LA Ink is an American reality show on TLC that followed the events of the High Voltage
Tattoo tattoo studios in Los Angeles, California.
The spin-off of TLC's Miami Ink, it premiered on August 7, 2007.
In August 2011, TLC announced that the show will end production, with Season 4 being its
last and that the series is cancelled.
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 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.
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 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.
Main cast
Celebrity clients The following celebrities have appeared on
LA Ink:
Related Shows List of tattoo TV shows
References
External links 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