| LA Ink | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality television |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | John Ernst (2010–11) |
| Opening theme |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 84 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Gil Lopez |
| Running time | 42–43 minutes |
| Production company | Original Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | TLC |
| Release | August 7, 2007 (2007-08-07) – September 15, 2011 (2011-09-15) |
| Related | |
LA Ink is an American reality television show on TLC that follows the events of the High Voltage Tattoo (and, later in the series, American Electric) tattoo studios in Los Angeles, California. The spin-off of TLC's Miami Ink, premiered on August 7, 2007.
In August 2011, TLC announced the cancellation ahead of the mid-season four premiere. However, the show was picked back up by the network, and continued for 3 more seasons. All 7 seasons are available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Background
After leaving the hit program Miami Ink because of a dispute with her fellow cast members, Kat Von D moved back to Los Angeles to open her own tattoo shop and was offered a spin-off show. Initially, she hired her close friend Amber "Pixie" Acia to be the shop manager, and her good friend Corey Miller as a tattoo artist. After considering many more artists for the job, Von D hired Hannah Aitchison and Kim Saigh to work for her as well. The cameras follow her as she opens the shop, while capturing everything that unfolds in between.
Each customer coming into the shop usually has a story or reason behind their tattoo. On occasion, even known celebrities make an appearance to get tattooed by Kat or one of the other artists.
Inevitably, as the show progressed, changes occurred. Von D fired Acia during the second part of Season 1. Saigh and Aitchison left the show after the Season 2 finale. Season 3 premiered with a new shop manager, former Rock of Love competitor Aubry Fisher, but she was fired by Von D in the mid-season 3 premiere after getting into a lot of trouble with most of the people at the shop.
Tattoo artist Amy Nicoletto was hired on a trial basis, but left to work at American Electric, owned by Craig Jackman. Tattoo artist Paulie Tattoo was also hired and quit to go to American Electric, because of lack of work. Fisher soon joined them as a "shop helper" at American Electric after she got fired from High Voltage. Fisher left to pursue her dream of becoming a make-up artist without telling Craig and was later fired from American Electric, but does make an appearance for two episodes in the fourth season when she appeared at the shop's 11th Anniversary as a guest.
Von D broke a Guinness world record on the show, tattooing 400 people with the "LA" part of the LA Ink logo in 24 hours, giving the money raised to charity. The record was broken in June 2008 by Kat's ex-husband Oliver Peck who tattooed 415 tattoos of the number "13".
During Season 3, Nikko Hurtado appears as a guest artist on the show several times while Von D's sister Karoline and her brother Michael also make appearances on the show.
American Electric was the competitor tattoo shop to High Voltage during Season 3 and the first half of Season 4.
Ratings
LA Ink premiered on August 7, 2007, averaging 2.9 million total viewers at its time slot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the number had made the show the most-watched series debut for the cable channel at the time since the premiere of the U.S. version of What Not to Wear in January 2003. This was also the highest-rated series premiere in the history of TLC among adults 18–34, with a rating of 2.6 and a viewer count of 1.5 million. The premiere was also the highest-rated basic cable prime-time program August 7 among several major adult demographics, including 18–34, 18–49 and 25–54.
