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In the end, it was Martha Stewart herself who "just didn't fit in," or "needs to leave now," or "sorry, it just isn't working out," or...what was her kiss-off phrase, anyway? If she had just listened to us and used "Bite the doily," she might not have found herself the latest addition to the NBC compost heap:

It s a fade out for The Apprentice: Martha Stewart after next month s finale.


Sources said that NBC has passed on ordering another round of episodes of the Stewart-hosted edition of The Apprentice, which has struggled in the ratings since its Sept. 21 premiere. A spokesman for NBC stressed Sunday that the show always had been scheduled to run for only one cycle.

The end of The Apprentice: Martha does not officially ring the death knell for Marthamania; her syndicated daytime show Martha still has a few months of stiff, uncomfortable celebrity interactions in it at least. But hang in there; once that inevitable cancellation is announced, we can all go back to the comfiness of hating her again and forget this regrettably compassionate chapter of American history ever took place.