at a time and aired the last one on the Fourth of July. I'd hate to see what she'd do with a show she didn't want to highlight.

• PBS chief content officer John Boland, trying to justify scheduling Ken Burns' 14-hour documentary "The War" for the week of Sept. 16, just as the broadcast networks are launching their fall seasons: "We are trying to put the programming ... in a position when there's a great deal of focus on television and there's a great deal of audience."

That's dumb. There will be focus on TV but not on PBS. And, instead of moving it up a week (when it would face less competition), PBS moved it back to the week of Sept. 23 (as the commercial networks really get rolling).