Show of the week: Tattoo Nightmares

There are several tattoo series out there – Inked, Tattoo Manor, Miami Ink and Ink Master to name but a few – but most endeavour to highlight the best skin artists and their work. Tattoo Nightmares, however, looks at the very worst examples of the form, the funny, disturbing examples of bad tattoos and tattoos gone wrong.

It follows cover-up artists Tommy Helm, Big Gus and Jasmine Rodriguez as they attempt to turn disastrous tattoos into something more presentable. A re-enactment segment provides context shows how the original bad tattoos came about in the first place.

FremantleMedia International is distributing the series and recently launched it into the CEE region at the NATPE Budapest market.

“Tattoo Nightmares will resonate with international audiences because it taps into a global cultural fashion trend – some 400 million people in the world have tattoos,” says Maximilian Bolenius, VP sales, German Speaking Europe & Central/Eastern Europe at FremantleMedia International.

He adds: “The other elements to the show which make it interesting are the individual back stories of each tattoo and why its ‘owner’ wants to disguise it – this is about turning disasterpieces into masterpieces.”

From Jersey Shore prodco 495 Productions, the first 8x30mins season the of the show debuted on Spike between October – December last year and the US cable net soon greenlit a second 26x30mins run, which launched in June.

In the 2012/2013 season it is the most watched show among 18-to-49s and male-skewing Spike reported the show garnered its most mixed audience ever, meaning in sales terms there is an opportunity for male-targeted nets to hit a broader audience.

Bolenius says: “This show is likely to do well on national basic pay TV channels, but pan-national networks like Discovery, Sony and Viasat will also find it very attractive, as well as targeted free to air channels.”

The show: Tattoo Nightmares

The producer: 495 Productions

The distributor: FremantleMedia International

The broadcaster: Spike (US)

Concept: Reality show with reconstruction segments following efforts to rescue tattoos gone wrong