By my estimate, there have been approximately 5000 different Alaska reality shows. New ones crop up each week. Are they the result of a vast viewer base super intrigued with Alaska, or is it because they’re cheap to make (follow some bearded coot around with a camera). Did any of these shows exist before Palin came to prominence and awakened us to Seward’s Folly? I don’t remember any of them around until she showed up. IOW, are they her fault?
Deadliest Catch started in 2005. I think that was more a catalyst than Ms. Palin.
It could be argued Palin was a direct result of Alaskamania induced by reality television.
Palin had nothing to do with it. In fact, her own Alaska TV series was a ratings disappointment after the first episode. One of the complaints about the show was that she was out of element. People don’t associate Palin and the Alaskan wilderness and such.
Alaska is the last remnant of the Wild West. It is a holdover from a tremendously popular and long lasting part of American culture.
I wonder if they put in some fantastic tax credits or something. They’ve always been the ‘Wild West’, but only recently had about a dozen shows set there.
It took a bit for: 1. “Reality” shows to take off in general. 2. For Hollywood to discover that people like Alaskan shows. 3. The pile-on to start. Once something hits: imitate, imitate, imitate.
That takes several years to happen.
I tried watching the Alaska real estate show on HGTV, but had to stop. The clueless people who think they want to live off the grid are just too annoying. They’re shocked, I tells ya, about having to use an outhouse or even a septic, or having to boil catchment water. Idiots, most of them.