Miami Ink

Miami Ink (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Miami Ink is an American reality show on TLC that follows the events that took place at a tattoo shop in Miami Beach, Florida. The show premiered in July 2005 and finished broadcasting its sixth and final season in 2008. The show led to several spin-offs, including the shows LA Ink, London Ink and NY Ink which are also broadcast on TLC.

History

The shop, which opened in 2004 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, Luke Wessman, Morgan Pennypacker, Tim Hendricks and Yoji Harada. Kat Von D first joined the shop during the first season while Brass had an injured arm. She then returned as a full time crew member for three seasons, after which she returned to Los Angeles and landed her own Miami Ink spin-off entitled LA Ink which premiered in August 2007. The first 6 episodes of Miami Ink were directed by David Roma, an influential member of creating the format.

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 celebs such as Paul Teutul Sr. from American Chopper.

The original Miami Ink shop has now become a full retail shop for the clothing line DeVille, but James and Núñez have opened a bigger tattoo shop, called LoveHate Tattoo, next door.

NY Ink

Since Miami Ink went off air, Ami moved to New York City in 2011 to fulfill his dream of opening a legal tattoo shop there, called the Wooster St. Social Club. Ami teamed up again with David Roma and Charlie Corwin to detail the proceedings in the shop on NY Ink, which premiered June 2, 2011 on TLC.

International screenings

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, Turkey, Portugal, Czech, Spain), DMAX (UK, Italy, Ireland and Germany), Discovery Travel and Living (Croatia, India, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia, Denmark, Singapore, Portugal, Hong Kong) and [[People + Arts|People & Arts]] (Latin America, Spain and Brazil). It has also been broadcast by Viasat 4 (Norway), TV6 (Sweden), TV3+ (Denmark) and JIM (Finland).

Celebrity customers

The following celebrities have appeared on Miami Ink:~

Frank Iero MCR Guitarist
Abraham Quintanilla III, Mexican-American musician and producer
Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef
Bam Margera, professional skateboarder and actor
Chris Jacobs, host of TLC's Overhaulin'
Craig Ferguson, actor and comedian
DJ Skribble, DJ
Evan Seinfeld, vocalist for Biohazard and adult film star
Gianna Lynn, adult film star
H2O, band
Harold Hunter, skateboarder
Irvin Mayfield, Trumpetuer
Ivy Supersonic, fashion designer
Jesse Hughes, musician of Eagles of Death Metal
Joe Hursley, Lead Singer of The Ringers
Johnny Messner, actor
Leo Nocentelli, Guitarist for The Meters
Lloyd Banks, rapper
Mark Zupan, athlete
MickDeth, bassist for Eighteen Visions
Mr. J. Medeiros, Emcee/Producer
Paul Teutul, Sr., Owner of Orange County Choppers American Chopper
Paula Meronek, TV personality from The Real World: Key West
Phil Varone, drummer of Skid Row and Saigon Kick
Reginald 'Fieldy' Arvizu, bassist for Korn
Roger Miret, vocalist for Agnostic Front
Sunny Garcia, pro surfer
Syrus Yarbrough, TV personality from The Real World: Boston

Episode list

Season 1 (10 episodes)

Season 1 Episode 1 - Five Friends (Prem. 7/19/05)
Season 1 Episode 2 - Never Forget (Prem. 7/26/05)
Season 1 Episode 3 - In Memory Of? (Prem. 8/2/05)
Season 1 Episode 4 - Growing Up (Prem. 8/9/05)
Season 1 Episode 5 - The Apprentice (Prem. 8/16/05)
Season 1 Episode 6 - The Family (Prem. 8/23/05)
Season 1 Episode 7 - Going For The Gold (Prem. 9/6/05)
Season 1 Episode 8 - Bad Break (Prem. 9/13/05)
Season 1 Episode 9 - Kat's In The Groove (Prem. 9/20/05)
Season 1 Episode 10 - Finding Balance (Prem. 9/27/05)

Season 2 (11 episodes)

Season 2 Episode 11 - More Money, More Problems (Prem. 1/10/06)
Season 2 Episode 12 - Step up or Step Out (Prem. 1/17/06)
Season 2 Episode 13 - Weathering The Storm (Prem. 1/31/06)
Season 2 Episode 14 - Party All The Time (Prem. 1/24/06)
Season 2 Episode 15 - Kat's Return, Ami's Ride (Prem. 2/7/06)
Season 2 Episode 16 - The Ink That Binds (Prem. 3/14/06)
Season 2 Episode 17 - While Ami's Away...(Prem. 2/28/06)
Season 2 Episode 18 - Rock 'n' Roll All Night (Prem. 3/7/06)
Season 2 Episode 19 - Goodbye Freedom (Prem. 4/4/06)
Season 2 Episode 20 - Made In Japan (Prem. 4/11/06)
Season 2 Episode 21 - Hawaii (Prem. 1/8/06)

Season 3 (13 episodes)

