It might be too soon to say whether the curiosity factor will die down, but there’s one thing Sarah Palin can safely claim (for now): her new TLC series is a big hit.

Last night’s debut of Sarah Palin’s Alaska had approximately 5 million people tuning it. That’s the largest number ever for a series premiere on that channel. (Episodes of Jon & Kate have drawn larger numbers.)

The reality program/travel show/political campaign – from Survivor producer Mark Burnett – is scheduled to last another seven weeks (unless, for some reason, Sarah decides to wants to end things early).