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Here's a review of "Sarah Palin's Alaska by Dianne Newcomer, a travel agent in Northeast Louisiana:
So what if there is a hidden agenda? Who cares if she makes a million dollars an episode for eight shows? What's wrong with interjecting personal — and perhaps political — perspective into the script? Isn't that one of the privileges of being the editor and what makes her so likeable? After all, who really believes TLC's "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is "reality"?- JP
Yet, the "reality" was I was really entertained as I watched the show last Sunday night. It was not the well manicured and manipulated family moments that captured my attention, but, rather, the awesome beauty of Alaska. Wasn't the Homer spit stunning? When Palin tells us her show is a "love letter to Alaska," she nailed it! There is absolutely no way the state's tourism is not going to benefit, because Alaska definitely steals the show.
Unlike the "Deadliest Catch" (a Discovery Channel show about fishing for Alaskan crab in the worst conditions possible) or "Ice Road Truckers," (a History Channel show where truck drivers make the treacherous ice route between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay), "Sarah Palin's Alaska" takes place in the summer, and no touch ups are needed! Alaska just sits there looking rugged, wild, majestic, and pristine — absolutely picture perfect. What you see is really what you get! Throw in a little family drama with Mrs. Palin, America's media sweetheart, who even looks cute "stunning" halibut, and you have a travelogue made for Hollywood!
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I am not sure if "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is just another reality show or a campaign promo piece for 2012, but, when she says "we are somewhere you dream about," I believe she loves that state. Yet, let's be honest, what is there not to love about a place where moose, sunsets, snowflakes and wildflowers make the front page of the newspaper and where their colleges offer courses in fly fishing and log cabin construction?
What's not to love about a place governed by Mother Nature?
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No matter how you cut it: Alaska is a strange and wonderful land. It has very few paved roads, no sales taxes, no snakes, cock roaches, skunks, tornadoes, hurricanes or skyscrapers. They adamantly believe they have no weeds — only wildflowers and interesting plants — but they do brag about their abundance of glaciers, mountains, volcanoes, oil fields, gold and timber.
With more lakes than Minnesota and more mosquitoes than Texas, "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is undeniably the Last Frontier. It deserves to be on every good traveler's "bucket list" and, thanks to Mrs. Palin, I am sure it is going to be a hot destination for 2011.
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One of my marathon buddies recently came back from a fishing trip to Alaska. Two weeks of floating down a river, fishing like crazy, and watching grizzlies, eagles and osprey feed on the fish. He said the grizzlies just ate the skin and left the rest of the carcass. It seems the bears want the fat in the skin as they prepare to hibernate. He had a fantastic trip, except for one small detail. Alaska has a HUGE population of biting and blood-sucking insects. His hands were scarred by their attacks.
ReplyDeleteLove her series. I thought I'd be watching a travelogue. Instead, I'm seeing working Alaskans doing their stuff. I now know that halibut are giant flounder and you need to club them to stop then flapping around dangerously. When I used to fish for trout, my Dad taught me to club the head so it didn't suffer. I got that.
The family dynamics come across as authentic. When you see Sarah working, you know she's actually done the work, or is willing to learn it.