WHY CAN’T smart shows stick at Fox? Here’s producer/director Todd Holland’s thoughts on that subject: - "Fox’s development is more courageous than their broadcasting," he says. Here’s a shocker: Different divisions within the same company don’t always work in sync.

Holland was amazed Wonderfalls even made the regular season schedule (although just barely, bumped to a March start). "We were convinced it was going to be a summer burn off until we saw we were coming to TCA (the annual critics tour to promote network shows)."

 TV has become just like the film business: Everything depends on that opening weekend. Open soft, you’re toast.

Holland directed the feature Krippendorf’s Tribe (starring Richard Dreyfuss and Jenna Elfman). The weekend it opened, he got a call from a studio executive giving him the bad news: The film was a bust. It was Friday at 7 p.m. "People were still in line and the studio had written it off," he says. TV has become just as brutal.

 The mogul factor. It likely came down to two low-rated shows at Fox last May: Wonderfalls and Tru Calling. Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch may have thought Tru Calling’s Eliza Dushzu was hotter than Wonderfalls’ Dharvenas (and thus a stronger lure for all his football and baseball fans).

Holland thinks they chose the wrong babe. Dhavernas, a Montreal native, was a heartbreaker on Wonderfalls, and Holland’s worked with a few (including Felicity’s Keri Russell and My So-Called Life’s Clare Danes). But the point is, how can network executives protect any show if the boss is ultimately calling the shots?

 TV has become all about branding, edging out new ideas. CSI and Law & Order are like Starbucks or Timothy’s Holland says. "You know exactly what your drink is going to taste like. Same with your TV shows."