LA Ink
Logo of the show
Format	Reality television
Starring	Kat Von D Corey Miller (Season 1–4) Hannah Aitchison (Season 1–2) Kim Saigh (Season 1–2) Pixie Acia (Season 1) Dan Smith (Season 3–4) Amy Nicoletto (Season 3–4)
Opening theme	"Dancing With Myself" by Nouvelle Vague (Season 1)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	84 (Episode list)
Production
Location(s)	Los Angeles, California, West Hollywood, Upland
Running time	45-48 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	TLC
Picture format	PDTV
Original run	August 7, 2007 (2007-08-07) – September 15, 2011 (2011-09-15)
Chronology
Related shows	Miami Ink London Ink NY Ink
External links
Website

LA Ink is an American reality show on TLC that followed 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, it premiered on August 7, 2007.^[2][3]

In August 2011, TLC announced that the show will end production, with Season 4 being its last and that the series is cancelled.^[4]

Background [edit]

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 the 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 [edit]

LA Ink premiered on August 7, 2007, averaging 2.9 million total viewers at its time slot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the number makes the show the most-watched series debut for the cable channel since the premiere of the US version of What Not to Wear in January 2003. This is 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 primetime program August 7th among several major adult demographics, including 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.^[8]

Main cast [edit]

Celebrity clients [edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2011)

The following celebrities have appeared on LA Ink:

See also [edit]

• Inked
• London Ink
• NY Ink

Damo-Trucker-Ireland

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: LA Ink

Wikinews has related news: Von D from "LA Ink" TV series sets world record for tattooing

• Official website
• LA Ink at the Internet Movie Database
• 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