14 DAY TRIAL // Sarah Palin is coming back to TV. After a period of complete radio silence, Mrs. Palin is now in talks with TLC to renew her reality series “Sarah Palin's Alaska” for a brand new season, it has emerged.
Producer Mark Burnett is currently negotiating with the network the possibility of bringing back the reality series, which debuted to record ratings of 5 million viewers for the first episode.
Even though interest in the show soon declined (ratings started going down with the second episode), “Alaska” was still one of TLC's most solid shows, Burnett says for the New York Post.
“The plan would be to shoot this in the summer of 2012,” he explains. This means that the second season would not even start airing by the time the November presidential elections began.
This has made many assume that Mrs. Palin has had a change of heart and will still run in the elections.
“By the time we edit it, the election will be over. But I am sure the election would be mentioned [in the show],” Burnett says.
“It makes perfect sense, because that is what’s going on. But it would be again Sarah in Alaska, living with Todd and the family and having adventures juxtaposed with doing her Fox News bits and discussing whatever is going on,” the producer explains.
“It was the number one premiere ever on TLC,” he adds, as the final argument on why TLC shouldn't pass on the opportunity of renewing the show.
Last we heard about Mrs. Palin's television career, reports were saying she was somehow forced to choose between politics and a career in showbiz, and that she was inclining towards the former.
Money wasn't an issue, word online had it: even if TLC wanted her back (which it didn't at the time), she was determined to push for a career in politics and thus put everything else aside.
TLC is yet to comment on the latest round of rumors.