[Dave]

SCIFI WIRE -- TNT has canceled Witchblade, though the supernatural series concluded its second season with healthy ratings, Variety reported. The series went on temporary hiatus earlier this year, when star Yancy Butler underwent alcohol rehab.

The cancellation came even though the series drew at least a 2.0 cable rating during both its first and second seasons, the trade paper reported. Steve Koonin, TNT's executive vice president and general manager, told Variety that the cancellation was "a very tough decision. Our criteria for this show was really fourfold," he said: that it be advertiser- and cable operator-friendly, that it differentiate the network from its competitors, that it build ratings and that it lay groundwork for the network to be in the summer series business. "Witchblade did all of that great for two years," Koonin said. "We just felt to stretch it to a third year could hurt some of those areas."