sarah palins alaska

On the new 'Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on Comedy Central), the host unleashed his new opening credit sequence, inspired by 'Sarah Palin's Alaska.'

Sure, it's a calculated ploy on his part to shore up his conservative support, win over the Tea Partiers, and gain ground in the "Red States." ... But on the other hand -- fishing! Deer! Mountains! Explosions! Symbolic bald eagles! Machine guns!

And so, as Colbert says, it's time to let this modified intro "off the leash."

The debut of 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' brought in huge numbers for TLC, making it the highest-rated series launch in the network's history.

The first episode in the eight-part series was seen by 5 million viewers. According to Variety, the series brought in 1.6 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic, but mostly skewed older. Viewers over 35 -- 3.9 million of them -- accounted for the majority of the audience.

So, just who are these viewers?

Sarah Palin, consider this a challenge! While discussing 'Sarah Palin's Alaska,' Elisabeth Hasselbeck praises Palin for courageously putting herself in dangerous situations. But Joy Behar wonders aloud if Palin has the courage to go head-to-head with the ladies of 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated).

Because Sarah Palin is an executive producer of her new TLC reality show, 'Sarah Palin's Alaska,' viewers had to know going in that she was going to have editorial control of what we saw of her home and family life. What did that mean? No salaciousness, no controversies, and likely no sight of Levi Johnston.

No, what we were going to mostly see were cute vignettes of life in the Palin household interspersed with the former governor and her family "discovering" the natural wonders of their home state, complete with sweeping vistas and shots of the Palins saying "wow" a lot.

That's pretty much what we got with last night's premiere episode of the show, which runs for 8 weeks. The problem is that the show really is neither fish nor fowl, pun intended: it's a boring reality show that's not spectacular enough as a nature show to make up the difference.

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' (Sun., 9PM ET on TLC) takes us to the northernmost state. On the premiere, Sarah dishes out some wisdom about protecting her "cubs" -- while confronting a real-life bear and its offspring.

Ms. Palin travels with husband Todd, daughter Piper and niece McKinley for some fishing on the Big Lake River. While floating on the river, the family encounters a group of brown bears. The bears fish, swim ... then, one bear starts fighting to protect her territory and her two cubs.

The rival bears growl, snarl and lash out as the babies scamper into the woods.

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' finally premieres Sunday night at 9PM ET, and TLC has released another sneak peek to whet our appetites.

It's more of the same -- Palin does outdoorsy things with her family and talks about her values -- but she's charming. On getting caught while boating with her kids and husband (some of which we saw in the last promo): "We're snagged, I'm thinkin' we're gonna be stuck there, the anchor is dropped, and there's a bear comin' towards us."

Aw shucks.

MTV is preparing a spin-off of its popular reality series 'Teen Mom.' The network has reportedly already set its cast and done some location shooting.

This should come as no surprise since 'Teen Mom,' itself a spin-off of '16 and Pregnant,' averaged 2.8 million viewers. And the show -- chronicling the lives of teen mothers Amber, Maci [at right], Catelynn and Farrah -- attracted close to 6 million to its finale. '16 and Pregnant,' which returns for a new season Oct. 26, averaged 3 million viewers.

According to the New York Post, the series will be separate from both shows, but feature cast members from both.

"We're always exploring new production ideas, but can't confirm anything at this time," an MTV spokeswoman told the Post.

In other TV news ...

• Christopher Lloyd will guest star on 'Fringe.' The 'Back to the Future' star will play Walter's musical hero on an episode of the Fox drama airing early next year. [TV Guide]

• Gwyneth Paltrow will perform at the 44th Annual CMA Awards in November on ABC. Paltrow will sing the title track to her film 'Country Song' with Vince Gill. [Hollywood Reporter]

• Whitney Cummings is working on a sitcom at NBC. The comic has signed a deal that would see her writing, producing and starring in the romantic comedy project. [Vulture]

We know Sarah Palin, governor, and Sarah Palin, vice presidential candidate. Now, thanks to the new trailer for TLC's 'Sarah Palin's Alaska,' we'll get to know Sarah Palin, mother and outdoorswoman.

