In a fitting end to a show that's so closely tied to country music, the cast members of TV's Nashville were on hand at the Grand Ole Opry on Wednesday night (May 25) for the series finale.

The Nashville cast have become regulars at the Opry since the show debuted on ABC four years ago. They have toured all over the country, and they routinely take part in various charity endeavors in Music City, where the cast and crew of Nashville have been welcomed with open arms over the course of the show's run. Wednesday night's Opry gig raised money to support the Pencil Foundation, which provides resources and volunteers to help Metro Nashville Public Schools students, according to WKRN.

The performance just happened to fall on the same night as the series finale, since ABC pulled the plug on the show unexpectedly just two weeks before. In an odd bit of irony, the actors watched the last episode of Nashville backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, joined by a group of fans.

“Always the best part of [the show] was making it and getting to play these characters, and getting to hang out with these people that I work with,” series star Charles Esten tells WKRN. “So that will be hard to say goodbye if we have to. Either way, I’ve never had two seasons of a great show, let alone four like this. So I am seriously very grateful to ABC for the four years that we’ve had here. ”

If the producers of the show have anything to say about it, the cast and fans of Nashville won't have to say a final goodbye just yet. Lionsgate TV are actively shopping the show to other networks to try to secure a fifth season, and TVLine reports that they even changed the ending of Wednesday night's episode to a cliffhanger at the last minute in order to make a projected next season more attractive to potential networks.

Lionsgate also hinted that a fifth season will be forthcoming in a post to Twitter just as the Nashville finale ended.

Nashville fans have started a petition at Change.org to try to save the show, and there has been a very active online campaign using the hashtag #BringBackNashville. The petition has garnered more than 100,000 supporters in two weeks.

'Nashville' Cast Respond to Cancellation

Why Was 'Nashville' Canceled?

See More Country Stars Who've Acted

More From 107.7 WGNA