LA Ink

Last updated
LA Ink
LA Ink Logo.jpg
GenreReality television
Starring
Theme music composerJohn Ernst (2010–11)
Opening theme
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes84
Production
Executive producerGil Lopez
Running time42–43 minutes
Production companyOriginal Media
Original release
Network TLC
ReleaseAugust 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. [1] The spin-off of TLC's Miami Ink , premiered on August 7, 2007. [2] [3]

Contents

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. [4]

Background

High Voltage Tattoo in West Hollywood, California HighVoltageTattoo02.jpg
High Voltage Tattoo in West Hollywood, California

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. [5]

Tattoo artist Amy Nicoletto was hired on a trial basis, but left to work at American Electric, owned by Craig Jackman. [6] 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". [7]

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. [8]

Cast

Episodes

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 26August 7, 2007 (2007-08-07)April 3, 2008 (2008-04-03)
2 13October 9, 2008 (2008-10-09)January 22, 2009 (2009-01-22)
3 24July 9, 2009 (2009-07-09)April 29, 2010 (2010-04-29)
4 21August 11, 2010 (2010-08-11)September 15, 2011 (2011-09-15)

Season 1 (2007–08)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal air date
11"Welcome Home Kat"August 7, 2007 (2007-08-07)
22"Nowhere to Work"August 14, 2007 (2007-08-14)
33"LA Ink Grand Opening"August 21, 2007 (2007-08-21)
44"Boobs Rule"August 28, 2007 (2007-08-28)
55"Master Cleanse"September 4, 2007 (2007-09-04)
66"Corey's Vasectomy"September 11, 2007 (2007-09-11)
77"Pixie's Surgery"September 18, 2007 (2007-09-18)
88"Kat's Gnarly Day"September 25, 2007 (2007-09-25)
99"Kim Looks For Love"October 2, 2007 (2007-10-02)
1010"Kat's in Love"October 9, 2007 (2007-10-09)
1111"Holly's Here"October 16, 2007 (2007-10-16)
1212"Pixie's Got the Blues"October 23, 2007 (2007-10-23)
1313"Big Decisions"October 30, 2007 (2007-10-30)
1414"Kat's Back but Where's Hannah"January 8, 2008 (2008-01-08)
1515"Pixie Moonlights"January 15, 2008 (2008-01-15)
1616"Kat Cleans Up"January 22, 2008 (2008-01-22)
1717"New Beginnings"January 29, 2008 (2008-01-29)
1818"Novelty Girls"February 5, 2008 (2008-02-05)
1919"Skate Ramp"February 12, 2008 (2008-02-12)
2020"Kat's World Record"February 19, 2008 (2008-02-19)
2121"Kat Gets a Scare"February 28, 2008 (2008-02-28)
2222"Corey's Dilema"March 6, 2008 (2008-03-06)
2323"The Worst Day Ever"March 13, 2008 (2008-03-13)
2424"Life After Pixie"March 20, 2008 (2008-03-20)
2525"Orbi's Secret"March 27, 2008 (2008-03-27)
2626"On the Rocks"April 3, 2008 (2008-04-03)

Season 2 (2008–09)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal air date
271"Help Wanted"October 9, 2008 (2008-10-09)
282"Comic Relief"October 16, 2008 (2008-10-16)
293"Crüe Fest"October 23, 2008 (2008-10-23)
304"Cover Girl"October 30, 2008 (2008-10-30)
315"Corey's Fort"November 6, 2008 (2008-11-06)
326"Kat Gets Hypnotized"November 13, 2008 (2008-11-13)
337"Kim's Big Deal"November 20, 2008 (2008-11-20)
348"Kat Tales"December 4, 2008 (2008-12-04)
359"Hannah and Corey Jam Session"December 11, 2008 (2008-12-11)
3610"Funny Farm"December 18, 2008 (2008-12-18)
3711"It's All About Family"January 8, 2009 (2009-01-08)
3812"66 Nikkis"January 15, 2009 (2009-01-15)
3913"First Anniversary"January 22, 2009 (2009-01-22)

