NBC's Jeff Zucker has not been one of my favorite network executives. In his years running the entertainment division of NBC, he often seemed hostile and defensive with the press, and tone-deaf regarding questions about the quality of the shows he put on the air.

But there was a new Jeff Zucker on view Saturday morning as NBC began its portion of the summer TV critics' tour. He was very relaxed, joking, comfortable in a way that I have seldom seen him. He even admitted past mistakes, including that his moving of Boomtown last season from Sundays to Fridays was a tactical error (and one that led to the cancellation of an award-winning drama).

Part of this may have to do with his latest job. As president of the NBC Universal Television Group -- a result of NBC's merger with Universal -- he has risen to the top ranks of TV executives. He can look more at big-picture issues than just at what NBC will put on the air. And he has handed his old job to Kevin Reilly, who acquired a good reputation while overseeing programming at cable's FX, and who is at ease as questions are coming from different points in a room containing hundreds of TV critics.

This doesn't mean NBC was spared tough questioning, or that there is any more optimism about their forthcoming shows.

And Zucker's candor about old mistakes inevitably raises questions about how candid he is being now.

For example, a year ago he was enthusiastically touting Coupling, an Americanized version of the British series, which subsequently failed on NBC.

Zucker now concedes that the network knew there were problems with Coupling as soon as the pilot was made -- so that enthusiasm a year ago now rings false, and one has to be suspicious of anything he says about upcoming shows.

For example, he noted that Boomtown star Neal McDonough is back on NBC with the upcoming Medical Investigation. But I've seen the pilot of Medical Investigation. McDonough is very good, but it's not Boomtown.

Of course, you have to be suspicious of anything any executive at any network says before a show premieres. To them, every new show is a potential hit. And with Coupling, Zucker said there was aways a chance a miracle could have happened, making the show a hit.

He also admitted that it would have taken a real miracle. Here's some of what Reilly and Zucker announced:

-- The next installment of Average Joe is being delayed so NBC can run a new round of Last Comic Standing in the late summer and early fall. But there will be more Average Joe at some point.

The Contender, a reality series about the search for a top new boxer, will premiere in November, during the always contested ratings sweeps.

-- NBC has firmed up its plans to roll out its fall shows beginning Aug. 30, right after the network concludes its coverage of the Summer Olympics. Kicking things off will be new drama Hawaii.