Season 3 Episode 1 - Yoji's Initiation (Prem. 7/25/06)
Season 3 Episode 2 - Saver or Spender (Prem. 7/18/06)
Season 3 Episode 3 - Woman In a Man's World (Prem. 8/1/06)
Season 3 Episode 4 - The Ultimate Job Interview (Prem. 8/8/06)
Season 3 Episode 5 - We're All Family (Prem. 8/15/06)
Season 3 Episode 6 - Kat The Party Machine (Prem. 8/22/06)
Season 3 Episode 7 - Garver's Ultimatum (Prem. 8/29/06)
Season 3 Episode 8 - Kat: A Fish Out Of Water (Prem. 9/5/06)
Season 3 Episode 9 - Ami's Bad Side (Prem. 9/12/06)
Season 3 Episode 10 - Kat's Niche (Prem. 9/19/06)
Season 3 Episode 11 - Lloyd Banks and the Rotten Apple (Prem. 10/10/06)
Season 3 Episode 12 - Kat & Ami Tattoo The Troops (Prem. 10/17/06)
Season 3 Episode 13 - Bye-Bye Bridgette (Prem. 10/24/06)

Season 4 (20 episodes)

Season 4 Episode 1 - Sink Or Swim (Prem. 10/31/06)
Season 4 Episode 2 - The Jeep (Prem. 11/07/06)
Season 4 Episode 3 - History Of The Circus Sideshow (Prem. 11/28/06)
Season 4 Episode 4 - A Disgruntled Yoji (Prem. 12/5/06)
Season 4 Episode 5 - Von D Family Bonding (Prem. 12/12/06)
Season 4 Episode 6 - The Car Star (Prem. 12/19/06)
Season 4 Episode 7 - Garver's Injury (Prem. 12/26/06)
Season 4 Episode 8 - Battle Of The Apprentices (Prem. 1/23/07)
Season 4 Episode 9 - Shop Party (Prem. 1/30/07)
Season 4 Episode 10 - Yoji's Big Move (Prem. 2/6/07)
Season 4 Episode 11 - Family Values Tour (Prem. 2/13/07)
Season 4 Episode 12 - Nobody Likes a Quitter (Prem. 2/27/07)
Season 4 Episode 13 - Bella Boot Camp (Prem. 3/6/07)
Season 4 Episode 14 - Kat and Oliver Quality Time (Prem. 3/13/07)
Season 4 Episode 15 - Back To Their Roots (Prem. 3/20/07)
Season 4 Episode 16 - Kat's Cooking (Prem. 3/27/07)
Season 4 Episode 17 - Yoji's Dilemma (Prem. 4/3/07)
Season 4 Episode 18 - American Chopper (Prem. 5/1/07)
Season 4 Episode 19 - Ami and Nunez Buy A Bar (Prem. 4/24/07)
Season 4 Episode 20 - Tensions Rock The Shop (Prem. 5/8/07)

Season 5 (13 episodes)

Season 5 Episode 1 - New Artist Search (Prem. 6/12/07)
Season 5 Episode 2 - Staff, Staff, Staff (Prem. 6/19/07)
Season 5 Episode 3 - Old Friends (Prem. 6/26/07)
Season 5 Episode 4 - Facing Changes (Prem. 7/3/07)
Season 5 Episode 5 - Garver Gets Commissioned (Prem. 7/17/07)
Season 5 Episode 6 - Viva Las Vegas (Prem. 7/24/07)
Season 5 Episode 7 - Nothing Lasts Forever (Prem. 7/31/07)
Season 5 Episode 8 - No Regrets (Prem. 11/6/07)
Season 5 Episode 9 - Ami's Anger (Prem. 11/13/07)
Season 5 Episode 10 - Skate Or Die (Prem. 11/20/07)
Season 5 Episode 11 - Speed Racer (Prem. 11/27/07)
Season 5 Episode 12 - Makin' The Big Leagues (Prem. 12/4/07)
Season 5 Episode 13 - Through Thick and Thin (Prem. 12/11/07)

Season 6 (13 episodes)

Season 6 Episode 1 - Make or Break (Prem. 4/24/08)
Season 6 Episode 2 - We Are Family (Prem. 5/1/08)
Season 6 Episode 3 - Tim's Pinups (Prem. 5/8/08)
Season 6 Episode 4 - House Hunting (Prem. 5/15/08)
Season 6 Episode 5 - Ami Animates (Prem. 5/22/08)
Season 6 Episode 6 - Blast Off! (Prem. 6/5/08)
Season 6 Episode 7 - Dre's Stylin' (Prem. 6/12/08)
Season 6 Episode 8 - Ami and Yoji Come To Blows (Prem. 7/3/08)
Season 6 Episode 9 - Dre Demands Respect (Prem. 7/10/08)
Season 6 Episode 10 - Ruthless and Toothless (Prem. 7/24/08)
Season 6 Episode 11 - New Orleans Special (Prem. 8/7/08)
Season 6 Episode 12 - Hanging With The Harada's (Prem. 8/14/08)
Season 6 Episode 13 - A Baby Makes Three (Prem. 8/21/08)