“Sarah Palin’s Alaska’’ performed well Sunday night. The premiere of the eight-part series drew 4.92 million viewers, which was TLC’s biggest series launch ever. It wasn’t TLC’s most watched episode ever, though; that, um, honor belongs to “Jon & Kate Plus Eight,’’ which drew 10 million viewers around the time the couple was breaking up.

Of course, the real ratings test comes tomorrow. Most shows lose viewers after their hyped premieres, while the lucky few grow from good word of mouth. TBS’s “Conan,’’ for example, premiered with 4.2 million viewers but slipped consistently across its first week to finish with 2 million on Thursday night.

In the advance hype for “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,’’ executive producer Mark Burnett described the reality show as “completely nonpolitical’’ in the Daily Beast. “It’s absolutely not trying to show one thing or the other. She is showing everything.’’ But I found the premiere obviously shaped to show Palin in a flattering and defensive light. In my review, I called the series “one of the most naked examples of image-crafting I’ve seen in a while. With the conventions of reality TV at her service, the former vice presidential candidate delivers a portrait of herself, her family, and her home state that’s relentless in its messages of wholesomeness and in its justifications of her past.’’