Is a whip the right conditioner?

If nothing else, "Tabatha's Salon Takeover" makes one appreciate the fine art of being a successful "whip it" expert. Ramsay, Jo Frost of ABC's "Supernanny" and the gals from Fox's "Nanny 911" are all equally tough as nails -- Ramsay famously screams and swears and occasionally walks off set in disgust, Frost fixes parents with those judging hooded eyes and tells them they are ruining their children -- but still you feel the love. Each seems to genuinely care about their wayward clients, their devotion to their craft is obvious and they take great pleasure in turning a crisis around.

Tabatha, on the other hand, just can't believe how stupid everyone is, and is quite comfortable saying so. Contempt never plays well on television and unfortunately she is quite lavish with it. And frankly, at the end of the day, it's not clear what her added value is -- the major improvement to Ten Salon comes via a redesign, which would seem to fall under the purview of another reality show entirely, "Trading Spaces" maybe. She says she has given the staff more freedom, more confidence, but even as she sums up with a final pep talk, you can see all the stylists keeping very still, like a crowd counting the minutes until the cobra gets bored and slides away.

The point of shows like these is to infuse the viewer with hope. Here is a seemingly hopeless situation, but bring in a clear-eyed expert and look at the results. Watching "Tabatha's Salon Takeover," which is unrated, you can't help but wonder if there shouldn't be a "whip it" show for "whip it" shows -- in which an expert would review the tapes and offer advice on how to turn a bad situation around. They could start with this one.

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mary.mcnamara@latimes.com