Hollywood Critics Hate Palin's Frontier Values: She'd Be 'Very Charming' if Not 'Horrible Person'

There will be no promotion of gay marriage and mockery of traditional values. Race-baiting will not be a go-to topic. There will be no actors known for contributing to liberal causes. You won’t see Lena Dunham sitting on a toilet eating cake. Matt Damon will be nowhere in sight. Despite all that, Sarah Palin still brought her brand new TV show into the belly of the beast Friday in California.

The former Alaska governor will be hosting Amazing America With Sarah Palin on Sportsman Channel starting in April. Palin introduced the program at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena. The event proved that the critics will still have an agenda before they ever see the new show. That said, Palin and Sportsman Channel made the right move by bringing the show to them in a professional and friendly manner. What they do with it is on them, and that is something Palin fully understands.

“You know how much I love critics and the media,” Palin said at Friday’s power breakfast. “So a room full of television critics, I can’t beat this combination for pleasure.”

If you doubt these critics won’t be going for blood, consider this. Scott D. Pierce of The Salt Lake Tribune reports one critic at the breakfast said “If she (Palin) weren’t such a horrible, horrible person, she’d be very charming.” Of course, the coward wasn’t identified. This should serve as bellwether of what’s to come from these “impartial” critics.

The onslaught from some is already in motion, months before the show debuts. Tim Goodman of the The Hollywood Reporter is calling Sportsman Channel “niche and obscure.” Even more absurd, he writes that “Palin, too, clearly needed a TV job.” Really? I suppose her gig at Fox is a hobby? The whole premise of this typical, unoriginal, snarky piece is that Palin needs gimmicks to succeed when she is swarmed wherever she goes and instantly makes news whenever she comments on the news of the day. Ask A&E. In addition, her impeccable record of saying what she means and doing what she says proves it.

The “writer” then brags about how he “got to make a lot of Twitter jokes about the event.” Wow! What an accomplishment. He goes on attempting to diminish Palin’s partnership with Sportsman Channel, unable to wrap his brain around Palin’s genuine love for outdoor sports. You don’t go to Oprah’s channel or Logo for this. You do exactly what Palin is doing.

Then the same old, tired act of attempting to paint Palin as irrelevant is injected. He fails miserably in attempting to demonstrate Palin’s star is fading. Tell that to all the people at her recent book tour who couldn’t find a parking space and in some cases couldn’t even get their hands on a book. Palin is the voice of commonsense conservatives today, unquestionably.

Goodman goes on to rip Palin’s prior TV show and her work on Fox. He comes across more catty than Brenda Walsh or Kelly Taylor ever did even when Dylan McKay was the prize.

The article continues to paint a false picture of Palin. Goodman writes, “Trajectory-wise in the business of television, Palin is going down, not up.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

This sounds like nothing more than a jealous rant… and this is before the program airs. Palin will have this type of trash thrown at her even heavier once the series begins because her critics realize her brand and voice resonates most with “flyover” country they do not understand and often hold in disdain. They know she is resonates (even though they do not know why) and want to cut her down at all times. What they do not realize is that Palin is one of the few people who can take it. She’s already seen it all.

Nevertheless, Palin is not stooping to the level of naysayers. She’s conducting herself like Sportsman Channel had envisioned–engaging, friendly, personable, and likeable. Palin went out of her way to reach out to the critics. In fact, she invited the whole room to Alaska and offered them all some homemade moose chili. “I want you to come up there,” she said. “That is the way that you can connect. So much of Alaska is what America used to be with a pioneering spirit. … What our show is going to do is highlight the people, places and things that embody that American experience.”

How delightfully un-Hollywood that sounds, and that is why those inside the Hollywood bubble are predisposed to dislike it.

The show will focus on Americans who love the outdoors as much as Palin does. Shooting, fishing, and hunting will be prominently showcased. The question is, can the critics see past their bias and give the venture a fair shake? I think we all know the answer.

Sportsman Channel has been around for more than a decade and its audience is predominantly male. With that firmly in mind, Palin addressed women. “I think this world would be better off having more young women holding a fish in a picture than holding their camera in front of a bathroom mirror, talking a selfie,” Palin said.

Palin has stressed the importance of infiltrating pop culture for the greater good. She will be able to use this new show as a vehicle for that very objective while entertaining viewers at the same time.

“I’m more excited about this project than many of the other projects I’ve done in the past,” Palin said to conclude her speech. As Tammy Bruce described Palin in Stephen K. Bannon’s groundbreaking film, The Undefeated, “Like a Marine she runs toward the danger.”

That she does. This time she brought with her a very enjoyable program that should be a must-see for outdoor loving Americans and pique the interest of so many others that wouldn’t tune in if Palin weren’t involved. And she does it with optimism and cheerfulness, even saying he had a “nice chat” with the CNN host who led a discussion hours after the horrific attempted murder of Gabby Giffords in which CNN panelists Jessica Yellin and Gloria Borger essentially accused Palin of being responsible for the horrific act:

Todd and I had a great time in Pasadena with Sportsman Channel working on “Amazing America with Sarah Palin” and dedicating the network to “Red, Wild & Blue America!” The show premieres in April. I can’t wait to show you the inspiring people, places, and things that make this country truly amazing! As I told members of the Television Critics Association yesterday, I’m especially encouraged to have opportunities to empower young women to get outdoors, be self-sufficient, and work extremely hard so they can live life vibrantly. See, I’m convinced the world will be a better place when we have more girls holding fish in pictures and fewer holding selfie cameras in front of the bathroom mirror.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour breakfast yesterday. And, no, friends, upon spotting CNN’s Wolf Blitzer at a TCA event, no one was tempted to re-engage any Department of Fish and Game Predator Control Program to scamper away troublesome wolves! I had a nice chat with him instead. (Plus, I adore his mother.)

Thank you, Sportsman Channel. Can’t wait for April’s premiere all across Red, Wild & Blue America!

While the critics are watching, we will be watching them to see if they can fairly judge Sportsman Channel’s bold, new endeavor.

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