Hallmark axes Marie Osmond's talk show, and does it very politely

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The Hallmark Channel has canceled Marie Osmond's daytime talk show - and done it in the most incredibly polite way possible.It isn't often that any network goes out of its way to explain that the fault was not in the show or the star, but in itself.OK, Hallmark didn't go quite that far, but the official announcement is pretty amazing:Hallmark Channel is in a phase of true transformation to a much more diversified portfolio of family friendly entertainment that includes original movies and acquired series in addition to original primetime scripted series and a full original daytime line up.With so many talk show offerings in the daypart, particularly in broadcast syndication, Hallmark Channel has decided not to greenlight a second season of its Critics Choice Award nominated talk show, Marie, starring Marie Osmond.As the network examined and explored its work in daytime, we determined that the best direction for this daypart is to offer quintessential lifestyle service shows that inform and entertain our viewers with how to, tips and ideas for living their best lives. We also find these types of shows best serve today's demand for digital video.We are extremely grateful to Marie Osmond, whose immense talent and dedication to excellence is unmatched in entertainment. Marie is a consummate professional and outstanding human being in every way possible. We have enjoyed working with her on the talk show and know her passion to create an offering of such high quality will find great success in syndication.And we're afraid of her. We don't want to tick her off. So we issued this press release.OK, I made that last paragraph up.And if "Marie" was a big ratings success, you can be sure that Hallmark would not have canceled it - new direction or not.The company that produces "Marie," Associated Television International, has announced that it will syndicate the show to local stations for the fall of 2014.Yeah, good luck with that. It might work ... but don't hold your breath.