| Miami Ink | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Reality television |
| Starring | Ami James Chris Núñez Chris Garver Darren Brass Yoji Harada Saru Sammyr Tim Hendricks (season 4) Kat Von D (seasons 1-3) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 85 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Charlie Corwin Clara Markowitz Jamie Shutz |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TLC |
| Picture format | PDTV |
| Original run | July 19, 2005 – August 21, 2008 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | LA Ink London Ink |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Miami Ink is an American reality show on TLC that followed the events that took place at a tattoo shop in Miami Beach, Florida. The show premiered in July 2005 and has just finished broadcasting its fourth season.[1] The show led to several spin-offs, including the shows LA Ink and London Ink which are also broadcast on TLC.[1]
Contents |
History
The shop, which was called 305 Ink (with 305 being a reference to the Miami area code) before the show started, is now called Love Hate Tattoo and is co-owned by tattoo artists Ami James and Chris Núñez, and also features artists Chris Garver, Darren Brass, Tim Hendricks and Yoji Harada.[2] Californian artists James "Sword-Crosser" Hamilton, Luke Wessman, Mikey Slater and JMorgwn Pennypacker and two floor managers Guy Sahar and Lee "On One Knee" Rodriguez. Kat Von D first joined the shop during the first season while Brass had an injured arm.[3] She then returned as a full time crew member for two seasons, after which she was fired and then returned to Los Angeles and landed her own Miami Ink spin-off entitled LA Ink which premiered in August 2007.[4] Another spinoff, London Ink began on Discovery Real Time in the UK in September 2007.[5] On October 28, 2008, a third spin-off, called Rio Ink, featuring a Rio de Janeiro tattooshop, aired on the Discovery Channel People & Arts channel in Brazil.[6]
Each episode featured a number of customers along with their backstories and motivations for choosing their tattoos. In addition, there was some focus on the personal lives of the artists. Most of the episodes are narrated by James, with Nuñez occasionally filling in. The main musical theme for the show is "Funky Kingston" by Toots & the Maytals. The show has on occasion featured the personalities from other TLC shows such as American Chopper.
The original Miami Ink shop has now become a full retail shop for the clothing line DeVille[7], but James and Núñez have opened a bigger tattoo shop, called LoveHate Tattoo, next door.[1]
International screenings
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Miami Ink has been shown mainly on channels of the Discovery Network, including Discovery Real Time (UK, Ireland, France, Italy), the Discovery Channel (Norway, Poland, Denmark, Romania, Finland, The Netherlands, South Africa, Namibia, Belgium, Turkiye, Portugal, Czech, Spain), DMAX (UK, Ireland and Germany), Discovery Travel and Living (Croatia, India, Russia, Serbia, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary) and People & Arts (Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Brazil). It has also been broadcast by Viasat 4 (Norway), TV6 (Sweden), TV3+ (Denmark) and JIM (Finland). Tattoos are permanent, television shows are not.
Its fourth and final season is now[when?] airing on TLC, but the tattoo artists, and the shop itself, have already moved on. The famous studio has been converted into a gift shop, and customers still looking to get inked are directed to a new studio MI alumni Ami James and Chris Núñez opened up down the street in Miami: Love Hate Tattoos.
After filming ended last year[when?], Ami and Núñez declined the offer from Discovery Communications, TLC’s parent company, to film more episodes of the reality show. “We weren’t happy with the way we were treated,” said James.
Premiering in June of 2005, Miami Ink was a breakout, genre-setting series that followed the daily events of a tattoo shop in South Beach. Co-owned by James and Núñez, the shop featured tattoo artists Chris Garver, Darren Brass and apprentice Yoji Harada. Kat Von D was brought on for the first season and “left” at the end of season two, after months of fighting and a final showdown with James.
Miami Ink featured some brilliant artwork and razor-sharp talent, but the show’s ultimate success came by altering the perception of tattoos; particularly who has tattoos, who gets tattooed and why. Due to its widespread popularity (since its premiere, the show has aired in over 160 countries), the demand for more tattoo-related programming exploded.
Celebrity customers
The following celebrities have appeared on Miami Ink:
- Evan Seinfeld, singer of Biohazard and adult film star
- Sunny Garcia, pro surfer
- Bam Margera, professional skateboarder, actor, prankster
- Mark Zupan, athlete
- H2O, band
- Phil Varone, drummer of Skid Row and Saigon Kick
- Anthony Bourdain, television chef
- Harold Hunter, skateboarder
- Lloyd Banks, rapper
- Johnny Messner, actor
- Jesse Hughes, musician of Eagles of Death Metal
- Ivy Supersonic, fashion designer
- Chris Jacobs, host of TLC's Overhaulin'
- Reginald 'Fieldy' Arvizu, bass player of Korn
- Craig Ferguson, actor-comedian
- Randy Orton, professional wrestler
- Abraham Quintanilla III, Mexican-American musician and producer
- Paul Teutul, Sr., mechanic from American Chopper
- Paula Meronek, TV personality from The Real World
- MickDeth, bassist of Eighteen Visions
- DJ Skribble, DJ
- Mr. J. Medeiros, rapper
- Gianna Lynn, pornstar
- Jeffree Star, internet celebrity
See also
References
- ^ a b c "That’s a Wrap: Miami Ink Calls it Quits". rankmytattoos. 2008. http://mag.rankmytattoos.com/that%E2%80%99s-a-wrap-miami-ink-calls-it-quits.html. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
- ^ "MIAMI INK TV REALITY SHOW". Rumler. http://www.rumler.com/miami/ink.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
- ^ Prick Magazine - Kat Von D feature
- ^ Interview with Kat von D
- ^ "Discovery Real Time - London Ink". http://www.realtimetv.co.uk/londonink/.
- ^ "New Tattoo Reality TV Show - Rio Ink". rankmytattoos. 2008. http://mag.rankmytattoos.com/new-tattoo-reality-tv-show-rio-ink.html. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
- ^ http://www.devilleusa.com
External links
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