Four Reasons Why Sarah Palin and Discovery Are a Good Fit

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.

As the host of a travelogue show, her casual manner is going to feel much more natural than it did when she was talking about "huntin' and fishin'" during the campaign.

2. She loves her home state. The show is supposed to be shot similarly to 'Planet Earth' and 'Life.' Think big sweeping airplane shots of lush green mountains or seemingly endless vistas of icebergs and glaciers, all shot in high definition. If Palin is at all involved in the planning of the show, she'll be able to point out her favorite spots and what they mean to her and her family. Then the cinematographers can go to work creating the incredible shots we know they're going to produce.

Palin will also have a lot of good insight into the people of the 49th state. Face it; all most people in the lower 48 really know about Alaska is what we've learned from 'Northern Exposure' and 'Men in Trees:' There are many more men than women up there, and quirky characters abound. I have faith in Palin that she's going to show us that Alaska is more normal than people think, where people face the same everyday issues and struggles as anyone else does. It's not just moose and weirdos up there, and Palin's going to show us that.

3. Palin doesn't take herself seriously. At all. I gave her all the credit in the world when she went on 'SNL' during the campaign. She looked comfortable in front of the camera and didn't seem to mind whatever ribbing she was taking from Tina Fey and the Weekend Update folks. Heck, she even spoke to Alec Baldwin without gagging. And, while her recent monologue on 'The Tonight Show' wasn't going to make anyone fear for their jobs, just the fact that she was willing to do it makes her well-suited for a show like this.

Why? Because shows like this are more entertaining when the main subject is "going with the flow," so to speak. If something goes wrong, or there's a situation that doesn't show them in the best light, they won't be uptight about it. Say this about Gov. Palin: she's not afraid to take chances, even if they're calculated chances.

4. Discovery won't exploit Palin's family... unless she wants to. Reports about the show say that it's going to follow her family around the state. As Brad pointed out when this show was first announced, for a person who doesn't want the media to pry into her family life, she's putting her family in the public eye quite a bit. But, to be honest, that's not the audience's problem. What we will expect from TLC Discovery (or TLC... the landing spot in the Discovery empire hasn't been determined yet) and Burnett (See update above about the show's landing spot) is that they'll likely work with Palin and her husband to figure out how to best depict the family in the show.

That doesn't mean, though, that the show won't turn into a nature-laden version of 'Jon and Kate Plus 8.' But it'll only go as far as the Palins will let it. Discovery is rife with popular shows that don't exploit its subjects. In fact, a savvy subject -- Jennifer Arnold and Bill Klein of 'The Little Couple' come to mind -- may be able to get the producers to highlight particular causes they believe in or show them in as positive light as possible. And the Palins seem to have that kind of savvy.

Are you looking forward to seeing 'Sarah Palin's Alaska,' no matter what end of the political spectrum you're on? Let me know in the comments.