'Sarah Palin's Alaska' is more about state's beauty than Republican's political future

UPDATE, Dec. 9: After watching the first eight shows, David Firestone of The New York Times writes a column that is mainly about the show as a political tool, but he gets your attention by starting with something more elemental: "scenes of Ms. Palin clubbing to death a huge halibut and then triumphantly holding up a still-beating halibut heart, images that probably did send chills down the spines of animal lovers and moderate Republicans." (Read more)

Former Gov. Sarah Palin's media exposure is set to rise even more this weekend with the debut of her nature show "Sarah Palin's Alaska." The TLC program showcases plenty of Alaska's snowcapped mountains, pine forests and shimmering lakes as well as the Palin family, leading Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times to conclude, "In a way it’s like 'The Sound of Music' but without the romance, the Nazis or the music." (TLC photo by Gilles Mingasson)

The first episode doesn't spend much time highlighting Palin's political persona, focusing on the 2008 vice presidential nominee and former TV reporter as she fishes, hunts, dog-sleds and rock-climbs. "A reality show is a risky step for any politician, but then Ms. Palin is no ordinary politician. It’s still not clear whether she plans to run for president in 2012, or is just riding high on her popularity and fame," Stanley writes. "The TLC program highlights her physical bravery, but the series’s existence points to a different kind of courage: Ms. Palin is not afraid to be herself." (Read more)

Palin says the show is more documentary than reality. The show is "breathtaking, though not so much in form as function," Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times writes. "It's the fabulous shamelessness, the awful and yet admirable brilliance of the thing. Whether Palin will ever run for office or not, 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' sets a new standard for political ads." (Read more)

In Alaska, at least one reviewer took issue with the idea that all Alaskans have lifestyles like those showcased in the program. "Surfing through press materials for the eight episodes filmed over the summer, I saw that Sarah fishes in Bristol Bay, four-wheels, kayaks outside of Homer, shoots, scales rock ledges, mushes a dog team, glacier-treks, rafts and climbs part of Denali," Julia O'Malley of the Anchorage Daily News writes. "I can see a working mother of five doing one or two of those things in a summer up here, but all of them? Maybe if you are a millionaire. With lots of child care. And no regular job. Oh, that's right." (Read more)