"Up until the very last minute I just felt that there was no way that we'd be canceled," said Barbara Hall, the series' creator. "The response to our season finale had been really big. I really didn't understand how much demographics played into this, more so than ratings."

CBS is replacing "Joan" with "Ghost Whisperer," featuring Jennifer Love Hewitt as a young wife who communicates with the dead.

A much-publicized quip by CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves — "I think talking to ghosts may skew younger than talking to God" — really riled the "Joan of Arcadia" fans. Liana Hix, 36, of Antioch, Calif., called it blasphemy and "really, really thoughtless."

"I talk to a lot of moms," Hix said, "so it's not good to disappoint people like me."

The ratings slump baffled both CBS and Hall, who struggled to turn it around. CBS wanted more scenes with God, so Hall complied. Partly at the network's request, she introduced the evil character Ryan. The third season was to see Joan and this devilish character face off.

"She was going to be engaged in all these metaphysical battles," Hall said. "She would get to know God on a whole new level."

Hall said she wished CBS had promoted the series more, and didn't take it off the air so frequently. Ender said CBS tried, hiring a firm to promote "Joan" in churches. It sent people into cities to do good deeds — buying a cold person coffee, for instance, and handing them a card saying the random act of kindness was "brought to you by 'Joan of Arcadia.' "

In the end, Hall said she understands the business and doesn't hold a grudge against CBS. She's also read many of the messages of support from the audience and found them very moving.

And frustrating. Viewers don't realize the important role they play, she said.

"Yeah, I hear how much the audience loves it," she said. "Prove it by turning on the television Friday at 8 (p.m.). A lot of people ask me, 'What can I do?' Nothing now."

There's a better chance of seeing Los Angeles paralyzed by a July snowstorm than CBS changing its mind. There's still a slim hope that Sony Pictures Entertainment can sell "Joan of Arcadia" to another network, and it is trying. With the actors' contracts expiring June 15, the window of opportunity is tiny.

Tamblyn, who said on "The View" Thursday that she was "very shocked" by the cancellation, sounded like she was already moving on in a statement given to The Associated Press.

"I am so grateful to CBS and Barbara Hall for the opportunity to have played this character for two seasons," she said. "I will miss everyone but I am looking forward to the next adventure."

Hall had planned to be in New York two weeks ago for CBS's announcement of its fall schedule. She went anyway, despite learning of the cancellation the day before from Sony. She has an apartment near Carnegie Hall, where Moonves presented the schedule to thousands of advertisers.

Hall went downtown to shop for shoes.

"I didn't want to be in that part of town," she said.