NBC faces tough task with 'damaged goods' Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien

PASADENA, Calif. — Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are damaged goods.

NBC is trying to spin it some way other than that, but there's no way to avoid that perception. Even if the network can work out the deal where "The Jay Leno Show" moves to 10:35 p.m. MT and "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" slides back to 11:05 p.m., the fact is that the moves come because neither has been successful in their current time slots.

And NBC faces the formidable task of overcoming the perception that they're damaged goods. And it has only one idea for how to do that.

"I think time," said NBC Universal Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin. "Frankly, just time."

That and lots and lots of advertising, apparently.

"We'll get behind them in a big way with ad campaigns, and we'll work with them," Gaspin said. "When they tell jokes about what's going on, I think that also helps wink to the audience that they're not doing this in the dark. But I think time is the best answer."

NBC IS BACKPEDALING on more than just its failed Leno Experiment. The network that promised to change the business from top to bottom is now saying, well, never mind.

"For us right now, instead of trying to reinvent, going back to basics is probably the smartest play," Gaspin said.

NBC will go back to the traditional Upfront presentation for advertisers in May, dropping its failed "Infront" strategy that came weeks before the other networks.

"This will allow us more time to prepare our pilots and fully evaluate them before we make pickup decisions, something that we actually couldn't do with the timing of the Infront," Gaspin said.

To which a room full of critics could have said, collectively, "Duh!"

And, not surprisingly, the network is going to get back into the scripted drama business in a big way. Among the projects announced by Angela Bromstad, NBC's president of prime time entertainment, are:

 "The Undercovers," from producer J.J. Abrams, about a husband-and-wife team who are reactivated as CIA agents after years or retirement and domestic bliss.

"J.J. will be directing that pilot, which is something he hasn't done in network television since he directed the 'Lost' pilot," Bromstad said.

 "Prime Suspect," an Americanization of the award-winning BBC series about a tough female police detective.