Cast
|
Shop owner
Shop managers
Merchandising
Kat's Personal Assistant
|
Tattoo artists
|
- Ahmad Harhash (season 4)
Episodes
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 26 | August 7, 2007 (2007-08-07) | April 3, 2008 (2008-04-03) | |
| 2 | 13 | October 9, 2008 (2008-10-09) | January 22, 2009 (2009-01-22) | |
| 3 | 24 | July 9, 2009 (2009-07-09) | April 29, 2010 (2010-04-29) | |
| 4 | 21 | August 11, 2010 (2010-08-11) | September 15, 2011 (2011-09-15) | |
Season 1 (2007–08)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Welcome Home Kat" | August 7, 2007 (2007-08-07) |
| 2 | 2 | "Nowhere to Work" | August 14, 2007 (2007-08-14) |
| 3 | 3 | "LA Ink Grand Opening" | August 21, 2007 (2007-08-21) |
| 4 | 4 | "Boobs Rule" | August 28, 2007 (2007-08-28) |
| 5 | 5 | "Master Cleanse" | September 4, 2007 (2007-09-04) |
| 6 | 6 | "Corey's Vasectomy" | September 11, 2007 (2007-09-11) |
| 7 | 7 | "Pixie's Surgery" | September 18, 2007 (2007-09-18) |
| 8 | 8 | "Kat's Gnarly Day" | September 25, 2007 (2007-09-25) |
| 9 | 9 | "Kim Looks For Love" | October 2, 2007 (2007-10-02) |
| 10 | 10 | "Kat's in Love" | October 9, 2007 (2007-10-09) |
| 11 | 11 | "Holly's Here" | October 16, 2007 (2007-10-16) |
| 12 | 12 | "Pixie's Got the Blues" | October 23, 2007 (2007-10-23) |
| 13 | 13 | "Big Decisions" | October 30, 2007 (2007-10-30) |
| 14 | 14 | "Kat's Back but Where's Hannah" | January 8, 2008 (2008-01-08) |
| 15 | 15 | "Pixie Moonlights" | January 15, 2008 (2008-01-15) |
| 16 | 16 | "Kat Cleans Up" | January 22, 2008 (2008-01-22) |
| 17 | 17 | "New Beginnings" | January 29, 2008 (2008-01-29) |
| 18 | 18 | "Novelty Girls" | February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05) |
| 19 | 19 | "Skate Ramp" | February 12, 2008 (2008-02-12) |
| 20 | 20 | "Kat's World Record" | February 19, 2008 (2008-02-19) |
| 21 | 21 | "Kat Gets a Scare" | February 28, 2008 (2008-02-28) |
| 22 | 22 | "Corey's Dilema" | March 6, 2008 (2008-03-06) |
| 23 | 23 | "The Worst Day Ever" | March 13, 2008 (2008-03-13) |
| 24 | 24 | "Life After Pixie" | March 20, 2008 (2008-03-20) |
| 25 | 25 | "Orbi's Secret" | March 27, 2008 (2008-03-27) |
| 26 | 26 | "On the Rocks" | April 3, 2008 (2008-04-03) |
Season 2 (2008–09)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | "Help Wanted" | October 9, 2008 (2008-10-09) |
| 28 | 2 | "Comic Relief" | October 16, 2008 (2008-10-16) |
| 29 | 3 | "Crüe Fest" | October 23, 2008 (2008-10-23) |
| 30 | 4 | "Cover Girl" | October 30, 2008 (2008-10-30) |
| 31 | 5 | "Corey's Fort" | November 6, 2008 (2008-11-06) |
| 32 | 6 | "Kat Gets Hypnotized" | November 13, 2008 (2008-11-13) |
| 33 | 7 | "Kim's Big Deal" | November 20, 2008 (2008-11-20) |
| 34 | 8 | "Kat Tales" | December 4, 2008 (2008-12-04) |
| 35 | 9 | "Hannah and Corey Jam Session" | December 11, 2008 (2008-12-11) |
| 36 | 10 | "Funny Farm" | December 18, 2008 (2008-12-18) |
| 37 | 11 | "It's All About Family" | January 8, 2009 (2009-01-08) |
| 38 | 12 | "66 Nikkis" | January 15, 2009 (2009-01-15) |
| 39 | 13 | "First Anniversary" | January 22, 2009 (2009-01-22) |
Season 3 (2009–10)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 1 | "Kat's Back" | July 9, 2009 (2009-07-09) |
| 41 | 2 | "Stranger in my Shop" | July 16, 2009 (2009-07-16) |
| 42 | 3 | "Kat Bares It All" | July 23, 2009 (2009-07-23) |
| 43 | 4 | "Aubry Tries to Help" | July 30, 2009 (2009-07-30) |
| 44 | 5 | "Tick, Tock, Biological Clock" | August 6, 2009 (2009-08-06) |
| 45 | 6 | "While Kat's Away, Aubry Will Play" | August 13, 2009 (2009-08-13) |
| 46 | 7 | "Feelings Rule" | August 20, 2009 (2009-08-20) |
| 47 | 8 | "Tramp Stamp of Approval" | August 27, 2009 (2009-08-27) |
| 48 | 9 | "Sobriety & Sisterhood" | September 3, 2009 (2009-09-03) |
| 49 | 10 | "Outside Interests" | September 10, 2009 (2009-09-10) |
