There’s about to be order in Sarah Palin’s court.
The last time we heard from the polarizing former Alaska governor, she was threatening to jeopardize Speaker Paul Ryan’s political future if he failed to get behind presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and by nearly all accounts bombing before what should have been a friendly audience at a Milwaukee County Fish Fry in April. But before long we may be seeing her in a long awaiting new iteration — as a TV judge.
According to TMZ, producers for a long-rumored new reality court show have lobbied to trademark “Palin Rules” as its title. The program, which will be in the same mold as “Judge Judy,” “People’s Court” and “Judge Joe Brown,” was first reported on back in March, with the show’s producer Larry Lyttle pledging that the former 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee will preside over “the courtroom of common sense.”
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Without a law degree of any kind, that may be the only kind of courtroom Palin can exert authority over, depending on your point of view. According the New York Times, some states allow law students to practice via apprenticeships before they have formally passed the bar, while other states only require some law school study, not a full J.D. degree. And since Trump has not ruled out a future role for Palin in a theoretical administration, this might just be a temporary gig for her.
This is certainly not the first time a Palin has dipped their toe in the reality show genre. She hosted “Sarah Palin’s America” for two years on TLC, headlined “Amazing America With Sarah Palin” for the Sportsman Channel, and later launched an ill-fated subscription channel largely devoted to her political screeds and daily life. Her daughter Bristol has broken out as a reality star in her own right, with a high profile stint on “Dancing With the Stars” as well as a Lifetime series — “Life’s a Tripp” — which last just one season.
Still, her stint as a TV judge could prove to be her most ambitious and lucrative foray into entertainment to date. If “Judge Judy” is the model, Palin could become a millionaire many times over. Currently, that show’s star — Judy Scheindlin — is earning upwards of $40 million a year, making her the 43rd highest paid celebrity in America according to Forbes. And Celebrity Net Worth reports that Scheindlin is worth a total of $250 million.
When TMZ asked Scheindlin in March whether she viewed Palin as competition, she said the genre was “open territory” and that all you need is “common sense and to know a little bit about the law.”
That may be a tall order for Palin, who has been pilloried in the past for claiming that the vice president is “in charge” of the U.S. Senate, that Obamacare could be defunded without the upper chambers approval, and has, on at least one prominent occasion, confused the Declaration of Independence with the Constitution.
“Palin Rules,” which doesn’t have an official network home yet, is expected to debut some time in 2017. Will we be tuning in? You betcha!
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