Every so often, maybe once a month, I get a call from some production company seeking a host for their "brand-new, simply fabulous, ground-breaking TV show all about tattoos." After buttering me up a bit, they tell me how their "authentic and insightful" format is going to "capture the very essence of this sacred and cherished art form."

Sounds great, hunh? Not really. First off, they ask for someone who knows all about tattooing, has an energetic, outgoing personality, possesses a wealth of information and would relate well with both men and women viewers. And then, after I suggest Mr. G, Jack Rudy, Mike Bakaty, Lyle Tuttle, Paul Booth, Goodtime Charlie Cartwright, Matty Jankowski, Paul Jeffries, Lal Hardy, Dana Brunson and Chuck Eldridge, they always ask, "Are they under thirty-five years of age?"

You've got to be kidding. I give them some of the most influential, interesting and connected storytellers and spokesmen for the tattoo world, and all they can say is, "Sorry, viewers don't want to watch a bunch of old men."

"Then, how about women? Knowledgeable tattooers like Vyvyn Lazonga, Jacci Gresham, Chinchilla, Danielle Oberosler, Kate Hellenbrand, Patty Kelley, Kari Barba or…?"

"Great," they respond. "Are they under thirty-five?"

Dare I ask what makes these network geniuses think that an audience of tattoo enthusiasts (about forty percent of the population, by the way) would turn off a show with honest-to-goodness tattoo historians as our guides, just because they've been around the block a couple times? Just recently, I was on a dais with Lyle Tuttle (in his mid-seventies, by the way), and he stole the show in front of three hundred and fifty people of all ages from ten to ninety-four at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Lyle's got more stories and insights about the tattoo world than a thousand—no, ten thousand—tattoo hosts in their thirties. And so do the others I suggested.

So, what happens? The show comes out and someone that no one in the tattoo world has ever seen or heard of bounces around the screen like a caffeinated puppet saying inane things about a subject they know absolutely nothing about. These are the same shows that leave important, historic segments on the cutting room floor, while including fifteen-minute profiles on weirdoes with split tongues and tattooed eyeballs. How insulting.

In their effort to cash in on the tattoo craze, the television industry has jumped aboard the juggernaut but excluded the most important passengers—brilliant, talented and informed icons who have dedicated their lives to this timeless art form. Hopefully, SKIN&INK contributor and world-class anthropologist Lars Krutak's new Discovery Channel series Tattoo Hunter will start a much-needed trend toward intelligent, well-researched and respectful shows about the world of body modification. Oh, by the way, Lars is thirty-eight. Gee, I guess Discovery forgot to check his I.D.

Bob Baxter
Editor in Chief

baxter@skin&ink.com
www.skinandink.com