| 50 | 11 | "Blonde Ambition" | September 17, 2009 (2009-09-17) |
| 51 | 12 | "LA Pink" | September 24, 2009 (2009-09-24) |
| 52 | 13 | "The Final Showdown" | October 1, 2009 (2009-10-01) |
| 53 | 14 | "Showdown at the Shop" | February 18, 2010 (2010-02-18) |
| 54 | 15 | "Training Day" | February 24, 2010 (2010-02-24) |
| 55 | 16 | "What's Wrong Kat" | March 4, 2010 (2010-03-04) |
| 56 | 17 | "Whose Party Is It?" | March 11, 2010 (2010-03-11) |
| 57 | 18 | "Gone Too Far" | March 18, 2010 (2010-03-18) |
| 58 | 19 | "Enough is Enough" | March 25, 2010 (2010-03-25) |
| 59 | 20 | "Challenge for Kat" | April 1, 2010 (2010-04-01) |
| 60 | 21 | "Feeling the Heat" | April 8, 2010 (2010-04-08) |
| 61 | 22 | "Tension Between Friends" | April 15, 2010 (2010-04-15) |
| 62 | 23 | "Caught in a Lie" | April 22, 2010 (2010-04-22) |
| 63 | 24 | "Time is Up" | April 29, 2010 (2010-04-29) |
Season 4 (2010–11)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | 1 | "Kat Loses Her Rock" | August 11, 2010 (2010-08-11) |
| 65 | 2 | "Kat's New Journey" | August 18, 2010 (2010-08-18) |
| 66 | 3 | "The Return of the Rock?" | August 25, 2010 (2010-08-25) |
| 67 | 4 | "The Rock Rolls" | September 1, 2010 (2010-09-01) |
| 68 | 5 | "The Truce" | September 8, 2010 (2010-09-08) |
| 69 | 6 | "Strictly Business" | September 15, 2010 (2010-09-15) |
| 70 | 7 | "The Black Widow" | September 22, 2010 (2010-09-22) |
| 71 | 8 | "Oh Brother" | September 29, 2010 (2010-09-29) |
| 72 | 9 | "Rock and Ink" | October 6, 2010 (2010-10-06) |
| 73 | 10 | "The Missing Piece" | October 13, 2010 (2010-10-13) |
| 74 | 11 | "Wet Paint" | October 20, 2010 (2010-10-20) |
| 75 | 12 | "Kat Minus Sixx" | October 27, 2010 (2010-10-27) |
| 76 | 13 | "Kat in Wonderland" | November 3, 2010 (2010-11-03) |
| 77 | 14 | "New Beginnings" | July 28, 2011 (2011-07-28) |
| 78 | 15 | "Kat's New Roommate" | August 4, 2011 (2011-08-04) |
| 79 | 16 | "Tats for Japan" | August 11, 2011 (2011-08-11) |
| 80 | 17 | "Addicted" | August 18, 2011 (2011-08-18) |
| 81 | 18 | "Photo Finish" | August 25, 2011 (2011-08-25) |
| 82 | 19 | "Kat & Jesse in Baja" | September 1, 2011 (2011-09-01) |
| 83 | 20 | "While Kat's Away" | September 8, 2011 (2011-09-08) |
| 84 | 21 | "Nothing Is Forever, Not Even Tattoos" | September 15, 2011 (2011-09-15) |
See also
References
- Sorlie, Amy, "LA Ink", American Way, archived from the original on July 18, 2011, retrieved February 14, 2010
- "LA Ink – About the Show". TLC.Discovery.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- LA Ink at IMDb
- Gonzalez, Sandra (August 18, 2009). "TLC cancels 'LA Ink'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
- Huff, Richard (July 7, 2009). "'L.A. Ink' turns for the worse with addition of 'Rock of Love' castoff Aubry Fisher". Daily News. New York. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
- "American Electric Tattoo".
- Inkfest! Guinness record for Texas tattoo artist: Oliver Peck wins award after applying 415 tattoos in 24 hours, Associated Press, June 15, 2008 (retrieved September 12, 2010 from NBC News)
- Nordyke, Kimberly (August 9, 2007). "'L.A. Ink' bow paints pretty picture for TLC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
External links
- Official website
- LA Ink at IMDb
- High Voltage Tattoo website
- Kat Von D website
- Making LA Ink, DV Magazine
- Members of the cast, Inked Magazine
- Q&A with Pixie Acia of LA Ink
- Kim Saigh, Inked Magazine
- 2007 American television series debuts
- 2011 American television series endings
- 2000s American reality television series
- 2010s American reality television series
- American English-language television shows
- Television series set in tattoo shops
- Television shows set in Los Angeles
- Reality television spin-offs
- TLC (TV network) original programming
- American television spin-offs