LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - If you're a die-hard fan of the late FOX series "John Doe" and hold out any hope of it being picked up by another network, don't read the rest of this story.

Seriously. Click over to TV Gal or something now, because we're going to tell you what the deal was with Doe in a couple of paragraphs. If you're curious, though, read on.

FOX Entertainment President Gail Berman offered up the story Thursday (July 17) following her Q-and-A session at the TV Critics Association press tour. The series, which starred Dominic Purcell as a man who knew everything about the world but not his own identity, built a fairly complex mythology over last season but not a big enough audience to be renewed.

Central to the story was a question of who or what Doe was. Popular assumptions included that the was some kind of cyborg or alien or a man who had been subjected to some sort of government experiment.

None of those are true, according to Berman, who discussed "Doe's" underlying premise with creators Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson. She says Doe was just a regular guy. Now, here comes the big revelation:

"[According to the show], when you're very close to death, when you're seeing the white light, God or a higher being gives you all the information of life to carry on to the next life," Berman says. Doe was about to die, but for whatever reason -- Berman didn't say why Thursday -- he lived after being imparted with that knowledge.

The shadowy people who were after Doe knew what happened to him and were trying to keep him from discovering it himself, Berman says.

Berman's after-the-fact revelation came in response to questions from a couple of critics about how FOX has handled on-the-bubble series that have significant story arcs. In the case of "John Doe," the network couldn't give the producers a definite answer on a second season when production wrapped because it wasn't sure how its pilot development for the coming season would end up.

Sandy Grushow, chairman of FOX and Berman's boss, says the network has in the past considered doing a two-hour movie to wrap up a show's storyline.

"Clearly, it did not come to pass this year with 'John Doe,' but I actually think it's a pretty interesting idea," Grushow says. "But it's a big investment, and you have to believe there's enough gas in the tank to make it worth your while."