''LA Ink'' is an American reality television show on

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an As ...

that follows the events of the High Voltage Tattoo (and, later in the series, American Electric) tattoo studios in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of TLC's ''

Miami Ink ''Miami Ink'' was an American reality show that ran on TLC from 2005–2008 and follows the events that took place at a tattoo shop in Miami Beach, Florida. The show led to several spin-offs, including the shows ''LA Ink'', ''London Ink'', ''N ...

'', 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 ''

'' 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 Hannah Aitchison (born December 20, 1966) is an American tattoo artist. She is best known for her appearances on tattoo reality television shows ''LA Ink'' and ''Best Ink''. Biography Hannah Aitchison was born on December 20, 1966, and is origin ...

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 ''Rock of Love with Bret Michaels'' is an American reality television dating game show. It stars Bret Michaels, the lead singer from the band Poison. The show closely resembles the show ''Flavor of Love''. The first season featured 25 women com ...

'' 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 Amy Nicoletto (born in southern New Jersey) is an American tattoo artist and television personality most known for her appearances as a tattoo artist on the TLC reality television show ''LA Ink''. Her name is sometimes misspelled as Nicoletti or ...

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 ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

on the show, tattooing 400 people with the "LA" part of the ''LA Ink''

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

in 24 hours, giving the money raised to charity. The record was broken in June 2008 by Kat's ex-husband

Oliver Peck Oliver Peck (born July 29, 1971) is an American tattoo artist, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Along with guitarist Dave Navarro and tattoo artist Chris Nunez, he was a judge on the competition reality television show ''Ink Ma ...

who tattooed 415 tattoos of the number "13". During Season 3,

Nikko Hurtado Nikko Hurtado (born 1981) is an American tattoo artist who specializes in colored portraiture. History Hurtado was born in the San Fernando Valley, California in 1981 and began tattooing in 2002, eventually opening his own tattoo shop in 2010, ...

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 Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', 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 * Kat Von D (High Voltage Tattoo) * Craig Jackman (American Electric) (seasons 3–4) Shop managers * Pixie Acia (season 1) * Naheed Simjee (season 2) * Aubry Fisher (season 3) * Liz Friedman (season 3) * Adrienne Ironside (seasons 3–4) Merchandising * Michael Drachenberg (seasons 3–4) Kat's Personal Assistant * Karoline Drachenberg Tattoo artists * Corey Miller *

(seasons 1–2) * Kim Saigh (seasons 1–2) * Dan Smith (seasons 3–4) * Nikko Hurtado (seasons 3–4) *

(seasons 3–4) * Paulie Tattoo (season 3) * Ruth "Ruthless" Pineda (season 4) * Jeff Ward (season 4) * Khoi Nguyen (season 4) * Adam Forman (season 4)

Background

Ratings

Cast

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2007–08)

Season 2 (2008–09)

Season 3 (2009–10)

Season 4 (2010–11)

See also

References

External links