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Commentators and critics have weighed in on Sarah Palin's first TV special which aired on Thursday on Fox News Channel.

The run-up to the broadcast was marred by uproar over canned interviews of two big name subjects, but , finds little controversy in the final product.

Real American Stories celebrates such unobjectionable qualities as generosity and perseverance.

In the debut episode... Palin interviewed an 11-year-old boy with cerebral palsy whose service dog inspired him to learn to walk and a young woman who saved an oil tanker driver from a fire.

The fact that the program debuted amid a cloud of controversy, despite its heartwarming material, underscores the alchemic effect of the former Alaska governor.

the former Alaska governor's telegenic polish.

On the show, Ms Palin was clearly reading from a teleprompter at times, but appeared relaxed and natural - almost more comfortable than she sometimes appeared on the campaign trail - when interviewing guests.

But there was some criticism of the show's format, which saw Ms Palin voicing over pre-recorded video stories, before interviewing guests in front of a live studio audience.

straight to the point.

Sarah Palin will have a career in TV, that's for sure, but "Real American Stories" isn't the show to make her a superstar. That's not her fault. It's the production.

it a show lacking heart.

The debut on the Fox News Channel of Sarah Palin's Real American Stories Thursday night turned out to be like one of those shows that's on when nothing's on and yet there is air to fill -- like infotainment you sometimes see on empty channels in hotel rooms, or the stuff that's playing on the little TV screen at the gas pump nearest the rental-car centre...

No hopey-changey. No missed cues. Palin's show, which Fox News will air "periodically," is innocuous, flat and political in only the most coded of ways. It's like a Barbara Walters special for that particular media consumer who always complains that they never report any good news.

Meanwhile, Ms Palin as more product than presenter.

The flap over Real American Stories further proves that Sarah Palin is no longer a politician but rather a product to be merchandised - in this case, merchandised in a cut-rate way.

Implicit in any personality-based marketing strategy is the need to maintain strict quality control over the product line. It appears that Sarah Palin is now willing to slap her name on just about anything, with all the discrimination of Krusty the Klown.

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