First Aired April 11, 2007 The 12 stylists are introduced to the host, Jaclyn Smith, and judge Sally Hershberger for the Short Cut Challenge.
The Short Cut Challenge consisted of the stylist showing their signature style on a mannequin head.
The Shortcut Ranking (from 12 to 1): Tabatha, Lacey, Evangelin, Ben, Jim, Theodore, Anthony, Danna, Dr Boogie, Paul-Jean, Daisy, Tyson.
Theodore, Daisy and Tabatha were called out as the top three, but it was Theodore who won the challenge with his treasure box hair style; besting Daisy's Marie Antoinette wedding hair, and Tabatha's glorified feather mohawk.
Lacey, who was in the bottom 2 during the Short Cut Challenge, was sent to safety next, leaving Paul-Jean to be sent home.
First Aired April 18, 2007 The Short Cut Challenge was for each competitor to color a black-haired mannequin head to a specific blond hair color, using a level 8 blond hair swatch for reference.
The top three winners were able to select clients along with the target celebrity haircut the evening prior to the challenge, with the winner able to make the first pick; other competitors had to then select only from the pictures of the clients en masse, and would learn of the target celebrity haircut at the challenge.
First Aired May 2, 2007 The Shortcut Challenge for the stylists was to prepare a style for their client that would work for both day and night.
The stylists were then treated to an afternoon at a day spa, during which Evangelin stated she would try and use her hedge clippers on as many of her clients as possible.
The Elimination Challenge was to create a red carpet style for Vanessa L. Williams (of Ugly Betty fame) that would go along with a dress presented to the stylists.
After the judging, Jaclyn Smith called Danna, Ben, Daisy, and Evangelin to the center of the salon.
Boogie conspired to give Tyson the "Elizabethan" style as they believed he would struggle with the theme.
The Curse of the Wall of Fame affected Theodore, Evangelin, Danna, Tyson and Daisy.
Theodore and Daisy were the only two "cursed" who were not cut in the elimination challenge immediately following their respective wins.
The winning team from the Quickcut challenge, Tyson and Tabatha, were able to pick which bridal party they wanted to work with.
Part of Tabatha's demise came from her tirade to the judges about how much she disliked Tyson and thought his ego got in the way.
First Aired May 23, 2007 The Shortcut Challenge required each stylist to take a naturally curly-haired, African-American model and to make the hair into a straight-hair look, in the style of Matt Malinowski.
Ben comments on how he isn't experienced doing African-American hair and Anthony wins the quickcut challenge.
The Elimination Challenge had each stylist work with a model for 4 specific styles to be used in a photo shoot with a famous photographer.
Boogie was eliminated because the judges felt that his attitude wasn't teamwork-oriented, due to his frequent interruption of his photo shoot to fix and adjust his model's hair.
First Aired May 23, 2007 All of the Shear Genius contestants come back for one final reunion where they explain and talk about the show thus far.
Tabatha is voted the Fan Favorite by Shear Genius viewers and wins a $10,000 prize.
The guest judge was Vidal Sassoon who advised the stylists on giving back to the community via his website www.whodoesyourhair.com in a meeting before the final challenge.
Anthony called his presentation "Modern Movement," and Ben showed an evolution from outer to inner beauty in styles for Hollywood and "the rest of us."