Sarah Palin: The Series

Variety reports that a Sarah Palin-hosted TV series about Alaska is on track to appear on a cable channel, possibly Discovery or the Travel Channel. The entertainment industry newspaper’s take:

This Alaska show, of course, could only be a prelude to a bigger TV career for Palin — particularly if she decides not to run for president in 2012. Some industry execs believe that Burnett has his eye on turning Palin into a daytime star — much as he revived Martha Stewart’s TV career with “The Martha Stewart Show.”

And talk about timing: With Oprah Winfrey exiting syndication in 2011, Burnett could always fashion a Palin yakker as a contender to fill that void.

You could speculate that the series means Palin is leaving politics, or you could recall that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wrote three books about “character” and “courage” between 2004 and 2008 — not really political texts, more work that built up his brand as a maverick. Anything that humanizes Palin and softens her image is potentially helpful to a presidential bid.