No Second Season of 'Sarah Palin's Alaska'?

For now Sarah Palin is a TV star, in the same way that Mike Huckabee is a talk-show host and Mitt Romney is just a guy with well-combed hair, but she could soon become a presidential candidate. The TV work, it would seem--particularly her gig on TLC's "Sarah Palin's Alaska," in which she shows viewers her home state--would prevent a serious campaign from materializing.

In light of that truth, rumors have arisen that Palin could return (or, rather, that the Discovery camera crews could return to her) for another season, and that as network executives beg her to come back, Palin's main concern is how to squeeze more money out of them, irrespective to any White House ambitions, which, if the rumor is true, are not very serious at the moment. From Popeater's Rob Shuter:

"Sarah knows to strike when the iron is hot and started talking about season two right after the show debuted to huge numbers," a friend of Palin tells me. "She knows that celebrities get millions of dollar for each episode of their shows and thinks she's worth it too. Jennifer Aniston took home millions from 'Friends' and in Sarah's eyes, she's no different."

Not so fast. Rebecca Mansour, Palin's speechwriter and overall message woman (this Vanity Fair profile of Palin makes a convincing argument that Mansour ghostwrites Palin's Facebook page), respond-tweets that Popeater doesn't know what it's talking about:

Rule of thumb: anything "PopEater" reports about Sarah Palin is completely made up -- as in fabricated out of thin air.

Also knocking down the rumor are Conservatives4Palin, the world's number one pro-Sarah-Palin blog, which Mansour founded before her employment by the former governor.

If Palin did return to film again, the timing would be decidedly inconvenient.

Announced this past spring, Palin and TLC filmed it at least partly over the summer. Seven episodes have aired so far, and in the last one, in case you have not heard, Palin went campaign with Kate Gosselin.

If "Sarah Palin's Alaska" were to air at the same time next year, Palin would have to film it as the GOP presidential primary kicks into swing both on stage and behind the scenes. The first debate will be televised in May; in between spring and winter, candidates will be busy flying across the country raising money, making stump speeches in early primary states, and shaking hands. By November, when the first episode would air, Palin will (if she runs) be on the ground in key states, and appearing on TV in Alaska at the same time could feel incongruous.

TLC, meanwhile, probably sells more commercials with Palin as an unofficial candidate...not that her fans look ready to stop following.

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