Stay Tuned
Reviews, previews and much more on "The Real Housewives," "How I Met Your Mother," "NCIS" and many more of your favorite shows. This is the place to talk about all of the things that make us "Stay Tuned"…

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Let Tabatha "Takeover" Your TV


Shockingly, I’ve never been a big fan of “Shear Genius”…

You would think that with my love for all things Bravo, I’d be all about it. I guess I just can’t get into a hair competition.

So when “Tabatha’s Salon Takeover” came on after an encore of “Project Runway,” I had no intention of really watching it.

But there’s just something about Tabatha that sucked me in within the first five minutes. And by the time she declared, “I hate crying,” I was completely hooked.

For those of you who don’t know, Tabatha is Tabatha Coffey, the fan favorite from season one of “Shear Genius.” She gained her popularity not only through her skills as a stylist, but also through her droll wit and no-nonsense personality (not to mention that cool accent).

“Takeover” puts both of those on display as Tabatha helps turn around failing salons. In the premiere, her cause is Ten Salon and Spa in Long Beach, California, which has been open for two years and is dangerously close to going under and taking its owners, husband and wife Chris and Kwanna, with it.

The show follows the “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style” formula with its step-by-step process. First, Tabatha watches hidden camera video of the salon with the owners to give them and her a better idea of what’s going on.

You can’t help but laugh as Tabatha looks at a squirming Kwanna and Chris and says, “Isn’t this fun?”

Then Tabatha dives right in by assessing the staff, marketing the salon and then totally renovating it. And, of course, she makes a return visit to see if they’ve followed her recommendations.

As I said, the show follows a formula. But it doesn’t come off as formulaic. And that’s because of Tabatha.

It also helps that in the premiere, Ten owner Kwanna is incredibly clueless. After Tabatha has Kwanna and Chris shred their THREE separate manuals with detailed scripts for every possible salon scenario, Kwanna tells the camera that was hard because the manuals had worked well for them.

Huh?

And Tabatha may hate crying, but she certainly sees a lot of it in the premiere as Kwanna breaks down again and again. In fact, Tabatha manages to soften up a little, but not enough to stop the changes.

And trust me. That’s just the way you want it.

This week’s previews show Tabatha taking on an arrogant salon owner with a messy, unhygienic salon. Tabatha won’t even have to ask if this one is fun. I can already tell it will be…

So let Tabatha take over your TV so you can join the fun too…

“Tabatha’s Salon Takeover” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on Bravo. You can see encores of the premiere Wednesday, August 27th at 10 a.m. and Thursday, August 28th at 5 p.m…
Photo provided by Bravo