ZitatMove over, Judge Judy. There's a new TV courtroom judge coming to town – and it's none other than former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
The onetime vice presidential candidate has been tapped to preside over a new reality court show that would premiere next year. She signed a deal in February with Montana-based production company Warm Springs, a source close to the process tells PEOPLE.
"It's a production deal," the source explains. "What happens next is she'll meet with stations, make a pilot and sell it."
Warm Springs first approached Palin with the idea in 2015 and has since put together a team that includes the TV executive who found Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown.
Unlike the two famous TV judges, Palin does not have a juris doctor degree. But the source notes that the bestselling author has a variety of other qualities that make her perfectly suited to the job.
"Palin's telegenic personality, wide appeal and common sense wisdom make her a natural for this kind of format and she was Warm Springs' top pick for this project."
The as-yet-untitled show would premiere as a nationwide syndicated daytime show in the fall of 2017, the source adds.
Anyone old enough to remember the 1988 GOP convention probably remembers Dan Quayle and the circumstances that led up to his nomination as Bush I's VP. Real quick - during the convention, there was a lot of speculation on the drive-by media's part as to who Bush would pick for his VP. BUT . . . Dan Quayle (the then young first term senator from Indiana) was not on anyone's list.
The drive-by media - true to form - did not like being caught unaware, and they never forgave Bush (nor Quayle) for it. The media barrage against Quayle was immediate and intense.
Quayle never recovered, and (undeservedly, IMO) he became a media and pop-culture laughingstock. Great fodder for SNL and late-night losers like David Letterman.
I only mention Quayle because the circumstances surrounding his arriving on the scene parallel Sarah Palin's. She too was not on anyone's radar, and the media negative barrage against her was immediate and intense.
Dan Quayle has largely disappeared from public life, having apparently decided not to fight his pop-culture image. Sarah Palin however has taken a different path.
Fairly or unfairly, the drive-by media and pop-culture lightweights have the last word on these matters. And I doubt that Mrs. Palin's latest venture into Judge Judy territory will change things for her.
"If voting made any difference, they wouldn't let us do it" ~Mark Twain