Tabatha's Salon Takeover (renamed Tabatha Takes Over in Season 4) is an American reality makeover television series produced by Reveille Productions in which former Shear Genius contestant and hair salon owner Tabatha Coffey helps failing salons, in a format similar to that of Fox Broadcasting's Kitchen Nightmares.
The series premiered in the USA on Bravo on 21 August, 2008.
Tabatha's Salon Takeover premiered in South Africa on DStv's M-Net Series channel on Friday 18 September 2009, at 21h00. It moved to Vuzu from Season 2 and also aired on M-Net Series Reality, from Season 5. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 5 premiered on M-Net Series Reality on Wednesday 25 December 2013, at 23h30. New episodes broadcast daily, on weekdays. There are 12 episodes in the fifth season.
Synopsis
The straight-talking, perfectly coifed Tabatha Coffey lends her sound advice and styling expertise to help desperate salon owners turn their struggling businesses around in Tabatha's Salon Takeover.
Tabatha's Takeover follows Coffey, the charismatic former Shear Genius contestant and Australian native, as she visits struggling salons in the Los Angeles and New York areas and literally takes over the establishments to whip them into shape.
Coffey brings her no-nonsense approach to the salon owners and stylists, all teetering on the verge of collapse and in dire need of her skilled business direction.
With just a week to work her magic, can she put these salons back on their feet or is it time for the shops to put up the closed sign for good?
At first meeting, the owners and stylists find Coffey's distinct personality and wicked comments jarring; but they soon figure out that in order to be a success in the competitive high-end beauty business, they need to take the savvy and fearless approach that has helped Coffey's own career flourish.
Coffey takes her training and the training of other hairdressers very seriously, and this passion drives her sincere quest to turn these salons around.
Coffey's intensity for the business is clear in her unswerving dealings with the salon owners and stylists, sometimes driving them to tears as her critical eye probes the salons' customer service, cleanliness, professionalism, and overall styling techniques.
She also makes her recommendations for which stylists should raise their rates, and which ones should be let go in order for the businesses to get to the next level as high-end establishments.
The end results are often dramatic and inspire all those who have come in contact with Coffey to strive for only the best.
Tabatha's Salon Takeover is produced by Reveille LLC for Bravo. Howard Owens, Mark Koops and Heather Schuster serve as executive producers.
Seasons
Note: the show moved from M-Net Series to Vuzu for Season 2. Only the first episode of Season 3 aired on Vuzu, after which the channel broadcast Season 5. Season 4 did not air in South Africa and the first four seasons did not air on M-Net Series Reality.
Season 1 (8 episodes)
Channel: M-Net Series | Premiere: 18 Sep 2009 | Finale: 6 Nov 2009 | Fri, 21h00
Season 2 (10 episodes)
Channel: Vuzu | Premiere: 7 Feb 2010 | Finale: 11 Apr 2010 | Sun, 19h30
Season 3 (10 episodes)
Channel: Vuzu | Aired: 3 Aug 2013 | Sat, 22h00
Season 4 (12 episodes)
Did not air in South Africa
Season 5 (12 episodes)
Channel: Vuzu | Premiere: 10 Aug 2013 | Finale: 26 Oct 2013 | Sat, 22h00
Channel: MS Reality | Premiere: 25 Dec 2013 | Finale: 9 Jan 2014 | Weekdays, 23h30