Season 3 (2009–10)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal air date
401"Kat's Back"July 9, 2009 (2009-07-09)
412"Stranger in my Shop"July 16, 2009 (2009-07-16)
423"Kat Bares It All"July 23, 2009 (2009-07-23)
434"Aubry Tries to Help"July 30, 2009 (2009-07-30)
445"Tick, Tock, Biological Clock"August 6, 2009 (2009-08-06)
456"While Kat's Away, Aubry Will Play"August 13, 2009 (2009-08-13)
467"Feelings Rule"August 20, 2009 (2009-08-20)
478"Tramp Stamp of Approval"August 27, 2009 (2009-08-27)
489"Sobriety & Sisterhood"September 3, 2009 (2009-09-03)
4910"Outside Interests"September 10, 2009 (2009-09-10)
5011"Blonde Ambition"September 17, 2009 (2009-09-17)
5112"LA Pink"September 24, 2009 (2009-09-24)
5213"The Final Showdown"October 1, 2009 (2009-10-01)
5314"Showdown at the Shop"February 18, 2010 (2010-02-18)
5415"Training Day"February 24, 2010 (2010-02-24)
5516"What's Wrong Kat"March 4, 2010 (2010-03-04)
5617"Whose Party Is It?"March 11, 2010 (2010-03-11)
5718"Gone Too Far"March 18, 2010 (2010-03-18)
5819"Enough is Enough"March 25, 2010 (2010-03-25)
5920"Challenge for Kat"April 1, 2010 (2010-04-01)
6021"Feeling the Heat"April 8, 2010 (2010-04-08)
6122"Tension Between Friends"April 15, 2010 (2010-04-15)
6223"Caught in a Lie"April 22, 2010 (2010-04-22)
6324"Time is Up"April 29, 2010 (2010-04-29)

Season 4 (2010–11)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleOriginal air date
641"Kat Loses Her Rock"August 11, 2010 (2010-08-11)
652"Kat's New Journey"August 18, 2010 (2010-08-18)
663"The Return of the Rock?"August 25, 2010 (2010-08-25)
674"The Rock Rolls"September 1, 2010 (2010-09-01)
685"The Truce"September 8, 2010 (2010-09-08)
696"Strictly Business"September 15, 2010 (2010-09-15)
707"The Black Widow"September 22, 2010 (2010-09-22)
718"Oh Brother"September 29, 2010 (2010-09-29)
729"Rock and Ink"October 6, 2010 (2010-10-06)
7310"The Missing Piece"October 13, 2010 (2010-10-13)
7411"Wet Paint"October 20, 2010 (2010-10-20)
7512"Kat Minus Sixx"October 27, 2010 (2010-10-27)
7613"Kat in Wonderland"November 3, 2010 (2010-11-03)
7714"New Beginnings"July 28, 2011 (2011-07-28)
7815"Kat's New Roommate"August 4, 2011 (2011-08-04)
7916"Tats for Japan"August 11, 2011 (2011-08-11)
8017"Addicted"August 18, 2011 (2011-08-18)
8118"Photo Finish"August 25, 2011 (2011-08-25)
8219"Kat & Jesse in Baja"September 1, 2011 (2011-09-01)
8320"While Kat's Away"September 8, 2011 (2011-09-08)
8421"Nothing Is Forever, Not Even Tattoos"September 15, 2011 (2011-09-15)

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Inked</i> (magazine) Tattoo magazine

Inked is a tattoo lifestyle digital media company that bills itself as the outsiders' insider media. Covering music, fashion, art, sports and the rest of the lifestyle of the tattooed, Inked, like Vice, has made the transition from the newsstand to digital media company. Tattooed women like Kat Von D, Avril Lavigne, Diablo Cody, Eve and Malin Akerman have appeared on Inked's cover. Among the celebrities who have sat down with Inked are Ozzy Osbourne, Lil Pump, Tracy Morgan, Slash, Kid Cudi and Billie Joe Armstrong. Inked also covers tattoo artists; they immortalize the best in their Icon feature through which the likes of Don Ed Hardy, Horiyoshi III and Ami James have been honored.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tattoo artist</span> Individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos

A tattoo artist is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an apprenticeship under a trained and experienced mentor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kat Von D</span> Mexican-American tattoo artist and television personality

Katherine von Drachenberg, known professionally as Kat Von D, is an Mexican-American tattoo artist, television personality, entrepreneur and recording artist. She is best known for her work as a tattoo artist on the TLC reality television show LA Ink, which premiered in the United States on August 7, 2007, and ran for four seasons. She is also known for being the former head of Kat Von D Beauty. In May 2021, Kat Von D released her first single "Exorcism" from her album Love Made Me Do It.

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Kim Saigh is an American tattoo artist and television personality. She is best known for her work as a contributing artist on the TLC reality television show LA Ink.

<i>NY Ink</i> American TV series or program

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Nicoletto</span> American tattoo artist

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Peck</span> American tattoo artist, restaurateur, and reality television personality

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References

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  2. "LA Ink – About the Show". TLC.Discovery.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
  3. LA Ink at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  4. Gonzalez, Sandra (August 18, 2009). "TLC cancels 'LA Ink'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  5. 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.
  6. "American Electric Tattoo".
  7. 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)
  8. Nordyke, Kimberly (August 9, 2007). "'L.A. Ink' bow paints pretty picture for TLC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 14, 2015.