The former Alaska governor's new TLC reality series, which premieres Sun., Nov. 14 at 9PM, documents Palin and her family enjoying their home state's pristine beauty. In this first look at the show, she extols the virtues of being outdoors in Alaska. "Oh gosh, we are somewhere that people dream about," she exclaims while hiking on a mountain.

She also makes her priorities clear: "Family comes first. It's just gotta be that way," she says. "I'd rather be doing this than in some stuffy political office. I'd rather be out here bein' free."

Watch the 30-second trailer, then let us know what you think.

If you had told me a few years ago that in 2010 we were going to have not one but two reality shows about Alaska on the air, one hosted by a former candidate for Vice President and the other hosted by her Playgirl-posing almost-son-in-law, I probably would have told you that you're drinking way too much Yoo-Hoo. But it's happening!

True, Sarah Palin's show for TLC is more of a documentary, but 'Levi Johnston's Final Frontier' is being described by one of the producers as "'Jersey Shore' on ice," which conjures up a lot of really bad images, one of them being Disney characters with rock hard abs skating around drunk and punching each other.

Johnston doesn't have a network for his reality show yet (it could land on MTV), but I'm going to go ahead and assume it's not going to be on PBS or The History Channel.

[via TV Tattle]

Well, the deal is done. Sarah Palin's next line on her resume, the one after Vice Presidential candidate and Governor of the State of Alaska, will be television host. The former politico has teamed with reality TV producer Mark Burnett and they've sold a travel show. Discovery's TLC will air 'Sarah Palin's Alaska,' a show about the state and why it's such a great place to live and/or visit. Sarah Palin will be the tour guide and 'proud daughter' of the territory, showing off the mountains, lakes, streams and vistas of the 49th state.

As Joel pointed out the other day, this new show is a good move for Palin as well as Discovery. The numbers she'll need to pull for TLC are in the low millions, so that should be do-able considering her appeal to a large segment of the public. Especially that segment that likes her without taking an interest in her political opinions. This show will have no politics. It's going to be like a movie from the Alaska Convention and Visitor's Bureau. You know, "Come to Alaska, experience the wild life and feel the chill." (Hmm ... maybe I should trademark that?)

'Sarah Palin's Alaska' has found a home.

According to Discovery, the eight-part travelogue will air on TLC, with an official launch date yet to be announced. The show will reportedly reveal "Alaska's powerful beauty as it has never been filmed, and as told by one of the state's proudest daughters," aka Palin.

Mark Burnett of 'Survivor' fame will produce the series, which was previously shopped at a number of networks, including A&E.

For more on this story, visit PopEater.

Yesterday, we found out from James Hibberd at THR's Live Feed that Discovery Communications has won the bidding to air an Alaskan travelogue program hosted by former governor Sarah Palin, and today, it was revealed that it will officially air on TLC. 'Sarah Palin's Alaska,' which will be produced by Mark Burnett, is going to be a pricey proposition for Discovery; Gov. Palin was asking for $1.2 million per episode, according to Hibberd.

But it's going to be worth it. Whatever you may think of her politics, Palin is a network programmer's dream. In fact, Palin and Discovery seem to be a pretty good pairing, for a number of reasons:

1. Palin is charming and has a good screen presence. The big reason why she was so popular during the 2008 presidential campaign was that she connected with a lot of people who were outside the usual Republican base: mothers, parents of kids with special needs, and others. She was folksy and chatty, and she was able to connect with her audiences despite whatever flaws she had in the policy knowledge department.

Ever wonder what you can actually see from former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's porch? Well, thanks to Discovery, you're about to find out.

It's not quite official yet, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, it appears that a deal is imminent between Discovery and Palin for the controversial conservative star's new reality series, 'Sarah Palin's Alaska,' a travelogue exploring the natural wonders of our nation's largest state. Palin, Alaska's ex-governor, would act as host.

Sarah Palin's new reality series may wind up on cable.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Discovery is among the networks vying for the rights to Palin's latest TV project, a reality show that would double as a tourist brochure for our nation's largest state. The premise involves Palin acting as a tour guide to some of Alaska's most remote and scenic historical and natural treasures.