Who Are Bristol Palin's Fans, Anyway?

Why does Bristol Palin get her own show? Do people seriously like her?
—Rachel, via the inbox

Well, there's "like." And then there's "boy I had no idea that Bristol could turn a brighter shade of orange than she already is—and what manner of biomass may have burrowed into her chin?"

Both attitudes can draw huge ratings for a reality TV star. One guess as to which is fueling the new Bristol Palin show:

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It's schadenfreude, baby. (Well, maybe.)

"Can't say I'm a fan, but I'll definitely be watching!" says Answer B!tch fan Maria Jackson, 27, of Atlanta. "It's more like someone placed a penny on the rails and no one knows for sure if it'll be a train wreck, but I'm ready to be a witness!"

In fact, Palin seems to bring out the disaster metaphors in TV watchers.

"Its kind of like watching your kid with a penny near a light socket," says 30-year-old B!tchlette Justin Murphy of Arnold, Mo. "You know you should stop them, but you kinda wanna see where it will go."

And you know it's gonna go straight into a vat of self-tanner eventually. But I digress.

You asked who on Earth Palin's audience is.

Geographically, it appears to be the American heartland, or, at least, people outside New York, Los Angeles and other major cities. According to Yahoo!, the states responsible for the most Internet searches for Palin in recent weeks include Alaska (natch), North Dakota, Maine, Vermont and Idaho.