Nina Tassler kicked off CBS's day at the summer press tour saluting the season that just passed, and not just the shows on her own network. She praised the strongest set of new series in years, singling out praise for 'Modern Family' and 'Glee' in particular.

But the rest of the press conference was fairly tame by exec session standards; Tassler didn't really give out a ton of new info. She did get a flurry of questions about the reboot of 'Hawaii Five-O,' said she was "disappointed" in how few gay and lesbian roles were on last year's schedule, and defended Julie Chen, who was named one of the co-hosts of the Eye network's new daytime talk show, 'The Talk.'

Yes, that's what the new show, which will also have Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and Marissa Jaret Winokur co-host. 'The Talk' was a concept was pitched by Gilbert, who based these talks on the mom group meetings she used to have in her home. When questioned about how Chen, the wife of CBS chief exec Les Moonves, got placed in yet another show, Tassler defended her, saying that putting Chen on the show was Gilbert's idea.

"The show screened great and it tested the best of all the pilots we shot this season," she said. It was certainly the winner amongst the four daytime pilots they developed to take the place of 'As the World Turns,' which included a remake of 'Pyramid' with Andy Richter as host.

Some more bits from Tassler's conference:

-- When asked the inevitable question about recently departed ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson, Tassler said "All I could think was, dammit, he got out of press tour." Referring to McPherson's budding wine business, she did say that "I'd like to buy some chardonnay from him."

-- When peppered with questions about the grittier nature of the 'Hawaii Five-O' reboot compared to the '60s and '70s original (which I don't remember being that light and airy, especially by the standards of the time), Tassler replied that "You have to look at the audience who's going to remember the original show. you want to be respectful. But (Roberto Orici and Alex Kurtzman) really had a take on the tone and sensibility." She does feel that as the show goes forward, many of the elements of the old show -- like how everyone on the island knows each other and how they operate -- will appear.

-- On Charlie Sheen's troubles and how it will affect the schedule of 'Two and a Half Men:' "We've been given no indication from Warner Bros. that there will be any interruption to the delivery of the episodes or to production."

-- Tassler was "disappointed" with their track record in developing shows with gay and lesbian characters. However, she did say that they'll be adding a lesbian nanny character to 'Rules of Engagement,' and will be exploring Kalinda's sexuality more on the upcoming season of 'The Good Wife,' among other characters.