We Watch Palin Meet Kate Gosselin So You Don't Have To
Closing Thoughts:
Kate Gosselin decides that her family is going to leave the camping trip early. Palin comments that Kate Gosselin being out of her element in Alaska is something she can relate to. She suggests that if Kate Gosselin were to take her to a red carpet event in New York, that would be similarly freaked out.
Because as we all know, Palin has never been to large events in big cities with a massive media pool.
Palin's dad is more blunt and just calls Kate Gosselin a bitch. Palin's dad remains among the most grounded characters on the show.
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Update at 9:53pm
Its official: Kate Gosselin is the bigger diva. I know that many people would expect FrumForum to try and find some way to critique Palin, but who would want to go camping with someone whose description of camping is... well, this:
"Why would you pretend to be homeless?"
Dear Kate Gosselin, being able to sleep in a tent with food at the ready is not the same as being homeless. The lack of hand sanitizer is not the worst thing ever.
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Update at 9:41pm:
The camping trip starts, and the first thing that Kate Gosselin says when she gets off the plane is, "Are you kidding me? Doesn't a lodge sound better."
Not even this cynical commentator can keep making cracks at Palin. Gosselin seems like an awful camping partner. Normally I find Palin's narration and attempts at fake enjoyment aggravating, but in this case, I actually am glad that she is trying to make this trip something fun for the children.
Kate Gosselin to the Camera: "Sorry I'm miserable, but somebody has to be."
Weak!
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Update: at 9:33pm:
I also am obligated to report that Palin's dad has a dog who collects antlers, and has a giant pile of antler in the backyard. It looks cool, though a bit surreal.
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Update at 9:32pm:
So I think that Palin does better when she has a shotgun as opposed to a hunting scope. Her face practically lights up with glee with she starts blasting away at the bear targets.
Willow and Kate Gosselin watch on. Kate looks terrified. Willow has a look that is either "oh god, not again" or "there she goes again..."
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Update at 9:25pm:
Oh where to begin.
For a start, Kate Gosselin brings her all her kids with her and quickly shows herself to be a read fish out of water. She points out a bear on the floor and feels the need to ask Todd "Is that real? Did it use to walk?"
Palin and Kate also bond over being in the media spotlight, on a reality TV show. Self-Awareness is not in their vocabulary!
So Palin, Kate, and Willow all go to learn how to fight off a bear attack, and Kate Gosselin gets to appear visibly uncomfortable with a gun. This whole sequence is surreal, partly because they have an overly enthusiastic teacher.
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Update at 9:12 pm:
Also, Piper (my favorite character) has already figured out that there is a calculator on Palin's blackberry that she can use for her math homework. Palin is surprised to learn that her Blackberry has a calculator. I am speechless.
The scene where Sarah tells Piper that they will going camping with Kate and her eight children reeks of being staged. I also don't know why Piper supposedly spends her time watching Kate Plus Eight, but sure, we'll play along.
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Update at 9:09pm:
So what have we learned in the first five minutes?
-In Alaksa, the local gunstore is like the local barber shop.
-In Alaska, shotguns are as ubiquitous in Alaska as Blackberries
-And Palin needs to buy her gun to defend a guest who will appear later in the episode (Kate.)
This episode is doubling as a good NRA promo.
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Update at 9:00pm:
Palin opens up by saying that Kate Gosselin and her kids were already up here for an episode of their own show they were filming. What a happy coincidence!
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Curtain Raiser:
Tonight episode of Sarah Palin's Alaska (9pm ET on TLC!) will be an experiment in synergy. Palin will leading a camping trip with her youngest daughter Piper. What makes this trip atypical is that she will be joined by TLC reality star Kate Gosselin and her eight children. Because if there is one thing that comes to mind when I think of the "Great Alaskan Wilderness", its attempts by TLC to boost their other shows.
Still, the idea of doing a "very special episode" like this has its appeal. If the Palin's ever decide to do another season, they should do an episode where they fly in the families from other TLC properties. I nominate the polygamist family on "Sister Wives" and the fundamentalist Christians family from "19 Kids and Counting." (If you never heard of that show, it is about a fundamentalist family that keeps making babies. When the show first started, it was titled "17 Kids and Counting.")
I imagine they would have a very interesting dinner table conversation.
The ever-reliable celebrity gossip magazines are already reporting that the trip was a behind-the-scenes disaster. As em>Us Weekly reports<:
Did fellow lightning-rod gals Kate Gosselin and Sarah Palin become BFFs while camping in Alaska for Palin's TLC show? Not so much!
A Gosselin source tells the new Us Weekly that the reality mom, 35, had "zero chemistry" with the former governor, 46, while taping a buzzed-about episode of Sarah Palin's Alaska in July.
"They didn't speak off camera," the insider adds. "She said the food and accommodations were terrible, and it was the worst trip she'd ever been on."
Although Gosselin's eight kids loved fishing and looking for firewood with Palin and Palin's children, Gosselin "had a meltdown" in the 53-degree weather and left the campground before sundown, the source reveals. "She just couldn't cope."
Will tonight's episode settle the debate? Probably not, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't watch it.