"Tabatha's Salon Takeover" (2008) More at IMDb Pro »TV series

Tabatha Coffey originally reared her haughty head on TV last year on Bravo TV's "Shear Genius" - she was the foul-mouthed, platinum-haired one who was appalled a lot of the time, mostly at how the judges didn't appreciate how brilliant and dazzling her talent for hair design was; eventually they caught on and got with the program, and while she didn't win, she went on to receive the Fan Favorites award, which prompted Bravo! to give her a shot at the big time: her own reality series, "Tabatha's Salon Takeover," which premiered Thursday.

This is a person who grows on you, like a horribly short haircut grows in and you like it better a few weeks after the initial shock wears off. The Tabster is extremely entertaining in her arrogant way - she has wit and she's savvy and she does know her subject; she's got years of experience and her own salon is amazingly popular and booked months in advance at this point, so she does know what she's talking about, it's not just ego and hot air.

The couple on the first episode got more than they bargained for ~ a complete and major makeover of their ridiculously drab salon in Long Beach, CA, along with a superb tongue lashing (in a subtle way, she didn't Gordon-Ramsay them, at least) about how absurd all their "protocol" was - these two had books and books of rules that their stylists were supposed to follow, thereby stifling any chance for creativity. She stood by, supervising as they sadly shredded them. A lot of walls came down, literally and figuratively, and by the end of the time spent, the salon looked chic and the employees looked happy instead of shuffling around like death row inmates.

There was also a very satisfying return visit, which led us to believe the salon was doing much better; I liked that part, and I like this show. Bravo (once again) to Bravo! for seeing the potential in Ms. Coffey.

8/29/08: Upping my rating to an 9 after last night's show, the second of the series. The guy she came in to help this time was a failed real estate broker who bought the salon knowing absolutely nothing about the hair business and he didn't want to learn - he was yer basic ego-crazed, deluded, denial freak, and Ms. Coffey let him know it; at one point in the show, after he'd once again made a complete fool of himself, attempting to cut hair at the Vidal Sassoon Academy and telling the stylist there that she was doing it wrong (!), the Tabster sat him down and called him an egotistical, deluded, moronic f(&^head. You gotta love this woman.

Towards the end, this clown attempted to shape up, but in the 6-week return visit, his design staff (all of whom Tabatha liked and thought were competent) said he was not showing up again, falling back into his old habits. She wasn't surprised, but at least the salon still looked fantastic, thanks to her, and the employees were a little happier.