This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

My friends at CBS had a rather rough time during the recently completed Television Critics Association press tour.

Their presentations to the critics did not, overall, go particularly well. New CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller caught the worst of it — he was positively pummeled over the lack of diversity at his network.

Trying to stave off the firestorm, Geller told critics the network is shooting a pilot starring Jermaine Fowler, who is African American. He told us that 11 of 16 new series regulars being added to returning and new shows are Latino, African-American or Asian.

But the fact remains that all six of CBS' new fall shows — "Bull," "The Great Indoors," "Kevin Can Wait," "MacGyver," "Man with a Plan" and "Pure Genius" — have white, male leads. And all six showrunners are — you guessed it! — white men. So Geller got hit with the question right off the bat. And hit repeatedly.

"We need to do better and we know it," he said. "That's really it. We need to do better."

Geller also battled back by saying that, while the leads of CBS' new shows are all white males, overall the casts, the writers and the directors are "more diverse" than they were a year ago.

Privately (and off the record), CBS execs acknowledged they expected and deserved the criticism. They pointed out that other pilots — shows that featured nonwhite male leads — had failed to pan out.

The only problem with that argument is that CBS ordered a remake of its "MacGyver" reboot — giving it a spot on the schedule despite rejecting the pilot and ordering a complete rewrite and reshoot.

Geller explained that "MacGyver" got picked up because of the title and the showrunner, Peter Lenkov, who successfully rebooted "Hawaii Five-0." But CBS chose not to attempt to fix any of its failed pilots that didn't feature a white male in the lead role.

CBS is not an all-white, all-male network. Its scripted series feature very diverse casts. Its reality shows ("Survivor," "Amazing Race") have been out front on this issue. One of the two leads in "Elementary" is an Asian-American woman. Ten of its shows feature one (or more) female leads. One of the two leads in the midseason series "Training Day" is black.

But, as Geller pointed out — five times — the network has to do better.

Some CBS insiders were also unhappy because of the tenor of the sessions for their five fall series.

I like the people who run CBS. Honestly, I felt for them.

But the sessions were lethargic because the new fall series aren't good. We didn't see a "MacGyver" pilot, but the others ranged from mediocre to just plain bad.

If CBS wants enthusiastic critics, it has to give us better shows.

And, quite honestly, I thought the sessions went better than expected. I've seen a lot worse at the 51 TCA press tours I've attended over the past 26 years.

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.