Friday, May 24, 2019

The Look: How Far is Tattoo Far? / Just Tattoo of Us

CAUTION: Certain Videos Embedded in This Post Contain Adult Language, Themes and Scenes Some May Find Offensive & Disturbing. Viewer Discretion is Advised.

BY DC CUEVA                        
■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Ask anyone who loves pop culture, and they'll likely tell you that one of their favorite aspects is getting to see people with ink being decorated all over their bodies. In its Wikipedia entry, Tattoos are defined as, "...is a form of body modification where a design is made by inserting ink, dyes and pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment." Whether they are for decorative, symbolic, pictorial or identification purposes, and regardless of the reaction family, friends or anyone else has, tattoos have become a key part of American life.

If you have kids in your family, they've likely have had one of the temporary kind on one's forehand over one weekend that has the image of their favorite superhero. And for those who make the real deal, it's become a multi-billions' dollar industry... one that I got to experience firsthand years ago when I went inside a tattoo parlor for the first time when I walked into a Las Vegas location of Club Tattoo, a regional tattoo parlor company co-owned by the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, who himself was adorn with tattoos all over his body.

It's with tattoos on the minds of many that last year, MTV brought to America one of the channel's biggest global sensations to our shores: a show that brings couples, friends, family and even familiar names to a tattoo parlor to design tattoos for each other. And it's when the answer of how these people "Deal with the Reveal" that makes for the most compelling and entertaining part of every episode of a global MTV franchise that, last year, made its way from Britain to America. To those in the UK, it's Just Tattoo of Us... to us in America, it's How Far is Tattoo Far?.

Look around the dial, and you'll likely find a tattoo show airing in some sort on TV or through the back catalog of your TV apps. It represents one of the handful of subgenres in the broader reality TV community that has is marketable to a broader demographic. The Viacom family of networks have fully embraced this genre, with VH1 being home to the franchise Black Ink Crew which follows tattoo African American-owned tattoo shops in Harlem and Chicago, and Paramount Network airing the competition series Ink Master, one of the handful of Spike TV series brought over to the former TNN's current iteration.
   You might say that MTV was a bit late than their fellow residents at 1515 Broadway, but the idea of doing tattoo shows on their channel isn't entirely new. In the spring of 2017, MTV UK and channels networked to it outside the U.S. aired Series 1 of Just Tattoo of Us, which has since surpassed Geordie Shore and Ex On The Beach to be the British channel's highest-rated show. And last year, the show and its concept made its way to America as How Far is Tattoo Far, the second global MTV franchise to make its way to the States after the debut earlier in the year of EOTB, and produced by the same producers behind not only Black Ink Crew, but also weekend staple Live P.D. - MGM-owned Big Fish Entertainment.

Bear & Charlotte.
Whatever the name, the premise of this show is simple: relationships among pairs of friends, family members and couples will be put to the test through more than just a trust exercise. It's them having to design tattoos for one another that will keep them and everyone else in the dark while they are being inked up by some of the tattoo industry's most talented and creative artists. They will be blindfolded from when they enter the parlor, right up until the show's hosts give them permission to take off those blinders and see what art they made for them, along with the story behind their tattoos. And yes, they are real... right there for everyone to see.
   Presently, Tattoo Far is one of a handful of MTV reality series slated to air for just 30 minutes, and those who watch Tattoo of Us have an hour to see the magic of those in the UK getting to deal with the eventual reveal. In telling non-fiction industry site RealScreen, U.S. showrunner Dan Cesareo feels that just doing it for a half-hour best suits the American series, though both it and the U.K. original feature multiple sets of subjects in every episode as well as an "in-your-face" mentality. Cesareo adds, "I would describe the show as intimate ink therapy. It's two people coming on the show that are harboring a secret, or it's the conversation they've never had, so there's a lot of big personalities and big moments."
   The reactions of shock these people get to their tattoos once they are revealed create for some of the wildest reactions those who watch MTV Reality can get, though as we saw with the one reveal of most interest to those who watch The Challenge, there's the occasional tear-jerker that proves that not every reveal on the show can spark the most charged-up reactions ever seen on TV. The press in America was so enthralled about the show they had already buzzed about the show even before the concept was brought over across the pond. And when it debuted here, it got the spot of following the Family Vacation reboot of mega-hit Jersey Shore.
   Snooki serves as a co-host of the American series along with Younger's Nico Tortorella, last seen visiting Lindsay Lohan at her Beach Club. They are supplemented by a team of some of the top tattoo artists available, some of which are familiar to those who religiously watch tattoo TV series: VH1 Black Ink Crew veterans Melody Mitchell, Kevin Laroy and Tiffany Perez, cartoon-based designer Courtney Raimondi, New Yorker Travis Ross, and Jordan "Dollarz Tatu." Tiffany received flack for designing a garbage can in one of the reveals and defended the design to VH1 afterwards.
   In the UK, longtime MTV staple Charlotte Crosby -- a Geordie Shore original castmate, an ex on Series 2 of Ex On The Beach UK in 2015 and host of her own self-titled MTV UK talk show, has hosted Just Tattoo of Us since its debut. She was joined during the first two seasons by one who had quite the debut in America, Bear from Ex On The Beach and The Challenge War of the Worlds. Fellow Geordie alums Scott "Scotty T." Timlin, Chloe Ferry and Nathan Henry, and EOTB ex turned MMA fighter Aaron Chalmers have joined Charlotte to guest host the past two series of the show when Bear left to eventually begin his plans on American domination.


Both the British and American versions of Tattoo have seen ordinary people go through this life-changing event of getting some work done on their body. But also to help increase visibility of this show, there have also been a fair share of guest stars who have taken a trip into the tattoo shop. The U.S. show got to welcome Snooki's Jersey adversary Angelina and her fiance Chris, Nilsa & Aimee from Floribama Shore and of course Cara & Paulie of The Challenge. The ladies from FBS got to immortalize their nicknames the Squid and the Mermaid, while we saw Paulie get that design of her Dirty 30 picture.
   The PCB ladies' roommates Kirk and Codi are part of the first wave of entrants into the parlor for Season 2 this week, and they'll later be followed by Teen Mom OG's Cheyenne & Cory, Kailah and Tony from Real World and The Challenge (and his fiance Alyssa), and Zach Holmes from Too Stupid to Die and his social-friendly teammate Chad Tepper. And in Britain, Charlotte's Geordie mates Sophie Kasaei, Kyle & ex Holly Hagan and Chloe Ferry & Sam Gowland have also stepped into the parlor, as well as Ashley C. of War of the Worlds and EOTB.

Below, some of the best moments from both the U.K. and U.S. versions of this tattoo festival, just as Season 2 has just premiered... and it begins with familiar faces to MTV viewers here getting to go through the ringer. We advise with some discretion that certain videos embedded in this post contain adult themes, scenes some readers may find offensive and disturbing, and in the case of the British videos, uncensored adult language and content.

❤️ Cara Maria & Paulie


🐹 Angelina & Chris


🌞 Aimee & Nilsa


🇬🇧 Bear & Charlotte 


🇬🇧 Kyle & Holly 



 U.K. TOP 10 +1 

🇬🇧 Ashley C. & Chloe Khan 


🇬🇧 Chloe of Geordie Shore 


🇬🇧 Nathan of Geordie Shore 


















 U.S. TOP 10 























If what we've seen with Season 1 of How Far is Tattoo Far, and the four series of its British cousin Just Tattoo of Us, then what Season 2 has in store for us in America will be just as juicy.









- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
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2 comments:

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