sarah palin - Getty - H 2016
Getty ImagesJudge Judy might be getting some very interesting competition.
Sarah Palin is being eyed to host and star in her own daytime court TV series after signing a deal with Montana-based production company Warm Springs, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Big Ticket Entertainment’s Larry Lyttle, whose credits include both Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown, is attached to the project as an executive producer. The project is still in the early stages. The former governor of Alaska has not yet shot a pilot for the potential series or met with TV affiliates, and there is no studio currently attached. The hope is to launch a daytime syndicated series in fall of 2017.
Syndication vets Barry Wallach and Lee Villas are on board to sell the project.
Court shows have continued to be a strong performer in daytime despite the recent decline in celebrity-led talk shows. Big names like Katie Couric, Queen Latifah and Anderson Cooper, among many others, have failed to lure eyeballs to daytime, while shows like Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown and Divorce Court continue to perform. Judge Judy is currently renewed through 2020 and star Judith Sheindlin ranks as one the highest-paid stars in daytime TV.
Palin does not hold a law degree, like her daytime legal counterparts. However, sources pointed to her impressive social media following as well as her several best-selling books as proof of her appeal to the daytime demographic.
In recent years, Palin served as an on-air contributor for Fox News before her contract ended in 2015. She also starred in her own reality show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, on TLC in 2010.
