"SARAH PALIN'S ALASKA" IS ENTHRALLING

Still from Sarah Palin's Alaska

Although many of you have your opinions about Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, we cannot deny that the Woman is a Star.  After hearing so much about TLC's new record-setting Reality TV series Sarah Palin's Alaska, I decided to check it out.  

The show steers focus away from Politics and plays off more like a weekly hour-long advertisement for Tourism Alaska in its  beautiful Cinematography.  We see Palin as a loving Wife, Mother and recent Grandmother, spending Quality Time with her Family doing things which a more industrialized America would find novel: hunting for Caribou, de-boning Fish, Clam Digging, etc.  There is a telling charm to her when we see her speak so fondly still about hunky Husband Todd, who has seen her through many highs and lows from High School where they first met, through five Children and now one Grandchild later.

16 year-old Daughter Willow like any other Girl, struggles with acceptance from her Peers and being a good Daughter, telling the Camera a little embarrassingly "None of my other friends have to do this on their Birthday" as she de-bones a Fish.  Older Sister Bristol, of Dancing with the Stars fame, steps up to the challenge of beheading a Fish with no reply to her Mother's revealing question to her on Camera, "Bristol, did you want some of your favourite, Fish Head Stew?".

Despite some grammatically awkward moments from Palin which had me contemplating their meaning versus what was actually happening on-screen, Producer Mark Burnett of The Apprentice fame, does a fantastic job here.   In Sarah Palin's Alaska, we see a picture of a Family with its own struggles and what  life is like unplugged outside the America we see often for its Cowboys, Gangstas, Celebutantes and Skyscrapers. Perhaps it is this refreshing sense of simplicity in a complicated World which keeps us so drawn to her?

Sarah Palin's Alaska airs Sunday nights on TLC at 8 PM EST.

(Photo credit: TLC)