TNT hasofficially decided not to renew the successful series Witchbladefor a third season according to a report in today's Variety.
The show isbeing cut in spite of the cable network's admission that it met the four goalsthat TNT was aiming for: an advertiser- and cable operator-friendly show, a showthat differentiated the network from its competitors, a ratings builder, and ashow that laid groundwork for the net to be in the summer series biz.
"Witchbladedid all of that great for two years," Steve Koonin, TNT's executive vicepresident and general manager told Variety. "We just felt to stretchit to a third year could hurt some of those areas."
The Varietywrite-up speculates that star Yancy Butler's summer stint in alcohol rehab,which temporarily suspended production on the show, may have been a factor. And,while Witchblade has been the strongest performing TNT originalseries, other summer cable shows, like USA's Monk have beenpulling down bigger numbers.
Fans have beenpreparing for the cancellation since early in the season. Fansite WitchbladeCentral Station picked up on early indicators that a cancellation was likelyand preemptively launched an online petition to demonstrate interest in a thirdseason of the show.
According toCarrie Hults, coordinator of WCS the online petition has garnered close to 3700signatures already. Fans who hope to save the show can sign the petition at thisaddress: http://www.petitiononline.com/Legion11/petition.html.
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