'The Closer,' Highest-Rated Cable Series Ever, to End Next Year

"The Closer" is shutting the door.

The TNT drama, which made a star out of lead Kyra Sedgwick, will end its run next year after the seventh season, the network announced Friday.

With Sedgwick's contract up, the network decided to stop production entirely rather than re-cast the show without her. Sedgwick won the 2010 Emmy Award for best actress in a drama series for her portrayal of honeyed but sharp Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson.

“The series has literally changed the face and course of both TNT and Warner Bros. Television," Warner Bros. Television President Peter Roth said in a statement.

TNT called the cancellation a "difficult" decision, given that the show is the most-watched series on cable television.

Some 7.66 million viewers watched the sixth season premiere in July -- more than many series on the broadcast networks, according to the Nielsen Co.