Sarah Palin Signs Deal to Star in Syndicated Court Show

All rise for Republican lightning rod Sarah Palin, who might become daytime’s latest judge.

The former governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate has signed a production deal with Missoula, Montana-based Warm Springs to star in a syndicated court show.

The show, for which no pilot has yet been shot, would be executive produced by Big Ticket Entertainment’s Larry Lyttle. Big Ticket produced both CBS Television Distribution’s syndication leading Judge Judy and the now-defunct Judge Joe Brown. Daytime's court genre has shrunk considerably in recent years, with only six shows remaining on the air, but Judge Judy remains syndication's top-performing show, and CTD's Hot Bench, which Judge Judy Sheindlin created, has quickly grown into the number-two rated court show in the year and a half that it's been on the air.

Syndication veterans Barry Wallach, who formerly ran NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution, and Lee Villas, formerly of CTD, have signed on to sell the show in syndication, with hopes that it will launch in fall 2017.

After running as Sen. John McCain’s running mate in 2008, Palin has been an on-air contributor to Fox News and starred in TLC’s Sarah Palin’s Alaska in 2010.

People.com first reported this story.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.